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Wert des Lebens: *
Dühring saw Schopenhauer as an “epoch-making” philosopher owing to the questions he posed placing the value of life at the centre of philosophical discussion & opening new avenues of philosophical discourse; he honoured Schopenhauer’s empirical point of departure based on natural science & borrowed several of Schopenhauer’ ideas (emphasis on instinct, the basis of law on materialist principles); however he disagreed with Schopenhauer ‘s pessimism, turning one’s back on life was not right; estimations of life as good or bad was based on the individual temperament, not simply a philosophy Schopenhauer or otherwise; Dühring held faith in the intellect & here differs from Schopenhauer; he is also dismissive of Schopenhauer’s emphasis on the subconscious as well as his radical philosophizing from the perspective of the human body. The book also deals with Feuerbach who shaped Dühring’s worldview. Feuerbach had many adherents in Germany, especially regarding Christianity, he held that God is a projection of the human mind. Echoes of Nietzsche can be heard in Dühring’s chapter on death; particularly where Zarathustra advises the rope dancer to dismiss fears for Hell & judgment. The book was controversial in Germany; Nietzsche stated he read The Worth of Life “to find out what he had on Schopenhauer and what he did not”.
It is notable that Dühring had such an impact on Spengler to merit inclusion in this list; he is not referenced elsewhere in Decline; today he is forgotten, obscure even among the academics.