Plato, teacher of Schopenhauer

The teachings of Platonic philosophy in the deployment of a unique thought (ein einziger Gedanke)

Abstract

The article aims to explore the unique thought (ein einziger Gedanke) to which Schopenhauer refers his philosophy through the study of the explicit reception and effect of Plato in its genesis and development. Frequently, studies of sources circumscribe the Platonic presence in his philosophy to the consideration of his aesthetics, presented in Book Three of The World as Will and Representation (1819) and later in the Lessons on the Metaphysics of the Beautiful (1820) and in his invaluable manuscript legacy. However, it is also permissible to explore his presence in the ethical dimension of that unique thought, which Schopenhauer unfolds in Book Four of his opus magnum and. In this way the figure of Plato will be linked not only to that of genius but also to that of those who have postulated the negation of the will, thus bringing philosophy to its limit.