The World as Will and Representation
Central work of Arthur Schopenhauer on will and representation.
The World as Will and Representation (German: Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung) is the central work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The work argues that the world humans experience exists solely as representation dependent on a cognizing subject, and identifies the inner essence of everything as a blind, unconscious will.
- author
- Arthur Schopenhauer
- field
- Philosophy
- known_for
- Central work of Schopenhauer's philosophy; argues world as representation and will as thing-in-itself
Lore & Background
He spent the next several years working on The World as Will and Representation, which he asserted conveys a 'single thought' from various perspectives. The work includes an appendix containing a detailed Criticism of the Kantian Philosophy. At the time, post-Kantian German academic philosophy was dominated by the German idealists, foremost among them G. W. F. Hegel, whom Schopenhauer bitterly denounced as a 'charlatan'. Schopenhauer takes the transcendental idealism of Immanuel Kant as his starting point, arguing that the world of objects in space and time exists solely as representation. He identifies the thing-in-itself as will: a blind, unconscious, aimless striving. Unlike Kant, Schopenhauer contended that humans have a direct, non-representational window into the thing-in-itself through their own bodies. He posited that the human intellect is a purely biological tool evolved to serve the irrational needs of the will.
Reader's Guide
The World as Will and Representation marked the pinnacle of Schopenhauer's philosophical thought; he spent the rest of his life refining and deepening its ideas without fundamental changes. The work's biological demotion of the rational mind heavily influenced later thinkers, including Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud, and provided an early philosophical precursor to modern evolutionary psychology. Schopenhauer notes fundamental agreements between his philosophy, Platonism, and the philosophy of the ancient Indian Vedas. In English, the work is known under three different titles: The World as Will and Idea (translated by R. B. Haldane and J. F. J. There is debate over the best translation of Vorstellung, with some arguing for 'representation' following Kant's usage, and others for 'presentation' to emphasize the theatrical notion of objects presented to a subject.
Did You Know?
- Schopenhauer demanded that his doctoral dissertation On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason be read before The World as Will and Representation as an introduction.
- Schopenhauer argued that the human intellect is a purely biological tool evolved to serve the irrational needs of the will.
- The work contains an appendix entitled 'Critique of the Kantian philosophy'.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote The World as Will and Representation?
Arthur Schopenhauer, a German philosopher, authored this work as the cornerstone of his philosophical system. It was first published in 1818 and remained his defining intellectual contribution throughout his career.
What is the central argument of The World as Will and Representation?
Schopenhauer contends that everything we perceive is merely a mental projection shaped by a perceiving mind, while the underlying reality beneath all appearances is a formless, irrational drive he calls 'will.' In short, the world we know is a representation, and the true 'thing-in-itself' is blind, purposeless striving.
What does Schopenhauer mean by 'will' in his philosophy?
The will is an undifferentiated, goalless force that underlies every phenomenon, from the motion of matter to human desire. It operates without consciousness or intention, and Schopenhauer treats it as the ultimate metaphysical ground of all that exists.
What is 'representation' (Vorstellung) in Schopenhauer's framework?
Representation refers to the entire realm of objects and experiences as they appear to a subject, structured by space, time, and causality. It is the world as it is given to a perceiver, standing in contrast to the will, which is the world as it is independent of any perceiver.
Why is The World as Will and Representation considered significant in the history of philosophy?
The work reinterpreted Kant's distinction between phenomena and the noumenal by insisting that the thing-in-itself is not unknowable but actively grasped as will. It also profoundly shaped later thinkers such as Wagner, Nietzsche, and Freud, cementing its place as a landmark of nineteenth-century European thought.
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