El presente artículo investiga de qué forma la centralidad del sufrimiento en la filosofía de Schopenhauer sirve para fundamentar su pesimismo. Tres son los argumentos analizados: el lugar del sufrimiento en el mundo, su lugar en la conciencia humana y su lugar frente a la felicidad. A la luz de estos tres argumentos, se destaca que el vínculo indisoluble entre el sufrimiento y la esencia del mundo, la determinación del sufrimiento en la conciencia, tanto en su génesis como en su (...) intensidad, y su anterioridad ontológica frente a la felicidad hacen del pesimismo una categoría necesaria. Finalmente, se señala una posible contribución del pesimismo schopenhaueriano a la crítica social contemporánea, considerando la idea de mundo que el capitalismo tardío promueve. (shrink)

Although suffering in Schopenhauer’s works may be explained by how the will to life is objectified in the world, a more precise inquiry leads us to elucidate the significance of this experience in his writings. This article claims in the first place that suffering in this author’s works is triggered by multiple sources and takes various forms. In fact, and this is the article’s second claim, these sources coincide with some later scholars’ characterizations of modern suffering. The main aim is (...) to show the value of Schopenhauer’s works in understanding modern malaise. This article is divided into 4 parts: in the first part, some considerations about suffering and modernity are indicated; in the second part, the place of suffering in Schopenhauer’s works is explored; in the third part, some of suffering’s sources are analysed; finally, a number of dimensions that may be of great value in better understanding modern malaise are noted. (shrink)

Este trabajo analiza el papel de la individualidad en la constitución del sufrimiento en la obra de Arthur Schopenhauer y lo hace a tres niveles. A nivel metafísico, se estudia la relevancia del carácter inteligible; a nivel empírico, se explora el papel de la personalidad; y, a nivel intelectual, se examina la influencia del grado de conocimiento individual sobre el dolor. Finalmente se señalan algunas consecuencias de la centralidad de la individualidad en relación al sufrimiento.

The question of how meaning serves to sustain dominance has been part of the programme of a critique of ideology from the outset. If ideology makes the meaning of the social world and its interpretations decontested, a main task of the critique of ideology is to show their contestability. I would like to reconsider the value of metaphor within this programme and claim that metaphors are noteworthy devices for the critique of ideology due to their ability to undermine ideological incontestability: (...) by calling into question its consistency, by exploring other possible interpretations and by enriching its univocal character, that is, through evoking a new way of seeing social reality, metaphors manage to disclose the contestability of the social world and its interpretations. (shrink)