Week twelve
Botton: Chapter V "A Broken Heart" (pp. 169-203)

Schopenhauer: (in Essays & Aphorisms): Read these two essays: "On the Indestructibilityh of our Essential Being by Death" and "On Suicide" (pp. 66-79)
Read: Lecture notes on Schopenhauer as well as "Reading 1" which is a dialogue/consolation ("Pain & The Damned Thing Called Love") using Schopenhauer's philosophy. This dialogue contains some important information on Schopenhauer that I wish Botton had included.
--What ideas can you take from Schopenhauer on consoling yourself? For instance, numerous students have commented that although they reject Schopenhauer's over-all pessmism, they find much in Schopenhauer's philosophy that helps them to heal a broken heart. For instance, they agree with Schoenahuer that romantic love (or "Eros") is not long lasting but will burn out quickly and thus for long-term relations one must develop another typ of love ("Philia").
Schop ideas are pretty pessimist although for some strage reason I agree on his idealogy. As for consoling yourself, he gives us a way of thinking 9through pessimistic eyes) to not expect the best, but for the worst, therfor we will not be thinking that all is well once our relationships (or love) has past its honeymoon stage. It will inevitably die. So as a way of consolation, you expect for this death of love, and in another sence grow a different form of relationship, or love, perhaps a friendship. This way of consolation can indeed help one turn eros love into philla. He wants us to be free of expectaions and pretty much perceive love as “the will of life” this and this only is merely why we love and form relationships. To console ourselves we muist realize this, and not dwell once our failing relationship is coming to an end, for we already have bared our children, but re kindle it in a different form perhaps, and realize this was to be expected in all relationships. As well we have freedome to concole ourselves through activities wich help us relief the pain of “the will to life”. There is nothing wrong with us, our image, or personality, but if we were found to be rejected is is merely because we were unfit to bear that particular person child. And deep within us it is subconsciously our ideas of another persons look or personality that is being judged merely to in the future conceive a perfect child (example their chin small and mine large therfor our baby would have an adequate balance). So fear not, rejejtion comes and goes as do people, the right one in which will bear you a perfect abby will soon come in time. As well, through sound, language, and image we can immerse ourselves in such entertainment and understand that other fellow human being have indeed gone through the troubls of life and even more so explain it in which we could have not imagined of understaning just by thinking by ourselves they put our unconscious ideas into lively understable ones in which we can read, watch, listen, and precive easier.
--As I indicated in this week's lecture notes, Schopenhauer takes an interesting view on Suicide. He finds it "ludicrous" that Christianity has condemned suicide, because according to Schopenhauer one always has a right to commit suicide, but it is a mistake because one must learn how to "palliate" life's miseries. Schopenhauer gives three very plausible ways to palliate our human suffering that will keep us from committing suicide. From the reading, can you determine what are these three ways? How effective are Schopenhauer's recommendations in palliating (making bearable) our existence?
Although Schopenhauer does not advocate suicide, he does not believe it is a total sin, for we of all people should have control of our own lives. Now, Schopenhauer came up with ways to palliate our pain from everyday life so we do NOT end up committing suicide. Through the reading I determined his main ideology is pain is not curable but we can alleviate it, the reasons for suicide or