hellsforheroes

What does Schopenhauer's pain/pleasure pendulum have on Buddhism? I actually don't know that Schopenhauer would claim it has anything on Buddhism- in fact, in what I was just reading, Schopenhauer states that "If I were to take the results of my philosophy as the standard of truth, I would have to consider Buddhism the finest of all religion." I can't say that I know very much on Schopenhauer, beyond that one small element of his philosophy; I wanted to read more on it to better respond to your comment, but I haven't had time. It would be my guess that he considers pain/pleasure a self-dissatisfying process that's a strong innate tendency for human nature, the pitfalls of which can be circumvented only with realization of the futility of the process. And resignation. So in that philosophical sense (though not in the religious, divine, other-worldly sense) I would agree that his conclusions would be very much aligned with the ideals of Buddhism.

I go back and forth on the way I see past philosophers. In one sense, I do see them as relics of the past, old scientists whose falsely limited conclusions can be recognized with the progression of history. But in another sense, philosophers seem more timeless to me. Unlike science, philosophy by nature does not lend itself to a direct trajectory of "progress." Many of the most important questions are necessarily unprovable - and that is precisely the realm of philosophy. So in that sense, I don't think philosophers should be considered overcome and discarded the way past scientists whose theories have been disproven can be. To me, philosophers bring different angles of insight, the truth or falsity of which can be valuable just in their exploration.

Yeah, what is up with that Jessica Lange they're always singing about how old she is... and "may all acquaintances be forgot" are we supposed to forget everyone we meet or something? They have to explain that song.

Happy New Year!