The Crisis of Reason and the Birth of Irrationalism
In the second half of the nineteenth century, Europe faced an extraordinary transformation. Industrial revolutions, the rise of nationalism, colonial expansion, and the decline of Enlightenment rationalism profoundly reshaped Western civilization. Amid this cultural upheaval emerged one of the most powerful and controversial intellectual currents of modern times: philosophical irrationalism.
Against the Enlightenment’s absolute faith in reason and Hegel’s belief in the dialectical unfolding of Spirit, two German philosophers stood as rebels and visionaries — Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche.
Their work shattered the foundations of rationalist thought and offered a radically new worldview based on life, instinct, will, and becoming. From this vision arose not only a new metaphysics but also an implicit conception of politics and geopolitics — a deep reflection on power, history, and civilization.
Schopenhauer embodied the pessimistic and contemplative face of irrationalism: for him, blind will lies at the root of all suffering, and salvation comes only through renunciation, compassion, and art. Nietzsche, by contrast, represented the active and Dionysian dimension: will is not an evil to be denied, but a creative force to be affirmed. Life, for Nietzsche, is not to be escaped, but to be overcome, celebrated, and recreated.
Beneath their philosophical differences lies a shared vision of Europe’s destiny — a reflection on the decline of the West, the loss of meaning in modern civilization, and the possibility of spiritual renewal through new values and new forms of power.
Schopenhauer: The World as Tragedy of the Will
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) was the philosopher of metaphysical pessimism. In his masterpiece, The World as Will and Representation (1818), he proposed a revolutionary thesis: the essence of reality is not reason or spirit, but will — an unconscious, blind, and purposeless force that manifests itself in every living being and drives existence itself.
The world we perceive, Schopenhauer argued, is merely representation — a deceptive appearance, like the veil of Maya in Hindu philosophy. Behind this illusion lies the will to live (Wille zum Leben), a cosmic impulse that condemns all beings to endless striving, desire, and suffering.
Desire can never be satisfied; every pleasure gives way to new longing, and thus life becomes an unbroken chain of pain and frustration.
Politics as an Illusion of the Will
From this metaphysical perspective, politics appears as one of the many illusions of the will — a superficial phenomenon belonging to the realm of representation. States, empires, wars, and revolutions are merely temporary expressions of the same blind force that compels individuals to struggle for survival and domination.
Politics, therefore, cannot be redemptive or rational. For Schopenhauer, history is not progress but repetition — an endless cycle in which the same desires, ambitions, and conflicts reappear in different forms. In this sense, he directly opposes Hegel’s view of history as the rational unfolding of Spirit.
Where Hegel saw progress, Schopenhauer saw only the eternal return of suffering.
Schopenhauer’s Anti-Geopolitical Vision
Geopolitically, Schopenhauer represents a kind of anti-realism. He rejects the notion that political relations between states can ever be guided by moral or rational principles. Nations, like individuals, are driven by selfish instincts — by the same will to life — and therefore destined to conflict.
However, unlike Machiavelli or Hobbes, Schopenhauer does not glorify this struggle. He sees it as a tragic expression of the universal will, a cosmic suffering that pervades all existence.
The only true escape from this endless struggle is denial of the will: asceticism, compassion for all living beings, and the contemplation of art, particularly music, which he saw as the purest expression of the will beyond concepts.
Thus, Schopenhauer’s philosophy offers a mystical and contemplative response to the crisis of modern rationality — not the conquest of the world, but its transcendence through inner peace and aesthetic experience.
Nietzsche: The Will to Power and the Revaluation of Values
If Schopenhauer saw will as the source of suffering, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) saw it as the essence of life itself. For Nietzsche, existence is not guided by reason or morality but by a creative and expansive force — the will to power (Wille zur Macht).
Nietzsche’s philosophy represents a radical break with the metaphysical tradition of the West. In works like Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, and On the Genealogy of Morals, he declares that Western civilization has been built on a lie: the belief in a “true” world beyond appearances — whether in religion, metaphysics, or moral ideals.
These illusions, Nietzsche argues, have enslaved humanity. To restore life’s vitality, he calls for a transvaluation of all values — the destruction of moral absolutes and the creation of new, life-affirming principles.
Politics as Creative Power
Nietzsche is not a political theorist in the traditional sense, yet his thought has profound political and geopolitical implications. He interprets history as a struggle of vital forces, not as moral progress.
Nations and cultures rise or fall depending on their creative energy, their ability to generate art, power, and meaning.
