The Relationship between Ethics and Aesthetics in Schopenhauer's Philosophy

Ethics and aesthetics are the most important values in human life, and they have since a long time ago been subject to inquiries by intellectuals. In this paper, we will be concerned with an account of the nature and manner of the relationship between the two values in Schopenhauer’s philosophy with a descriptive-analytic method. Schopenhauer takes ethics and aesthetics to be two ways of emancipation from the phenomenal will and selfishness. The nature of ethics is compassion and beneficence, which is obtained through transcending the phenomenal self and is accompanied with justice; that is, seeing oneself and others to be equal. An aesthetic understanding and artistic ingenuity are possible if one negates selfishness and transcends the utilitarian self-interested outlook, leading to the openness of one’s heart and knowledge of the absolute example. Thus, in both art and ethics, one comes to observe the reality of himself and the being, and by negating the will, one comes to see his internal self as equal with the reality in itself. Many artistic forms, such as tragedy, can help in the negation of selfish will and ethics. And ethics paves the path for aesthetic understanding by helping one transcend selfishness and self-interestedness.