The Art of Controversy by Arthur Schopenhauer

Without a doubt, Schopenhauer is one of the giants of Western philosophy. He represents a turning point from the quest to define the external world as something apart from our experience to a recognition of our experience as the medium of our world. Philosophy is a discourse, a conversation spread out over centuries that explores and develops different lines of thought.

Schopenhauer embodies the moment in Western philosophy where the snake begins to eat its own tail, where the unreasoning insistence upon an external world is finally examined with due criticism and care. His ideas are not for shallow and superficial thinkers; they require a breadth and depth of vision that few possess. However, for those willing to see the conceptions through, they offer a platform to step out into a more profound and far-reaching conception of our existence than any previously encountered in Western thought.

The Art of Controversy is a skillful analysis of the mechanisms of thought and debate, and the stratagems necessary to conquer any intellectual controversy one might encounter.

The narration of the full text is preceded by a summary, as well as an exploration of the life of the author, a synopsis of the work, and an examination of his impact upon history and thought.