# Schopenhauer — A Confession character guide

> Schopenhauer in A Confession by Leo Tolstoy.

**Role:** minor

**First appearance:** 0001-ii

## Who they are

German philosopher whose pessimistic worldview influences the narrator's crisis.

## Relationships

### [Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/characters/narrator)

_psychological_

The narrator is drawn to Schopenhauer's pessimistic philosophy, which reinforces his own sense of life's futility and suffering.

### [Solomon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/characters/solomon)

_psychological_

Schopenhauer's pessimistic worldview is intellectually aligned with Solomon's lamentations on vanity, creating a philosophical resonance.

### [Buddha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/characters/buddha)

_psychological_

Schopenhauer's philosophy was heavily influenced by Buddhist concepts of suffering and renunciation, creating an intellectual kinship.

## In the story

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/chapters/vi)

Quoted extensively on the will to live and the annihilation of the will leading to nothingness.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/chapters/vii)

Mentioned alongside Solomon and Buddha as a thinker who recognized life's absurdity; his philosophy is part of the reasoning the narrator initially accepts.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/chapters/viii)

Referenced alongside Solomon as a thinker whose rational conclusions led to a denial of life's meaning.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/chapters/ix)

Mentioned as a philosopher whose conclusion that life has no meaning is an indefinite reply.

### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/chapters/x)

Mentioned alongside Solomon as a figure whose philosophy did not lead to suicide, but whose perspective is contrasted with the faith of the common people.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/chapters/xii)

Mentioned in the context of arguments against proving the existence of God.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/characters/schopenhauer
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_confession_se/characters