Some years ago I read some of the writings of Arthur Schopenhauer. Despite being a fabulous writer his early work was quite literally ignored. In fact his very first publication was such a non-event no one even read it. Likewise, because his career as a lecturer in Philosophy coincided with the popular Hegel, no-one attended his classes either.
Part of the problem for Schopenhauer was his negative view of life. He was a glass half empty kind of guy, which is hardly surprising when you read about his mother – a woman casually described as, “without heart and soul”. Later biographers went on to reveal her mothering style as a form of, “maternal deprivation”.
However, Arthur wasn’t all negativity. For him there were rays of light each day. The happiest part was falling asleep, and the unhappiest was waking up. You get the idea.
Yet this view of life is fairly common among intellectual giants. History reveals that many of the greatest minds suffered under the weight of melancholy – a state of mind that thinks a bit too much about those things most of us ignore. For Schopenhauer that thing was human suffering and the variety of responses to it. In fact he observed so much suffering he concluded that human life must be some kind of mistake. The actor Woody Allen proffered the same sentiment when he said, “life is divided in to miserable and horrible…..so, when you go through life you should be grateful that you are only miserable”.
Despite being a pessimist, Schopenhauer’s work urges us toward the very best aspect of human nature – compassion. Through his observations he concluded that there are only three motives that move people to act.
The first is self-promotion. He claims this is the most natural motive.
The second is the desire to inflict harm on others. An action that appears uniquely human.
The third and last motive is the desire to promote the welfare of others even when doing so acts against our own self-interest. It’s this last motive that we regard with the highest approval. We don’t act not out of self-interest, but as one “feeling” creature that connects with the experience of another. Compassion is the foundation of all morality.
Schopenhauer wanted to show us that motive is everything – not merely outcomes. Even if our actions fail comprehensively, we are still functioning at our best because we are driven by compassion.
You might not agree with Schopenhauer’s view of the world, however he is well served by wisdom from the ages. The Jewish Talmud states, “The whole value of a benevolent act lies in the love that inspired it”. In the same way Jesus recited the first testament law, “Love others as yourself”.
Doing good stuff is great. What is better is to cultivate the motive that drives goodness. For Schopenhauer and the Talmud, compassion is the basis of every good act. The Bible teaches that true compassion comes only from God who made us in his image. As creatures we recognise that image in one-another and act accordingly.