Dallas Adams, Mid-term Series Spongebob and Philosophy pt. 2: Squidward and Schopenhauer

Unlike Spongebob, Squidward is almost never happy. He thrives on making crude jokes about the people around him (mostly Spongebob and Patrick), playing his clarinet (quite badly), and dreaming of fame, fortune, becoming more famous than his rival Squilliam, and having a full head of hair. This particular section of Spongebob Squarepants and Philosophy: Soaking Up Secrets Under the Sea compares Squidward to Arthur Schopenhauer.

Squidward is often times very annoyed with Patrick and Spongebob, and prefers to stay away from them by any means necessary.

For those of you who don't know who Arthur Schopenhauer is, he is a German philosopher from the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century who has a very pessimistic way of looking at life. He says that life is a woeful struggle, and has no true meaning. We, as human beings, have to have a "will" to live. Living does not just come naturally. Think about it, sometimes you just wake up and think, "Why am I even getting out of bed this morning?" Then you think of all the positive things in your life or goals you want to attain, get up, and go about your day. Schopenhauer believes that without these desires, we would all give up on life. A "will" is described as what we would think our reality is, even if we're delusional about it. Wills also include desires we have.

An example of how Squidward is always focused on the life he doesn't have and wished to have had in previous times.

Squidward's will depends on his musical inability. I say inability because it is something he will always be working on in order to be recognized for it. All people work to fulfill the desires we have. Squidward's biggest desire is to be a classical music superstar and to live a life of luxury. You'll often times see him reading magazines about mansions and fancy things. He lives every day in order to fulfill these desires, as do we. But according to Schopenhauer, even if Squidward fulfilled his desires, he still wouldn't be satisfied and would need something else to work toward. That is why Schopenhauer says that life is meaningless. We work toward goals that will never fulfill us.

German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer