Schopenhauer and Adorno on Bodily Suffering This page intentionally left blank Schopenhauer and Adorno on Bodily Suffering A Comparative Analysis Mathijs Peters ‘Postwachstumskolleg’, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany © Mathijs Peters 2014 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-41216-4 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries ISBN 978-1-349-48947-3 ISBN 978-1-137-41217-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137412171 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peters, Mathijs, 1982– Schopenhauer and Adorno on bodily suffering : a comparative analysis / Mathijs Peters, independent scholar, the Netherlands. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Suffering. 2. Pain. 3. Schopenhauer, Arthur, 1788–1860. 4. Adorno, Theodor W., 1903–1969. I. Title. B105.S79P48 2014 1289.4—dc23 2014029420 To my parents, Adri and Hanneke In memory of Mohammed Kader Majid This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface x List of Abbreviations xii 1 Introduction 1 In the Penal Colony 1 Arthur Schopenhauer and Theodor W. Adorno 4 Why a comparative analysis? 8 Critical preliminaries 16 Structure 18 Part I Determinism, Rationality, Embodiment 2 A Paradox of Transcendence and Immanence 23 Introduction 23 The world-as-representation 24 Idealism and naturalism 26 The truth moment of Schopenhauer’s epistemology 3 2 Conclusion 35 3 The World-as-Will 36 Introduction 36 A key to the world 37 Metaphysical extrapolation 41 Critics of Schopenhauer’s metaphysics 43 Compassion and Will 48 Conclusion 51 4 Irrationalism and Pessimism 53 Introduction 53 Ontological irrationalism 55 Epistemological irrationalism 58 Rationality as autonomy 61 Egotism and the state 73 Conclusion 7 7 vii viii Contents 5 The Whole Is the Wrong 7 9 Introduction 79 The bear’s teeth 81 Instrumental reason 83 Commodification and second nature 8 6 The modern self 89 Coldness and the principium individuationis 9 3 Conclusion 95 6 The Twitching of the Hand 97 Introduction 97 Critical self-reflection 98 The addendum and freedom 101 Conclusion 108 Part II Morality, Salvation, Happiness 7 Neminem Laede – Injure No One 113 Introduction 113 Practical reason and Will 114 Compassion and suffering 117 The normativity of pain 120 Injure no one 126 The weakness of compassion 128 Conclusion 133 8 Being a Good Animal 134 Introduction 134 Life does not live 136 Kant’s practical philosophy 137 Self-critique and the moral addendum 1 39 Pain 146 A new categorical imperative 152 Conclusion 156 9 The Road to Salvation 159 Introduction 159 Eternal peace 160 Schopenhauer’s aesthetic theory 162 Compassion and self-denial 169 The antagonism of the will with itself 173 Three interpretations 178 Conclusion 186 Contents ix 10 Rien Faire Comme une Bête 188 I ntroduction 1 88 T he possibility of metaphysics 190 H appiness and peace 194 A stratum of mute reference to what is beautiful 199 S ocial change 2 07 C onclusion 2 15 11 Conclusion 217 A n animal showing a wound 217 F allibility and hope 219 Notes 222 Bibliography 249 Index 259