For Nietzsche, politics is an art of creation, not an administrative science. True power lies not in institutions or laws but in the strength of spirit that animates a people.
He despised democracy, socialism, and egalitarianism, viewing them as symptoms of herd morality — the morality of the weak, which suppresses excellence and individuality.
In their place, Nietzsche celebrates the Overman (Übermensch) — the individual who transcends conventional morality and creates his own values, living “beyond good and evil.”
Geopolitics and the Decline of the West
Nietzsche’s geopolitical vision is rooted in a deep diagnosis of the crisis of Western civilization. He observes Europe’s growing nihilism — the loss of faith in God, in progress, and in moral meaning — and calls it “the greatest event of modern history.”
For him, the “death of God” is both a catastrophe and an opportunity: the end of old illusions and the beginning of a new era of self-overcoming.
Nietzsche warns that Europe, tired and decadent, risks spiritual collapse. To avoid this, it must undergo a cultural and moral rebirth. His “geopolitics” is therefore not territorial but spiritual — a call for the rebirth of Europe through strength, creativity, and new values.
The will to power here does not mean political domination but the capacity to shape the world, to impose form upon chaos.
However, later interpretations — especially during the twentieth century — distorted Nietzsche’s ideas to justify authoritarian ideologies and imperial ambitions that he would have fiercely rejected.
Schopenhauer and Nietzsche Compared: Two Faces of Irrationalism
Although Schopenhauer and Nietzsche belong to the same philosophical current, they represent two opposing attitudes toward life, power, and history.
| Aspect | Schopenhauer | Nietzsche |
|---|---|---|
| Nature of the Will | Blind, painful force to be denied | Creative, vital force to be affirmed |
| Worldview | Pessimistic, ascetic | Dynamic, Dionysian |
| Politics | Illusion of suffering | Expression of creative power |
| Morality | Compassion and renunciation | Revaluation of values beyond good and evil |
| Geopolitics | Critique of egoism and conflict | Celebration of vitality and strength |
| Goal of Life | Liberation from desire | Creation of new values by the Overman |
In essence, Schopenhauer represents the irrationalism of renunciation, while Nietzsche embodies the irrationalism of affirmation.
The former seeks peace through withdrawal; the latter seeks greatness through struggle and creation.
Yet both share a critique of rationalism and modernity: both reject the Enlightenment ideal of reason as the measure of truth and see art, myth, and instinct as paths to rediscover the authentic meaning of existence.
The Political and Geopolitical Legacy of Irrationalism
The influence of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche on Western political thought has been immense and multifaceted.
In Schopenhauer’s case, his skepticism toward history and progress inspired an existential and artistic view of life. His philosophy deeply influenced writers such as Tolstoy, Thomas Mann, and Marcel Proust, as well as thinkers like Freud and Wittgenstein, who recognized in the unconscious will a continuation of Schopenhauer’s insights.
Nietzsche’s legacy is even broader. His reflection on the will to power and the crisis of values became central to twentieth-century philosophy — from Heidegger to existentialism, from psychoanalysis to postmodernism.
However, Nietzsche’s ideas were also dangerously misinterpreted: the concept of will to power was twisted into a doctrine of domination by totalitarian ideologies, whereas Nietzsche himself envisioned a spiritual, not political, revolution.
On a deeper level, both thinkers helped shift the center of political reflection from institutions to culture, from structures to values.
Power, for them, is not only a matter of states and armies, but of souls, symbols, and vitality.
In their view, the crisis of the West is above all a crisis of meaning — a struggle between life-affirming and life-denying forces, between the will to live and the will to nothingness.
Conclusion: Beyond Reason, Toward Life
Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, though separated by temperament and philosophy, share a single mission: to move beyond the limits of rationalism and reconnect philosophy with the raw energy of life.
Schopenhauer teaches compassion and resignation; Nietzsche calls for strength, creativity, and joy in becoming.
One finds salvation in silence, the other in action.
But both reveal the same truth: that beneath the rational order of civilization lies a deeper, irrational reality — the drama of will and life.
In our modern age of nihilism, technological domination, and spiritual fatigue, their lessons remain profoundly relevant.
Schopenhauer reminds us of the vanity of desire and the need for inner peace. Nietzsche urges us to embrace struggle, creation, and the eternal affirmation of existence.
Between these two extremes — the ascetic and the hero, the renunciation and the conquest — lies the eternal tension of modern humanity, and perhaps the path to its renewal.
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