ABSTRACT
Nietzsche, of course, learnt a great deal from his reading of Schopenhauer but was to rebel against his philosophical system on the whole. But R.J. Hollingdale has suggested that it was more Schopenhauer’s way of life than his philosophy of life which influenced the young Nietzsche. If he is correct, then this observation,
coupled with Nietzsche’s very different agenda to his ‘educator’, should arouse suspicions concerning Nietzsche’s assessment of Schopenhauer on religion.3 Indeed, in a recent essay, David Berman, of Trinity College, Dublin, has also questioned Nietzsche’s (nonetheless influential) assessment, in asking:
I wish to challenge the view that Schopenhauer is unquestionably an atheist. This is neither an accurate view of Schopenhauer nor one to which a thorough examination of his works should give rise. Notwithstanding his critique of much of the theology prevalent in his own day, it will be demonstrated that Schopenhauer’s interaction with religion played a decisive role in the formation of his philosophy and that his attitude towards religion primarily emphasized its functional nature. In addition to this, it will be shown here (and demonstrated throughout the present volume in general) that his ambivalent treatment of religion led to contradictions with other aspects of his philosophy, the ethical aspects and soteriological pinnacle of which resembles that of a religious system in itself. It should further be noted that here religion is defined in broad terms as a system of values, beliefs and practices whereby human individuals and communities seek to explain and regulate their existence with some reference to what lies ‘beyond’ the normal mode of that existence.5
