Literary Analysis of On Thinking for Oneself by Arthur Schopenhauer

People thought that learning comes only from reading. However, On Thinking for Oneself by Arthur Schopenhauer shows the effects of reading on learning, and would make the reader/s questioned the way of learning that people have undergone nowadays. It reveals the power of our individual thought and it leads us to the truth.

On Thinking for Oneself is composed of eleven paragraphs. Each paragraph highlights the essence of thinking. In the first paragraph, it says there that if the knowledge gained wasn’t been elaborated by our own thought then it is useless. That being said, once we gained something from books, we have to think about it multiple times- elaborate, test, and analyze to see if what we gained are all facts. Also,  we will know what one thinks if we read their books because what they have written in their books is the product of their thoughts, beliefs, and ideas about a certain subject. 

In the second paragraph, reading and learning are achievable by everyone. Everyone can read and learn, but thinking about what we read is hard because it needs personal interest, which means that if we are not interested in what we read then we will never put our thoughts on it- the ideas present in the said book or article that we read. Thomas Szasz said, “Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence.”

In the third paragraph, the author said that if you take a book, you would lose your original thought, your own perception about a certain subject, which on the other hand, makes men intelligent and stupid by scholars because they never had given the opportunity the learners to think about the subject, to discover ideas and facts about the subject. Learners gained knowledge from books, instead of discovering it on their own. As the pope says,  “For ever reading, is never to be read” which means that constant reading is no longer a way to gain knowledge. The more information you get, the more you lose your capability to think. Wisdom doesn’t come from reading a book but instead experiencing and applying what’s in the book. 

In the fourth paragraph, it stated there that scholars are those who read the book, but geniuses are those who experience and thought about the nature of the book, or what’s inside of the book, which means that real knowledge is applied and experienced. Christopher Crawford  said “knowledge without application is like a book that is never read'

In the fifth paragraph, it highlighted that reading is like taking other’s thoughts without being invited, which is called an alien thought, stated in the second paragraph. Alien thought is present in all of us, which made us feel impressed by other ideas. We think that we are less intelligent for not having such ideas, without knowing that we can also acquire such knowledge if only we trust our own thought. If only we are interested enough to discover facts rather than relying on other thoughts, then we could come up with the wisdom we seek for.

In the seventh paragraph, reading is like substituting our own thought. There are a lot of books that are good at showing fallacy to influence readers. If we allow these books to guides us, then we may lose the track of the real facts.  We should only read when our own thought failed, for example, if we are trying to seek for the best strategy or solution to a particular problem and our assumption failed, then it’s best for us to read something about the nature of the problem, and then come up again with another assumption until we would get the right one.   

In the eighth to the eleventh paragraph, it says there that sometimes books give us an easy way to find the truth, but regardless it would be much worth it to attain such truth on our own. Goethe’s verse goes; what thou hast inherited from thy father, acquire it, in order to possess it. We have to acquire the knowledge on our own to possess wisdom. This applies to most philosophers, they used an alien thought to resemble a new material. They modify the ideas of other people to create their own discovery. 

Furthermore,  we can acquire knowledge through experiences, little reading, and intercourse with others. That being said, we should live with wisdom, not just gain it, as Bob Proctor quoted; 

“No amount of reading or memorizing will make you successful in life. It is the understanding and application of wise thought that counts."