Arthur Schopenhauer

Michel Houellebecq describes an intense and visible reflection on contemporary society and the human condition. In his novels he uses the technique of literary paradox and expressing his opinions without any consideration or limitation, he is often considered a pessimistic writer. He describes his contemporaries carefully and frankly, and allows himself to formulate a strong and unequivocal critique of the state of the world. As a sociologist, Houellebecq strives to understand and depict modern society. His novels focus on contemporary society, a society in which it seems difficult to objectify human relationships, and where the person has become asocial and isolated, and is no longer able to communicate with others. The aim of his novels is to reveal the considerable problems of 21st century society through novels that show the insensitivity and alienation of people and which depict contemporary man as if he were imprisoned in his own mind. The objective of the present article is to analyze the influence of Schopenhauer's philosophy on the work of Michel Houellebecq following the method of intertextual analysis with emphasis on the idea of human suffering in Schopenhauer and Houellebecq.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) is one of the great philosophers in the world. He is a pessimistic philosopher who has his own special view toward life and the pleasures and pains of life. He is known as the philosopher of pessimism, as he articulated a worldview that challenges the value of existence. On the other hand, in the mystical and intellectual world of Islam, Mawlana Jalal al-Din, known as Rumi, (604-672 AH) stands. Unlike Schopenhauer, he is a ‘happy’ (optimistic) mystic. The importance of "blissfulness" and the ways to achieve it in life made us examine this issue comparatively in the thoughts of Rumi and Schopenhauer. With this aim, library resources were studied and necessary data were collected. The research method was descriptive-analytical. The results of the study showed that, unlike Schopenhauer, Rumi is a religious person and believes in God. This issue has created a significant difference in their definition of blissfulness and their hypotheses about the ways to achieve a blissful life. However, issues such as "who we are", "what we have", and "what we show" which Schopenhauer stated have an effect on the creation of happiness, and are similar to parts of Molavi's ideas. The interesting part is that, according to these two thinkers, the mental treatment of human beings with phenomena has an effect on feeling satisfied with life. ‘Who we are’ is a rich source of happiness. Rumi's and Schopenhauer's recommendations are still applicable to humans today since we are trapped in the machine and industrial world and are struggling with great sorrows.