Episode 315: Ceaseless Striving (Schopenhauer's Pessimism)

Very Bad Wizards

Tamler Sommers & David Pizarro

Society & Culture, Philosophy

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2025

⏱️ 90 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

David and Tamler tackle the topic chosen by our beloved Patreon supporters in the first VBW madness tournament – Schopenhauer. We discuss his essays "On the Sufferings of the World" and "The Vanity of Existence," their strikingly modern perspectives on human life and behavior and the influences Schopenhauer took from Eastern thought. Plus, David has Tamler do a blind ranking of movie directors.

Arthur Schopenhauer [plato.stanford.edu]

Arther Schopenhauer [iep.utm.edu]

The Essays of Schopenhauer: Studies in Pessimism [full-text from gutenberg.org]

Transcript

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0:00.0	Very Bad Wizards is a podcast with a philosopher, my dad, and psychologist Dave Vizarro,
0:06.0	having an informal discussion about issues in science and ethics.
0:09.0	Please note that the discussion contains bad words that I'm not allowed to say,
0:13.0	and knowing my dad some very inappropriate jokes.
0:19.0	It's a land that God, if he exists, has created in anger.
0:23.6	The great Mast has spoken.
0:29.6	Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
0:41.3	Who are you?
0:43.3	Who are you? A very bad man.
0:45.3	I'm a very good man.
0:47.3	Good man.
0:51.3	They think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have.
0:55.7	May no attention tonight, man.
1:01.5	Anybody can have a brain?
1:05.4	You're a very bad man.
1:08.1	I'm a very good man.
1:09.7	Just a very bad wizard. Welcome to Very Bad Wizards. I'm Tam very good man. Just a very bad wizard.
1:12.6	Welcome to Very Bad Wizards.
1:13.6	I'm Tamler Summers from the University of Houston.
1:16.6	Dave, yesterday was my birthday.
1:18.6	I turned 55, which is ridiculous and unacceptable on every level.
1:23.6	Speaking of birthdays, yours is coming up soon too. How old are you going to be?
	...

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