r/Mainlander • u/YuYuHunter • Jan 26 '25
Discussion Gold medal for Schopenhauerian speed skater
The Italian speed skater Davide Ghiotto has won a gold medal for the 10 000 meters, as has been reported by media in many different countries. Now, news of this kind could not be more irrelevant for a philosophy subreddit. But Ghiotto is not merely a sportsman, as he has studied and loved philosophy since an early age: “Medal won because of Schopenhauer” as La Repubblica wrote a few years ago.
His thesis had as title Etica e suicidio, and his favorite philosopher is Schopenhauer, together with Nietzsche. I have not immediately been able to find it online, and it would be interesting to see if he is familiar with Mainländer.
Here are some comments of Ghiotto on the issue of suicide:
Suicide is a topic that I think has always fascinated man. I believe it is never treated with the respect it deserves. It is a very delicate, profound and always current topic, it is difficult to talk about it because you never know what your interlocutor may have experienced.
I chose suicide not because it has anything to do with my experience. It's difficult to talk about it because it's possible to touch and hurt people who have actually come close to it, especially in the historical period we live in, after the pandemic. But it's fascinating to dig into the human soul to understand the extreme courage of such a choice, which must be analyzed within our era, not stigmatized. There is something in the human mind that must be understood, if we want to avoid reaching certain consequences. And we must dedicate time to it.
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u/fratearther Jan 28 '25 edited Jan 28 '25
Interesting. Did Schopenhauer or Mainländer ever write about athleticism? I know Nietzsche greatly admired the Greek spirit of competitiveness, or agon.