Ирвин Ялом - The Schopenhauer Cure

walked out.

An hour later seven members filed into Philip`s

office for their first group meeting and warily sat down in

Julius`s chairs. Philip had wept twice as an adult: once

during that last meeting of Julius`s therapy group and again

upon learning that Julius had bequeathed him these nine

chairs.

«So,” Philip began, «welcome to our group. We`ve

tried to orient you to the group procedures during our

screening session with each of you. Now it`s time to

begin.»

«That`s it. Just like that? No further instructions?»

said Jason, a short, wiry middle–aged man wearing a tight

black Nike T–shirt.

«I remember how scared I was in my first group

therapy session,” said Tony, who leaned forward in his

seat. He was neatly dressed in a white short–sleeved shirt,

khaki trousers, and brown loafers.

«I didn`t say anything about being scared,” replied

Jason. «I`m referring to the lack of guidance.»

«Well, what would help get you started?» asked

Tony.

«Info. That`s what makes the world go round now.

This is supposed to be a philosophical consultation group—

are both of you philosophers?»

«I`m a philosopher,” said Philip, «with a doctorate

from Columbia, and Tony, my coleader, is a counseling

student.»

«A student? I don`t get it. How will you two operate

here?» shot back Jason.

«Well,” answered Tony, «Philip will bring in helpful

ideas from his knowledge of philosophy, and me, well, I`m

here to learn and to pitch in any way I can—I`m more of an

expert in emotional accessibility. Right, partner?»

Philip nodded.

«Emotional accessibility? Am I supposed to know

what that means?» asked Jason.

«Jason,” interrupted another member, «my name is

Marsha, and I want to point out that this is about the fifth

challenging thing you`ve said in the first five minutes of

our group.»

«And?»

«And you`re the kind of macho–exhibitionistic guy I

have a lot of trouble with.»

«And you`re the kind of Miss Prissy who gives me a

major pain in the ass.»

«Wait, wait, let`s freeze the action for a moment,”

said Tony, «and get some feedback on our first five minutes

from the other members here. First, I want to say something

to you, Jason, and to you, Marsha—something that Philip

and I learned from Julius, our teacher. Now, I`m sure you

two feel like this is a stormy beginning but I`ve got a

hunch, a very strong hunch, that by the end of this group,

each of you are going to prove very valuable to the other.

Right, Philip?»

«Right you are, partner.»

«Every breath we draw wards...”: Arthur

Schopenhauer,The World as Will and Representation, trans.

E. F. J. Payne, 2 vols. (New York: Dover Publications,

1969), vol. 1., p. 311 / В§ 57

«Ecstasy in the act of copulation...”: Arthur

Schopenhauer,Manuscript Remains in Four Volumes, ed.

Arthur HГјbscher, trans. E. F. J. Payne (Oxford: Berg

Publishers, 1988‫90), vol. 3. p. 262 / § 111

«Life is a miserable thing...”: Eduard Grisebach,

ed.,Schopenhauer`s Gespräche und Selbstgespräche

(Berlin: E. Hofmann, 1898), p. 3

«Talent is like a marksman...”: Schopenhauer,World as

Will, vol. 2, p. 391 / chap. 31, «On Genius.»

«No one helped me,...”: RГјdiger Safranski,Schopenhauer

and the Wild Years of Philosophy, trans. Ewald Osers

(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991), p. 11.

«A happy life is impossible...”: Arthur

Schopenhauer,Parerga and Paralipomena, trans. E. F. J.

Payne, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000), vol. 2, p.

322 / В§ 172a.

«The solid foundations of our view...”: Ibid., vol. 1, p. 478

/ chap. 6, «On the Different Periods of Life.»

«Splendor, rank, and title exercise...”:

Safranski,Schopenhauer, p. 14.

«I no more pretended ardent love...”: Ibid., p. 13

«If we look at life in its small details...”: T. Bailey

Saunders, trans.,Complete Essays of Schopenhauer: Seven

Books in One Volume (New York: Wiley, 1942), book 5, p.

24. See also Schopenhauer,Parerga and Paralipomena,

vol. 2, p. 290 / В§ 147a.

«in the near and penetrating eye of death...”: Thomas

Mann,Buddenbrooks, trans. H. T. Lowe–Porter (New York:

Vintage Books, 1952), p. 509

«A master–mind could lay hold...”: Ibid., p. 510

«Have I hoped to live on...”: Ibid., p. 513

«so perfectly consistently clear...”: Thomas Mann,Essays

of Three Decades, trans. H. T. Lowe–Porter (New York:

Alfred A. Knopf, 1947), p. 373

«emotional, breath–taking, playing between violent

contrasts...”: Ibid., p. 373.

«letting that dynamic, dismal genius work...”: Ronald

Hayman,Nietzsche: A Critical Life (New York: Penguin,

1982), p. 72

«Religion has everything on its side...”:

Schopenhauer,World as Will, vol. 2, p. 166 / chap. 17, «On

Man`s Need for Metaphysics.»

«Could we foresee it...”: Saunders,Complete Essays, book

5, p. 3. See also Schopenhauer,Parerga and Paralipomena,

vol. 2, p. 298 / В§ 155a.

«In endless space countless luminous spheres...”:

Schopenhauer,World as Will, vol. 2, p. 3 / chap. 1, «On the

Fundamental View of Idealism.»

«Just because the terrible activity...”: Ibid., vol. 2, p. 394 /

chap. 31, «On Genius.»

«by far the happiest part...”: Safranski,Schopenhauer, p. 26

«Remember how your father permits...”: Ibid., p. 29

«feeling of two friends meeting...”: Schopenhauer,Parerga

and Paralipomena, vol. 2, p. 299 / В§ 156

«I found myself in a country unknown to me...”:

Safranski,Schopenhauer, p. 280

«The greatest wisdom is to make...”:

Schopenhauer,Parerga and Paralipomena, vol. 2, p. 284 /

В§ 143.

«The kings left their crowns and scepters behind...”:

Safranski,Shopenhauer, p. 44.

«put aside all these authors for a while...”: Ibid., p. 37

«In my seventeenth year...”: Ibid., p. 41

«This world is supposed to have been made...”: Ibid., 58

«When, at the end of their lives...”: Schopenhauer,Parerga

and Paralipomena, vol. 2, p. 285 / В§ 145

«A person of high, rare mental gifts...”:

Schopenhauer,World as Will, vol. 2, p. 388 / chap. 31, «On

Genius.»

«Noble, excellent spirit to whom I owe everything...”:

Safranski,Shopenhauer, p. 278.

«Dancing and riding do not make...” and other quotations

from Heinrich`s letters: Ibid., pp. 52‫53

«I know too well how little you had...”: Ibid., p. 81

«I continued to hold my position...”: Ibid., p. 55

«Your character...”: Arthur Schopenhauer. Johanna

Schopenhauer to Arthur Schopenhauer (April 28, 1807).

InDer Briefwechsel Arthur Schopenhauer Hrsg. v. Carl

Gebbart Drei Bände. Erste Band (1799) München: R. Piper

& Co. p.129ff. Trans. by Felix Reuter and Irvin Yalom.

«I will always choose the most exciting option...”: Der

Briefwechsel Arthur Schopenhauers. Herausgegeben von

Carl Gebhardt. Erster Band (1799‫1849). Munich: R.

Piper, 1929. Aus: Arthur Schopenhauer: Sämtliche Werke.

Herausgegeben von Dr. Paul Deussen. Vierzehnter Band.

Erstes und zweites Tausend. Munich: R. Piper, 1929. pp.

129ff. Nr.71. Correspondence, Gebhardt and HГјbscher,

eds. Letter from Johanna Schopenhauer, April 28, 1807,

trans. by Felix Reuter and Irvin Yalom.

«The serious and calm tone...”: Ibid.,

That you have so quickly come to a decision...”:

Safranski,Schopenhauer, p. 84

«It is noteworthy and remarkable to see...”:

Schopenhauer,World as Will, vol. 1, p. 85 / В§ 16.

