Über die Weiber

"Über die Weiber" is one of the most notorious essays in the history of Western philosophy. Written in 1851, it distills Arthur Schopenhauer's notorious views on women into a sustained, systematized argument that women are intellectually and morally inferior to men, driven by biological instinct rather than reason. For Schopenhauer, woman is "the errant sex" , aesthetically captivating but fundamentally devoid of the rational capacities that define humanity at its highest. The essay reveals the patriarchal assumptions embedded in 19th-century European thought, and offers a stark window into how even brilliant minds can rationalize profound prejudice. Schopenhauer's contentious relationship with his mother, the celebrated writer Johanna Schopenhauer, reportedly animates much of the essay's fury. The text endures as essential reading for anyone studying the history of philosophy, the evolution of gender thought, or the ways personal woundedness can calcify into worldviews. It is uncomfortable, unflinching, and historically indispensable.