“Reading means thinking with someone else's head instead of one's own.” — Arthur Schopenhauer (Parerga und Paralipomena (on reading))

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Parerga und Paralipomena (on reading) and files it under Voluntarism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) was a German philosopher of pessimism whose The World as Will and Representation fused Kantian phenomena with a blind metaphysical will. Largely ignored while Hegel dominated Berlin, he later won fame influencing artists and psychologists.

How to read this passage

Dualism, materialism, functionalism, and phenomenological descriptions compete. AI renews old questions about understanding and experience. This passage enters that discussion through mind.

Concepts in this quote

Mind

Philosophy of mind asks what consciousness, thought, and mental life are—and how they relate to body and world.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Arthur Schopenhauer. (n.d.). Reading means thinking with someone else's head instead of one's own. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0116

MLA: Arthur Schopenhauer. “Reading means thinking with someone else's head instead….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0116.

Chicago: Arthur Schopenhauer. “Reading means thinking with someone else's head instead….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0116.

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