Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) lived through an era of great political turmoil, but previous assessments of his political thought have portrayed him as a pessimistic observer with no constructive solutions to offer. By assembling and contextualizing Schopenhauer's dispersed comments on political matters, this book reveals that he developed a distinct conception of politics. In opposition to rising ideological movements such as nationalism or socialism, Schopenhauer denied that politics can ever bring about universal emancipation or fraternal unity. Instead, he viewed politics as a tool for mitigating rather than resolving the conflicts of a fundamentally imperfect world. Jakob Norberg's fascinating book reconstructs Schopenhauer's political ideas and shows how they relate to the dominant debates and trends during the period in which he lived. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

‘This is a splendid book. Norberg brings Schopenhauer to life as an eclectic modern political thinker who was focused above all on deflating the grand ideologies of nationalism and socialism and the lessening of cruelty in everyday life.' ,

Joshua Dienstag - University of Wisconsin, Madison

‘Schopenhauer's Politics is utterly essential reading for anyone interested in Schopenhauer's significance as a political thinker. It is the first book fully to do justice to the manifold political dimensions of Schopenhauer's life and thought, which have been overlooked by scholars for far too long. Norberg's trenchant analysis of Schopenhauer's politics is presented with the highest degree of insight, clarity, and originality.'

David Bather-Woods - University of Warwick