Barbara Hannan Cooke

I am a philosophical generalist. In my view, when philosophy becomes overly specialized, it loses touch with issues of interest to ordinary persons. I like to write across disciplines, for an audience of students and for the educated general public, rather than aiming my work only at philosophical professionals. I agree with Arthur Schopenhauer that genuine philosophy begins with astonishment at the world, and should convey the truth in clear language.

My latest book, The Riddle of the World: A Reconsideration of Schopenhauer's Philosophy, was published in January 2009 by Oxford University Press. This book has been sent to Schopenhauer scholars for review, and some of them have hated it, attacking me for not citing all the secondary literature on Schopenhauer, not reading Schopenhauer in the original German, etc., etc. These criticisms miss the point.

With regard to the criticism that I failed to cite much of the secondary literature on Schopenhauer, I wish to quote Ludwig Wittgenstein, from the preface to his Tractatus: “I do not wish to judge how far my efforts coincide with those of other philosophers…the reason why I give no sources is that it is a matter of indifference to me whether the thoughts that I have had have been anticipated by someone else.”

My book was never intended as a piece of historical scholarship. It is an introduction to Schopenhauer’s thought, intended for an audience presumed to be unfamiliar with Schopenhauer. I believe Schopenhauer has received insufficient attention and credit from analytic metaphysicians, and that the anti-Kantian strains in his thought are important and often correct. Schopenhauer claims to be a transcendental idealist, but for what is he most famous? The metaphysics of Will, of course. Making claims about the nature of the thing-in-itself is strictly incompatible with transcendental idealism, yet this is precisely what Schopenhauer does. Inside Schopenhauer’s transcendental-idealist envelope, there is an ontologically-serious metaphysician struggling to get out. The metaphysics of will amounts to a “bundle theory” (concrete particulars are bundles of causal powers). Schopenhauer’s claim that the One Force underlying all reality is mental or proto-mental in nature reminds me of Galen Strawson’s panpsychism, and I believe something like it must be true. I also agree with Schopenhauer’s devastating critique of Kantian ethics, and with his beautiful account of the metaphysical meaning of music.

I have a law degree, and I am a member of the State Bar of New Mexico; however, I am not currently active in the practice of law.

My favorite leisure-time activity is singing. I sing (mezzo-soprano) with the New Mexico Symphonic Chorus. My husband Michael Cooke also sings (bass) with that group.

The syllabus for Spring 2012 Metaphysics can be found here.

The syllabus for Spring 2012 Philosophy of Literature can be found here.