“The World As Will and Representation” by Arthur Schopenhauer is one of the major works in the history of philosophy. It was first published in Germany and then translated into English by the American philosopher John Locke. It’s important to note that this work was first published outside of Europe, just a few years before the French Revolution occurred there. In other words, Schopenhauer was ahead of his time. His book is important in that it provides a crucial insight into how to understand the workings of reality as the product of a blind, insatiable will. For those who are already familiar with the book, there will be little new information to absorb.
For those not acquainted with the author, here’s a quick introduction. Arthur Schopenhauer is a prominent German philosopher and considered one of the fathers of phenomenology. His book, The World As Will and Representation, is considered to be one of the key works in the history of philosophy. In addition to being a philosopher of pessimism, Schopenhauer also was a strong believer in aesthetic value.
In the above quote, we can clearly see that Schopenhauer characterizes the phenomenal world as a thing that is caused by a blind will. His view was that man could create a world that was free from any necessity by using his will alone. This was opposed to the traditionalist view that thought the universe was created through a supreme Being. While the former belief is more practical in nature, the latter is more of a philosophical stance. To this day, many philosophers subscribe to the materialistic side of things.
Schopenhauer’s philosophy is divided into two major works. The first, called Der Ebenen und Weltener, is considered by many to be his magnum opus. This is an enormous magnum opus considering that it contains over eighty treatises or books that cover a vast array of topics and ideas. It is one of the most important works in the history of philosophy.
The second, Eigentung, is considered by some to be the least important work in Schopenhauer’s philosophy. However, this view is highly questionable. This work portrays the causes and cures for man’s miseries and sufferings. Although it contains very similar characteristics to Schopenhauer’s The World As Will and Representation, it does not contain any arguments against the existence of God. Instead, it portrays a morality built on the idea that all men are motivated by their individual moral and natural instincts.
Schopenhauer also criticizes the prevalent traditional moral conceptions in Western society. He primarily argues against the standard moral thesis that there are no grounds for claiming either that the world is intelligent or that there are no grounds for believing that it is not intelligent. According to Schopenhauer, there are only three possible grounds for this thesis: First, there is no proof that the world is at all intelligent, since there is no way to prove that it has any intellectual content; Second, the content of the world can only be known by means of scientific methods which are not adequate for understanding it; and Third, there are no adequate grounds for determining whether the world is intelligent or not. These arguments constitute the main theme of The Ego and the State.
Schopenhauer also contrasts the concept of soul or mind with that of the body. The soul, according to him, is something completely different from the body, and the idea of the soul being part of the body is a fiction. According to Schopenhauer, there are no higher grades of souls than the lower ones, and the idea of an animal existing for the time necessary for its body to perish is a fiction as well.
On the other hand, aesthetics is defined by Schopenhau as the study of the beautification of the world. He makes a number of detailed comparisons between the aesthetic arts and the philosophy of the ancient Greek philosophers. These comparisons are important for understanding German idealism and the methods of European Philosophy as a whole, including Schopenhau’s own methodology. In essence, Schopenhauian aesthetics forms the core of German Idealism.