On the Vanity of Existence is one of Arthur Schopenhauer's classics.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) is remembered as an atheist, a pessimist, and the first Western philosopher to incorporate Eastern thought into his work. Iconoclastic in his time, his ideas remain provocative and insightful today. The ten essays collected in this volume demonstrate his brilliance as both a scholar and a stylist. They serve as an ideal introduction to his work, as well as an illuminating supplement to his magnum opus, The World as Will and Representation.

This edition originally published by Berghahn Books. Schopenhauer's treatise on ethics is presented here in E. F. J. Payne’s definitive translation, based on the Hubscher edition (Wiesbaden, 1946-1950). This edition includes an Introduction by David Cartwright, a translator’s preface, biographical note, selected bibliography, and an index. For convenient reference to passages in Kant's work discussed by Schopenhauer, Academy edition numbers have been added.

"I've been a philosopher for all my adult life and the three most profound books of philosophy that I have ever read are Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Songs." These are the opening lines of Kreeft's Three Philosophies of Life. He reflects that there are ultimately only three philosophies of life and each one is represented by one of these books of the Bible-life is vanity; life is suffering; life is love. In these three books Kreeft shows how we have Dante's great epic The Divine Comedy played out, from Hell to Purgatory to Heaven. But it is an epic played out in our hearts and lives, here and now. Just as there is movement in Dante's epic, so there is movement in these books, from Ecclesiates to Job, from Job to Song of Songs. Love is the final answer to Ecclesiastes' quest, the alternative to vanity, and the true meaning of life. Finally, Kreeft sees in these books the epitome of theological virtues of faith, hope and love and "an esstential summary of the spiritual history of the world".

"Studies in Pessimism, On Human Nature, and Religion: a Dialogue, etc." is a collection of essays by famed German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. In this work you will find three collections of essays which include the following: On The Sufferings Of The World, On The Vanity Of Existence, On Suicide, Immortality: A Dialogue, Psychological Observations, On Education, Of Women, On Noise, A Few Parables, Human Nature, Government, Free-Will And Fatalism, Character, Moral Instinct, Ethical Reflections, Religion: A Dialogue, A Few Words On Pantheism, On Books And Reading, On Physiognomy, Psychological Observations, and The Christian System.

Volume 1 of the definitive English translation of one of the most important philosophical works of the 19th century, the basic statement in one important stream of post-Kantian thought.

Arthur Schopenhauer (22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work The World as Will and Representation, in which he argues that the phenomenal world is driven by a metaphysical will that perpetually and malignantly seeks satiation. He also wrote influentially on aesthetics, ethics, and religion.Transcendental idealism formed the basis for much of his thought, and his atheistic philosophy has been described as an exemplary manifestation of philosophical pessimism. Finding his philosophical conclusions to be compatible with those of much Eastern philosophy, his solutions to the problems of existence and suffering were consequently similar to those of Vedantic and Buddhist thinkers. Schopenhauer's influence has proven profound across various disciplines; those who have cited his influence include Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, Leo Tolstoy, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Otto Rank, Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, Thomas Mann, and Jorge Luis Borges, among others.

What if it is death that teaches us how to truly live? Keeping the end in mind shapes how we live our lives in the here and now. Living life backward means taking the one thing in our future that is certain—death—and letting that inform our journey before we get there. Looking to the book of Ecclesiastes for wisdom, Living Life Backward was written to shake up our expectations and priorities for what it means to live "the good life." Considering the reality of death helps us pay attention to our limitations as human beings and receive life as a wondrous gift from God—freeing us to live wisely, generously, and faithfully for God's glory and the good of his world.