Attempt on Spirit-Seeing and What is Connected with It

Arthur Schopenhauer

Newcomb Livraria Press

About this ebook

A new 2023 translation from the original German manuscript, with a new Afterword by the Translator. Schopenhauer's "Attempt on Spirit-Seeing and What is Connected with It" delves into the realms of spiritual phenomena and extrasensory perception in response to Kant's "Dreams of a Ghost-Seer". In this work, Schopenhauer analyzes claims of spiritual experiences, such as visions and apparitions, with a critical eye. He examines the human tendency to believe in supernatural occurrences and delves into the psychology behind such beliefs. This work has been a subject of interest for scholars studying the intersection of philosophy and mysticism. Schopenhauer's skepticism towards spirit-seeing and his insistence on empirical evidence have contributed to rational inquiry into paranormal experiences, making this work an essential read for those interested in the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and spirituality. "The whole demonology and spiritology of antiquity and the Middle Ages, as well as their related view of magic, is based on the still unchallenged realism, which was finally shaken by Cartesius. Only the idealism that gradually matured in more recent times leads us to the point of view from which we can reach a correct judgment about all those things, thus also about visions and apparitions of spirits."

About the author

Arthur Schopenhauer is considered one of the most important philosophers of the 19th century. In 1818, Schopenhauer published his most famous work, "The World as Will and Representation" ("Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung"), which presented a comprehensive philosophical system that combined elements of Kantian idealism with Eastern philosophical ideas, particularly those from Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Schopenhauer argued that the fundamental reality of the world is not the external world as it appears to us but an underlying "will," a blind and irrational force driving all human desires and actions. He is best known for his profound contributions to metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics, as well as for his pessimistic philosophy of life.