The World as Will and Idea

Description

The World as Will and Idea (also known as The World as Will and Representation) by Arthur Schopenhauer, was originally published in 1818. This edition is the complete 3 volume set, translated by R. B. Haldane and J. Kemp. In this work, Schopenhauer posits that the world experienced by humans is merely a representation contingent upon a perceiving subject. It does not exist as an independent entity separate from the way it appears in the subject's mind. Consequently, our knowledge of objects is limited to perceiving phenomena rather than grasping their true essence. According to Schopenhauer, genuine liberation from life can only be achieved through complete ascetic denial of the will to live. He also highlights fundamental parallels between his philosophy, Platonism, and the philosophical principles of the ancient Indian Vedas. The World as Will and Idea stands as the pinnacle of Schopenhauer's philosophical thinking, after which he dedicated the remainder of his life to refining, clarifying, and deepening the concepts presented in this seminal work, without making any fundamental changes.

This book has 521,584 words, 741 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1818. This translation by R. B. Haldane and J. Kemp was published in 1909.

Production notes: This ebook of The World as Will and Idea was published by Global Grey on the 11th May 2018, and updated on the 2nd June 2023. The artwork used for the cover is 'Hope' by George Frederic Watts.