Kant and Schopenhauer on the Ultimate Goal of Human Life

Abstract

Contemporary reflection concerning man focuses upon man as a being living only “here and now”, it is “short-termed” in character. In this paper, going against the current of this dominant tendency, I would like to show how interesting and important is the question about the ultimate goal of human life. In my considerations I refer to the thought of Immanuel Kant and Arthur Schopenhauer — two classical authors of modern philosophy — who still seem to exert a significant influence on the European culture. Even if in their systems they depart from similar assumptions, their conclusions concerning man are radically different: for Kant, every human being has unique value and is called to create “civil society”; for Schopenhauer every individual being (including man) is volatile and devoid of meaning and value. The question remains open as to whether the ultimate message of their philosophy can be still an inspiration for us today, or whether it already sounds rather strange and unfamiliar in confrontation with the spirit of modernity.