«Only the male intellect...”: Schopenhauer,Parerga and

Paralipomena, vol. 2, p. 619 / В§ 369

«Your eternal quibbles, your laments...”:

Safranski,Schopenhauer, pp. 92, 94.

«I know women. They regard marriage only...”: Arthur

Schopenhauer: Gespräche. Hrsg. v. Arthur Hübscher,

Stuttgart–Bad Cannstatt 1971, p.152. Trans. by Felix Reuter

and Irvin Yalom.

«Mark now on what footing...”: Safranski, p. 94

«Fourfold root? No doubt this...”: Ibid., p. 169

«The door which you slammed so noisily...”: Paul Deusen,

ed.,Journal of the Schopenhauer Society, 1912‫1944, trans.

Felix Reuter, Frankfurt: n.p. 1973, p. 128.

«Most men allow themselves to be seduced...”:

Schopenhauer,Manuscript Remains, vol. 4, p. 504 /

“ ,” В§ 25. Trans. modified by Felix Reuter

and Irvin Yalom.

«Great sufferings render lesser ones...”:

Schopenhauer,World as Will, vol. 1, p. 316 / В§ 57. Trans.

modified by Walter Sokel and Irvin Yalom.

«Nothing can alarm or move him any more...”: Ibid., vol.

1, p. 390/ В§ 68.

«One must have chaos...”: Friedrich Nietzsche,Thus Spoke

Zarathustra, trans. R. J. Hollingdale (New York: Penguin,

1961), p. 46

«The flower replied:...”: Schopenhauer,Parerga and

Paralipomena, vol. 2, p. 649 / chap. 314 В§ 388.»

«The cheerfulness and buoyancy of our youth...”: Ibid.,

vol. 1, p. 483 / chap. 6, «On the Different Periods of Life.»

«half mad through excesses...”: Arthur HГјbscher,Arthur

Schopenhauer: Ein Lebensbild. Dritte Auflage,

durchgesehen von Angelika HГјbscher, mit einer Abbildung

und zwei Handschriftproben. (Mannheim: F. A. Brockhaus,

1988), S. 12

«little though I care for stiff etiquette...”:

Safranski,Schopenhauer, p. 40

«I only wish you had learned...”: Ibid., p. 40

«Next to the picture were...”: Ibid., p. 42

«I find that a panorama from a high mountain...”: Ibid., p.

51.

«Philosophy is a high mountain road...”:

Schopenhauer,Manuscript Remains, vol. 1, p. 14 / В§ 20

«We entered a room of carousing servants...”:

Safranski,Schopenhauer, p. 51.

«The strident singing of the multitude...” and subsequent

quotations in this paragraph: Ibid., p. 43

«I am sorry that your stay...”: Ibid., p. 45

«Every time I went out among men...”:

Schopenhauer,Manuscript Remains, vol. 4, p. 512 /

“ ,” В§ 32

«Be sure your objective judgments...”:

Safranski,Schopenhauer, p. 167

«He is a happy man...”: Saunders,Complete Essays, book

2, p. 63. See also Schopenhauer,Parerga and

Paralipomena, vol. 1, p. 445 / chap. 5, «Counsels and

Maxims.»

«Sex does not hesitate to intrude...”: Schopenhauer,World

as Will, vol. 2, p. 533 / chap. 44, «The Metaphysics of

Sexual Love.»

«Obit anus, abit onus...”: Bryan Magee,The Philosophy of

Schopenhauer (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983; revised

1997), p. 13, footnote.

«Industrious whore»: Safranski,Schopenhauer, p. 66

«I was very fond of them...”: Ibid., p. 67

«But I didn`t want them, you see...”: Arthur Schopenhauer:

Gespräche. Herausgegeben von Arthur Hübscher. Neue,

stark erweiterte Ausg. Stuttgart–Bad Cannstatt, 1971, p. 58.

Trans. by Felix Reuter.

«May you not totally lose the ability...”:

Safranski,Schopenhauer, p. 245

«For a woman, limitation to one man...”: Ibid., p. 271

«Man at one time has too much...”: Ibid., p. 271