The World as Will and Idea

What It's About

This is Schopenhauer's central philosophical work, arguing that the world we perceive is only "representation" — appearance as it is filtered through a perceiving mind — while the true, underlying reality is a single, blind, ceaseless striving he calls the Will. Building on Kant's distinction between appearance and the thing-in-itself, Schopenhauer identifies the Will as that hidden reality, manifesting in everything from the pull of gravity to human desire. Because the Will can never be permanently satisfied, he argues that existence is inherently characterised by suffering, want, and boredom.

Key Concepts

Central to the work is the split between the world as representation and the world as will, and the pessimistic conclusion that follows from it. Schopenhauer explores aesthetic contemplation — particularly through music — as a temporary means of quieting the will's demands, and ultimately proposes ascetic denial of the will, a deliberate turning away from desire, as the only lasting escape from suffering. He draws striking parallels between this idea and concepts he found in Buddhist and Hindu thought, philosophies he had been reading as he developed his own system.

About the Author

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) was a German philosopher whose work was largely overlooked for most of his life, overshadowed by the German idealists dominating academic philosophy at the time. Recognition came late, in his final decade, after which his ideas gained wider influence.

About This Edition

This is an 1883–1886 translation by R. B. Haldane and J. Kemp.