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It has frequently been said, and with some justice, that for his Weltanschauung Freud drew inspiration from Schopenhauer; their philosophies have been compared, and numerous analogies between them have been sought and found: the same pessimism on the part of both thinkers, the same despairful vision of the world, of man and of society, the same somber realism which traces human spirituality back to the workings of obscure primitive and instinctual forces.
The celebration of the birth of Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788) has drawn renewed attention to this still insufficiently appreciated philosopher, and provides the opportunity to substantiate the close connection between his philosophy and Freud's, upon which latter a recent volume has just thrown vivid light.1 We are not here concerned with making a detailed examination of the two systems; such an undertaking would lead us too far afield. We shall confine ourselves to a brief comparison of some of their most important doctrines. We shall speak of their doctrine of life in general, of their theory of æsthetics and of ethics, and of their conception of love.
At first sight the 'general philosophy' of Freud appears to be a faithful reproduction of that of the sage of Frankfort. As is well known, it reduces the world, and life in particular, to an interplay of forces acting in coöperation or, more often, in antagonism to one another. After having, in his original system, contrasted the sexual instincts with the ego instincts, he then distinguishes between the libido (sexual instinct, or eros) and Thanatos (or the instincts of death and destruction). Everywhere