On the Basis of Morality

Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher whose work was a reaction to Hegelian idealism and constitutes one of the pillars of Western pessimist thought. He is the author of such seminal texts as Parerga and Paralipomena, The Wisdom of Life, and The World as Will and Representation.

Schopenhauer's On the Basis of Morality deserves to be a standard text for courses in religious ethics. It doesn’t fit into the prevalent genealogies of virtue ethics and utilitarianism, thus reminding us of other genealogies (pessimism, Nietzsche, Buddhism). It poses fundamental questions about the monotheistic background to the dominant ethical systems of the day as virtually no other work does. I have found that reading it after an intensive study of Kant's ethical and religious writings leads to fantastic discussions, which open the floor for great insights into the relation of religion and ethics.--Mark Larrimore, Princeton University