Austrian philosopher Otto Weininger became famous after the publication of his work entitled "Gender and Character". By this time, Weininger had already mastered many of the sciences taught at the University of Vienna. The versatile interests of the author of the book allowed him to put forward an original theory, which, even before the tragic death of Weininger, attracted everyone's attention.
From the biography of Otto Weininger
The future philosopher was born in Vienna on April 3, 1880 in a Jewish family. Father Otto was a craftsman-painter. Weininger Jr. received his education at the University of Vienna, where he mastered the natural sciences, and then switched to the study of philosophy.
The teachers noted the exceptional abilities of the gifted student: he completed his studies with honors. By the age of twenty, Weininger spoke several languages, was well versed in literature, medicine, mathematics and geography, was known in his environment as an intellectual and a great erudite. Otto professed a Protestant religion.
While still a student, the young philosopher published the book "Gender and Character", which made him famous. In this solid work, Otto outlined the features of a new theory of the relationship between the sexes. To substantiate his position, he drew on data from biology, history, psychology, sociology. The conclusions made by the author amaze readers with unexpected turns of thought and undoubted originality.
"Gender and Character" by Otto Weininger
The book of the Austrian philosopher contains a number of very subtle observations, generalizations and witty mental constructions. The basis of Weininger's reasoning is the theory of bisexuality. He argued that in the world of animals and plants there are no completely same-sex creatures, just as there is no "pure" man and woman in the world of people. There are only masculine and feminine "elements." They are present in different proportions in the representatives of both sexes. The proportions of such elements determine the individual characteristics and character of individuals.
At the same time, the male element personifies everything creative and spiritual in a person, and everything passive and purely material comes from the female element. The philosopher declares the masculine principle to be the bearer of good, and the feminine, in his opinion, bears evil in itself.
After the publication of the book, Weininger gained fame and money. However, this did not make the philosopher happy.
Suicide of a philosopher
The fate of the young psychologist and philosopher was tragic. On October 4, 1903, at the age of 23, Weininger committed suicide in a hotel room: he shot himself in the heart. In a suicide note, the young man wrote that he was killing himself so as not to kill others.
Researchers of Weininger's life and work agree that the philosopher's main life problem was his belonging to an eternally persecuted nation. As a Jew, Otto supposedly could not be in harmony with himself. Others named the conflict between Otto's asceticism and his developed sensibility as a possible cause of suicide. Still others considered the cause of suicide to be a "cultural inferiority complex".
Weininger decided to commit suicide in the same issue where Beethoven passed away. However, the death of the young philosopher was painful: the agony lasted several hours. Weininger died only in the morning.
