Profile

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy. My research focuses on the 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, especially his philosophical pessimism and his moral and political philosophy.

My new book Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy's Greatest Pessimist is out in November 2025.

I have taught a wide range of topics in philosophy, including the history of philosophy, philosophy of religion, ethics, aesthetics, and most recently the philosophy of evil.

I have responsibilities for admissions, outreach, and widening participation in the Department of Philosophy. Prospective students and their supporters, teachers, and school leaders are welcome to inquire with me about engaging with our department.

Contact

David.Bather.Woods@warwick.ac.uk

Office S2.38

Department of Philosophy
Social Sciences Building
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL

Teaching

Current modules

• PH3A7Link opens in a new window - Philosophy of Evil (Term 1)
• PH3C4Link opens in a new window - Schopenhauer (Term 2)

Admin

• Admissions Tutor
• Outreach and Widening Participation Lead

Prizes

• Winner of a Warwick Award for Personal Tutoring Excellence 2024
• Winner of a Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence 2021
• Commended in the University of Warwick Kindness on Campus Awards 2021

Publications

Pre-prints are available on my PhilPeople Profile

Books

• Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy's Greatest Pessimist University of Chicago Press, November 2025.
• The Schopenhauerian Mind, co-edited with Timothy Stoll. Routledge, 2023.

Articles

• 'How Not to Hate Humanity: Schopenhauer's Response to Misanthropy', MIND (Forthcoming)
• 'The Standard Interpretation of Schopenhauer's Compensation Argument for Pessimism: A Non-Standard Variant', European Journal of Philosophy (2022) 30 (3): 961-976.
• ‘Seriously Bored: Schopenhauer on Solitary Confinement’, British Journal for the History of Philosophy (2019) 27 (5): 959-978.
• 'A Note on Schopenhauer’s Misinterpretation of Petrarch', Jahrbuch der Schopenhauer-GesellschaftLink opens in a new window (2017): 147–153.

Chapters

• 'A Schopenhauerian Solution to Schopenhauerian Politics'. In The Schopenhauerian Mind, edited by David Bather Woods and Timothy Stoll. Routledge, 2023.
• ‘Proust and Schopenhauer'. In The Proustian Mind, edited by Anna Elsner and Tom Stern. Routledge, 2022.
• 'Schopenhauer's Sexual Ethics'. In Schopenhauer's Moral Philosophy, edited by Patrick Hassan. Routledge, 2021.
• ‘Schopenhauer on the State and Morality’. In The Palgrave Schopenhauer Handbook, edited by Sandra Shapshay. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
• ‘Großbritannien’. In Schopenhauer-Handbuch, edited by Daniel Schubbe and Matthias Koßler. J.B. Metzler Verlag, 2014 (1st Ed.), 2018 (2nd Ed.).

Work in Progress

• 'Schopenhauer and the Frankfurt School'. In The New Cambridge Companion to Schopenhauer (forthcoming), edited by Sandra Shapshay and Colin Marshall.
• 'Schopenhauer on Duties to Ourselves'. In The Cambridge Critical Guide to Schopenhauer's The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics (forthcoming), edited by Stephen Puryear.

Public

• ‘How to think for yourself’ (Psyche)
• 'What Arthur Schopenhauer learned about genius at the asylum'Link opens in a new window (Psyche)
• 'The Promise of Pessimism' (Institute of Art and Ideas)
• 'The semi-satisfied life' (Aeon)
• 'The best books on Arthur Schopenhauer' (Five Books)
• 'Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation' (Routledge Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, Teaching and Learning Resources)

Podcast

• 'One is a Whole' (Sideways, BBC Radio 4)
• 'Schopenhauer on Compassion' (Philosophy Bites)
• 'Resilience' (The Forum)
• 'The History of Philosophy: its value and limitations', 'Schopenhauer on Boredom, Loneliness and Compassion', and 'The Philosophy of Evil' (Common Room Philosophy)