Friday, April 29, 2011

Rivers Johnson - Schopenhauer's Escape From Will

Schopenhauer wrote that art was the only true escape Man has from the grasp of Will, our basal drive for survival. Out of the all the arts, Schopenhauer singled out music as the truest form of art because it speaks directly to the emotion of a person. Emotion is completely separate from the Will and therefore speaking to it separates us from the Will in a way. Schopenhauer describes great artists as geniuses because they can separate themselves from their bodily needs and focus and their art which reminds me of a song lyric I heard the other day:

"I'm not upset, just confused/And it's so tough/I can't relate to this world/I'm not bored enough/Watch out/The music will complete the change in you"

Escape from this world, music changing the listener, sounds something like what Schopenhauer is talking about, doesn't it?

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