SCHOPENHAUER AND THE ANALOGICAL PROOF THAT THE WILL IS THE THING IN IT-SELF

a reading of § 19 of Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung from the point of view of Aristotelian rhetoric

Abstract

This paper proposes a reading of § 19 of Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung from the point of view of Aristotelean rhetoric. In this referred section, Schopenhauer propose an analogy between the human body and the all other things that compose the nature. As an alternative to interpretations that take the analogy, on the on hand, as a proof in the sense of formal logic, and on another as a device to reach the core of nature, we present the following hypothesis: in this § 19 Schopenhauer formulate a “analogical rhetoric argument”, whereby would be concluded that “the Will is the thing-in-itself”, this concluding being true, although not needed of classical logic point of view. This would be possible, according to Aristotle’s dialectical method, because of connection between the “truth” and the “verisimilitude”, ensured by the use of argumentative “commonplaces” collected of his metaphysical thinking and which are applied to his rhetorical art, which we intend to explore here. Therefore, we will resort to analyze the text in which Schopenhauer elaborate the analogy, and to some other his writings that have direct relationship with this some problem; and we will also analyze the texts in which Aristotle directly or indirectly prepare his rhetoric art theory, especially the Rhetoric, as well some parts of The new rhetoric: a treatise on argumentation, in which Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca reformulate, but still reflect the same concerns presents in that Aristotelean work.