The nineteenth century produced many different systems of ethics. While Kant, Nietzsche, Mill, and Hegel all contributed greatly to ethical thought, the greatest contribution may have come from Arthur Schopenhauer. On the Basis of Morality is not only a beautifully written book; it's quite simply a very convincing (and humane) exposition on ethics. Schopenhauer's rightly hailed literary style is especially lucid here, and On the Basis of Morality is much more of an immediately digestible read as compared to The World as Will and Representation. Schopenhauer's elegant polemic against Kant's ethics of duty, i.e. the categorical imperative, is very effective. Schopenhauer deconstructs Kant's rational ethics with such prodding efficiency that it's amazing that Schopenhauer isn't mentioned more frequently as a corrective to Kant's ethical thought. Schopenhauer also makes it a point to mention that Kant's ethics rely heavily on theism, albeit in a clandestine way. Schopenhauer's ethical thought is atheistic to the core. The main thesis that Schopenhauer argues is that the basis of morality is compassion. In other words, the vast majority of so-called "moral" acts that we commit are in fact nothing of the sort. They are merely self-interested acts that we perform to either do what we are supposed to do, or because we will receive some sort of compensation. Shopenhauer's definition is quite different: only completely altruistic acts are moral. Another aspect of On the Basis of Morality that many find so appealing is that it mixes Kant's transcendental idealism with a Buddhist sense of compassion for all sentient beings. Schopenhauer appropriated Kant's idealism of the thing-in-itself, and he defines that as a blind will to live that permeates all things. Therefore, everything is interconnected via the Will. Schopenhauer reiterates that true morality is compassion for ALL living beings, not humans alone. Schopenhauer was very much ahead of his time in this respect. This is a great book by a great philosopher, and it deserves to be read.