Schopenhauer: The task of art

For Arthur Schopenhauer, there were two worlds. The one that we experience as individuals and the world as it exists without the filter of human experience. Here, of course, the first thing we notice is that no matter how hard we try, we as humans cannot possibly experience the world as it really exists.

As Schopenhauer was known to be an idealist, it is hardly surprising that he believed that all cats, for example, are subject to the ideal of the cat and are therefore seen as cats; the same applies to all chairs or all people. All things are subject to the ideal of a certain thing.

"You have to behave with a work of art as you would with a great master: stand in front of it and wait for it to tell you something."  

- Arthur Schopenhauer

In art, however, the ideal is often depicted, or at least a form of the ideal, and this at least only in good art. For this reason, Schopenhauer was of the opinion that when we look at a work of art, we as human beings gain an insight into the world as it is without personal perception.

This may not only sound confusing at first, but is actually also a major criticism of Schopenhauer's philosophy. After all, how should we as human beings objectively see a work of art? After all, we see it through our eyes and compare it with our experiences. So if even the perfect ideal is depicted, we do not see it as the ideal, but as the ideal with our subjective experience.

However, Schopenhauer was not the only one who believed that art could be used to give us humans insights into real existence. According to one story, Fyodor Dostoyevsky saw a church in the distance during his mock execution. When he later recounted what went through his mind during those minutes, he declared that it would be beauty that would save the world. For according to Dostoyevsky, it was this beauty that went through his mind in his supposedly last minutes. It was this beauty that gave him a feeling of happiness even in the darkest of circumstances.

For our part, we can understand Dostoyevsky's thoughts very well, because we also think that beauty is what makes life worth living. It is difficult to say what someone finds beautiful, after all, subjectivity knows no bounds. Some people like to see things blossom, others like a weekend off and still others like a good time with friends. 

Beauty is not purely tied to the visual. Many things can be beautiful, whether art, friends or life itself. Every single one of us wants a beautiful life, but it can be difficult to find beauty because it is often not where you would expect it to be. It is up to us to find it and to listen to what she wants to tell us.