Mythos and Logos

This edited volume contains chapters discussing Schopenhauer’s account of the criteria that distinguish philosophy from religion. It explores his account through a range of approaches, including its epistemological consistency, its application to determinate religious doctrines, its origin within Schopenhauer’s intellectual context, its relation to his accounts of aesthetic, moral and soteriological value and the epistemic status of science, as well as its reception in subsequent thinkers. It is the first edited volume in English devoted entirely to Schopenhauer's philosophy of religion. The contributions emerged from a lively workshop on Schopenhauer’s contrast between religious mythos and philosophical logos, held at The 4th Congress on Logic and Religion in Sinaia, Romania, in September 2023. The volume brings together a genuinely international range of perspectives, with contributors from the United Kingdom, Germany, Romania, Brazil, India and Japan. The book is of interest to scholars and students working on Schopenhauer, as well as to intellectual historians, theologians, cultural theorists and religious studies scholars. Although Schopenhauer's theory of religion has been well-received within Schopenhauer studies and philosophy more broadly, it has received comparatively little attention within religious studies or theology. This volume conveys the merits and contemporary relevance of Schopenhauer’s thought on religion to a wider scholarly audience.