Philosophy : Schopenhauer despised Hegel

Schopenhauer despised Hegel

Schopenhauer despised Fichte and Schelling, but he hated Hegel and described him as ‘that clumsy and nauseating charlatan, that pernicious person, who completely disorganized and ruined the minds of a whole generation.’ On almost any square foot of ground in the landscape of his writings a geyser of wrath may suddenly erupt, spewing out imprecations against the same three men. ‘What was senseless and without meaning at once took refuge in obscure exposition and language. Fichte was the first to grasp and make use of this privilege; Schelling at best equalled him in this, and a host of hungry scribblers without intellect or honesty soon surpassed them both. But the greatest effrontery in serving up sheer nonsense, in scrabbling together senseless and maddening webs of words, such as had previously been heard only in madhouses, finally appeared in Hegel…’ Hegel, said Schopenhauer, was ‘a commonplace, inane, loathsome, repulsive and ignorant charlatan, who with unparalleled effrontery compiled a system of crazy nonsense that was trumpeted abroad as immortal wisdom by his mercenary followers…’ I do not think anything in the whole history of philosophy compares with this invective by one now world-famous philosopher against another, especially when one considers that they were near-contemporaries and colleagues.

Re: Schopenhauer despised Hegel

Goes to show how much hate they had for each other and at the same time self respect. Because it doesnt take lightly for someone to publicly bash, criticize, and destroy another well respected person unless you truly hate them and feel that putting yourself on the spot is more important than withholding and being secure. Ive never really read the others Schopenhauer criticized much but I read a lot of Schopenhauers work and admire him. Many times I agree with him that many philosophers I looked up talked a lot of jibberish nonsense that sounded good and sold well with many accolades and respect. But I never verified if the ones he mentioned were the same ones I read. I do admire this aspect from him because its easy to criticize him for doing so and destroy his work. But to take such risks and be so vulnerable is a admirable. Having guts and voicing how strong you feel no matter the opposition and knowing the harsh backlash takes some balls. Highly admirable.

Without strife, your victory has no meaning.
Without strife, you do not advance.
Without strife, there is only stagnation.
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