He is done with studying – now he wants to live. A month-long journey takes the young Schopenhauer from Dresden to Venice, from Goethe to Lord Byron, over rugged mountains and through broad valleys into the labyrinth of canals – and the maelstrom of reality. Schopenhauer would be only too pleased to see philosophers and writers reacting to his ideas – to see Hegel giving up his throne, and the elderly Goethe paying tribute to him, a mere 30 year old. But publication of his groundbreaking work has been delayed. And so Schopenhauer leaves Dresden for Italy in the late summer of 1818 without his book in his suitcase – he is still a nobody. Even before he arrives he attracts the attention of Metternich's secret police: Goethe's note recommending him to Lord Byron – a man with a wide reputation as a poet and as a figure of scandal – casts suspicion on Schopenhauer and makes him unwelcome in Austrian-occupied Veneto. But once he gets to Venice, Schopenhauer refuses to be driven out and certainly not after he meets Teresa. For Teresa shows the young philosopher that he still needs to rethink one point in his world view: his idea of love.
Christoph Poschenrieder gives us a Schopenhauer who is somewhat different from what he is generally imagined. His hero still sees the world through the lens of his philosophy, it is true, but that philosophy, like the man himself, is surprisingly sensual and lively.