Nnadiebube Journal of Philosophy

In many instances, ideas do blend or conflict in different personalities, at different times and different places. Such is the case between Schopenhauer and Nietzsche which is the focus of this research as we try to analyse their philosophies, looking for a philosophical connection. To do this better, we ask questions such as; is there any similarity between their philosophies? If there is, what is the similarity or similarities? Do they always agree or disagree on a point. Do their dissimilarities give any clue to their philosophical connection? And so on. The work employs the method of hermeneutics where their ideas are placed side by side for easy interpretation. However it was discovered that there are actually connections between Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer in their philosophies. A clear instance of this is how they developed the concept of the “will" as the basic factor that motivates human undertakings. Nevertheless, they conceived this "will' from different aspects. While Schopenhauer sees the will as the basic desire of human beings to live, Nietzsche conceives of will as the desire of man to control himself and others. Finally, this work recommends the application of reason in appreciating the works of these philosophers in order to discover and separate the merits from the demerits of their philosophies.

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