The Research On Schopenhauer's View Of Good And Evil

Arthur Schopenhauer, as the pioneer of western modern irrationalism and humanism, has rich thoughts and make a profound impact. In ethics, he has deep view of good and evil, which is the theme of the paper. First, the paper analyses schopenhauer's unique opinion on nature of good and evil. He think good and evil based on pure egoism is relative, and bring forward absolute good and evil. He hold egoistic motives can give rise to evil, and altruistic motives can cause good. Second, the paper discusses three sources of good and evil. In the theory of human nature, egoism and malice is the base of evil and compassion is the base of good. In ontology, the singleness and impulsion of will lead to the contradiction of the sameness of will-in-itself and the distinction of representation, the sameness of will-in-itself is the root of good, and the distinction of representation is the root of evil. In Epistemology, the principle of individualization is the chief reason of evil, and seeing through the principle of individualization is the main reason of good. Third, the paper summarizes variant forms of good and evil. Forms of evil include injustice and malice, and forms of good include benevolence and pure good. In addition, the paper make an exposition on fairness and ultimate good. Finally, on the ground of the study above, the author reveals the intrinsic conflicts of schopenhauer's view of good and evil, including the conflicts in absolute good, the conflicts between egoism and compassion, and the conflicts in cognition effect on good and evil.