A função da palavra na filosofia de Schopenhauer: razão e poesia

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze a double concept of the word in Schopenhauer's philosophy. According to Schopenhauer, the word is an instrument of human reason. This means that man is capable of ordering his children in a discursive and rational way, as he is a kind of distinct animal, since he is endowed with the faculty of reason. It was through the faculty of reason that man was able to give concepts and ideals throughout his history, developing theories, improving as laws and organizing themselves into societies. Given this scenario, we could even suppose that the statute of the word in Schopenhauer's philosophy is exclusively subordinated to the composition and exposition of concepts within an empirical and scientific scope. However, our problematic part of the significant role that the word also has in poetry, thus acquiring another function in Schopenhauer's philosophy. The word is an indispensable instrument for the poet to communicate with the listener. In poetry, the poet does not expose concepts, but ideas, the highest degrees of object of the will that expresses or that is common to humankind. We understand, therefore, that there is a tension in Schopenhauer's philosophy, as the words enunciated by scientists communicate concepts and the words enunciated by poets announce ideas. Given this context, we understand the need to examine at first the types of representations in Schopenhauer's philosophy, distinguishing the representations submitted to the principle of reason from the representation independent of the principle of reason. In a second moment, understanding art as a mode of consideration independent of the principle of reason, analyzing the pure subject, the genius and the hierarchy of the fine arts. That said, we meet the conditions specifically required about the art of poetry and the role of the word, seeking to understand how the poet translates ideas into words. For an understanding of this dual role of the word, we will use, above all, volumes I and II of The World as Will and Representation (1818-1819 and 1844, respectively). In addition to these two works of great company by the author, we sought to examine the lectures on the Metaphysics of the Beauty (1820), which are also important for our research, since these texts the philosopher seeks to explain specific themes in volume III. Based on the study of these works, we tried to explain the concepts that deal with the theme of the word as an instrument of poetic art, understanding that a word and a poetry have a distinct place in Schopenhauer's philosophy.