Arthur Schopenhauer

Reading notes

• The Duel §162 Schopenhauer

  Arthur Schopenhauer, the philosopher of pessimism whom von Koren says Laevsky pats on the shoulder without ever having read.

• The Christmas Tree §31 Schopenhauer

  Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), German philosopher of pessimism, whose fashionable vogue in 1880s Russia made his name a stock signifier of gloomy erudition.

• The Name-Day Party §106 Schopenhauers

  Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), the German philosopher of pessimism, fashionable among educated 1880s Russian readers; Pyotr Dmitrich's plural 'Schopenhauers and Proudhons' treats both names as interchangeable badges of the 'philosophy' his wife supposedly mastered at the women's courses -- a backhanded compliment that doubles as condescension.

• From the Notes of a Hot-Tempered Man §75 a few thoughts from Schopenhauer

  Schopenhauer's pessimistic philosophy, including his notoriously unflattering essay "On Women," was fashionable among educated 1880s Russians; invoking him mid-courtship, while trying to avoid the subject of love altogether, is one of the story's driest comic touches.

• Big Volodya and Little Volodya §78 the Schopenhauers

  Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), the German philosopher of pessimism, whose name had become in this period a stock byword for gloomy philosophizing; Little Volodya uses the plural, generic "the Schopenhauers" dismissively, to wave off any serious discussion of meaning or morality.