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Arthur Schopenhauer's philosophy influenced thinkers as important and varied as Nietzsche and

Wittgenstein. His most famous work is the rather pessimistic, the world as

will and representation. But that's not where you'll find his main treatment of ethics. That's

a bit more uplifting and includes as David Baverwood explains a

discussion of compassion. David Bather Woods welcome to Philosophy Bites.

Hi Nigel it's a pleasure to be here. The topic we're going to focus on today is Arthur Schopenhauer and Compassion.

Who was Arthur Schopenhauer?

Schopenhauer was a German philosopher born in 1788. He was outside a figure in his time. He held an academic

post briefly, but mostly he lived a life of thinking about philosophy and writing in his own time and he's best known perhaps for writing

the world as well and representation which offers a deeply pessimistic view of the world according to which

...