![]() ![]() ![]() For his part in the revolution, he had to flee to Switzerland, and while there, he read another left-wing philosopher, Ludwig Feuerbach. The brand of left-wing philosophy he espoused was Anarchism: the theory of Proudhon, adopted and somewhat quixotically championed by Bakunin (whom Wagner knew) was that all government, being based on force, is corrupt. In his youth Richard Wagner (1813- 1883) was a left-wing radical and, at the age of 35, had played an active part in the Dresden uprising of 1849. This is followed by an appendix discussing whether Wagner’s anti-Semitism had any influence on his operas. ![]() The front of the cover has a portrait of Wagner and the back carries one of Schopenhauer and, indeed, the relationship between these two is the subject of the bulk of the work but it is preceded by a discussion of the influence of Feuerbach’s philosophy on the composer and it concludes with a fascinating chapter on Wagner’s influence on Nietzsche. ![]() In the superb volume under review he combines his two enthusiasms in another beautifully and lucidly written book. In 1968 Bryan Magee published an influential little book called Aspects of Wagner (now in an OUP paperback) and then, in 1983, a magisterial work, The Philosophy of Schopenhauer (also now in an OUP paperback). SUBSCRIBE NOW Books Wagner and Philosophy by Bryan Magee Ralph Blumenau devours Bryan Magee’s new book about Wagner the philosophical composer. ![]()
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