A Word on Schopenhauer

Charles Johnston (1867-1931) was an Irish writer, journalist, theosophist, linguist, naturalist, and Sanskrit scholar. Johnston He wrote numerous books on Indian philosophy, translating works from Sanskrit as well as on Theosophy. He was married to the niece of Madame Blavatsky and was involved in the development of the Theosophical Society in the United States.

Johnston translated several works from Sanskrit and Russian. As an author, he devoted himself primarily to philosophical and theosophical topics, and wrote a great number and variety of articles and books, ranging from scholarly writings on scriptures to popular volumes of humor, travel, and history.

The Johnston’s article A Word on Schopenhauer, which we propose to our readers today, was published in October 1904 in the Theosophical Forum.

According to Johnston, the great achievement of Schopenhauer was the perception of the fact that an hypothetical outer something, a force that provoked the changing appearances, was not so hopelessly unknowable.