The World as Will and Idea

Arthur Schopenhauer

• Publisher: Passerino
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9791224467830
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy

Few works have confronted the human condition with the depth, severity, and brilliance of Arthur Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Idea. First published in 1818, this monumental philosophical masterpiece presents a vision of reality that is at once metaphysical, psychological, and profoundly existential.
For Schopenhauer, the world we perceive is not reality in itself, but representation: an image shaped by the structures of our mind. Beneath this world of appearances lies the blind, restless force he calls the Will—a universal striving that drives nature, life, desire, suffering, and human action.
Drawing on Kant, Plato, Eastern thought, and his own uncompromising insight, Schopenhauer develops a philosophy that explores the roots of suffering, the limits of reason, the power of art, and the possibility of liberation through aesthetic contemplation, compassion, and renunciation.
Dark, lucid, and visionary, The World as Will and Idea influenced generations of writers, philosophers, artists, and psychologists, from Nietzsche and Wagner to Freud and modern existential thought. It remains one of the most powerful attempts ever made to understand desire, pain, beauty, and the hidden structure of existence.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) was a German philosopher best known for his masterpiece The World as Will and Idea — also translated as The World as Will and Representation. Deeply influenced by Immanuel Kant, Plato, and Eastern philosophy, Schopenhauer developed a powerful vision of existence centered on the concept of the Will, a blind and restless force behind all life and desire. His philosophy is often associated with pessimism, but also with profound insights into art, compassion, suffering, and human nature. Although largely overlooked during much of his lifetime, Schopenhauer later became one of the most influential thinkers of the nineteenth century, inspiring writers, philosophers, musicians, and psychologists, including Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, Thomas Mann, and Sigmund Freud.

Table of contents

• Cover
• The World as Will and Idea
• Table of contents
• Translators’ Preface
• Preface To The First Edition
• Preface To The Second Edition
• First Book. The World As Idea
• First Aspect. The Idea Subordinated To The Principle Of Sufficient Reason: The Object Of Experience And Science
• Second Book. The World As Will
• First Aspect. The Objectification Of The Will
• Third Book. The World As Idea
• Second Aspect. The Idea Independent Of The Principle Of Sufficient Reason: The Platonic Idea: The Object Of Art
• Fourth Book. The World As Will
• Second Aspect. The Assertion And Denial Of The Will To Live, When Self-Consciousness Has Been Attained
• Appendix: Criticism Of The Kantian Philosophy
• Supplements To The First Book
• First Half. The Doctrine Of The Idea Of Perception. (To § 1-7 Of The First Volume)
• I. The Standpoint Of Idealism
• II. The Doctrine Of Perception Or Knowledge Of The Understanding
• III. On The Senses
• IV. On Knowledge A Priori
• Second Half. The Doctrine Of The Abstract Idea, Or Thinking
• V. On The Irrational Intellect
• VI. On The Doctrine Of Abstract Or Rational Knowledge
• VII. On The Relation Of The Concrete Knowledge Of Perception To Abstract Knowledge
• VIII. On The Theory Of The Ludicrous
• IX. On Logic In General
• X. On The Syllogism
• XI. On Rhetoric
• XII. On The Doctrine Of Science
• XIII. On The Methods Of Mathematics
• XIV. On The Association Of Ideas
• XV. On The Essential Imperfections Of The Intellect
• XVI. On The Practical Use Of Reason And On Stoicism
• XVII. On Man’s Need Of Metaphysics
• Supplements To The Second Book
• XVIII. On The Possibility Of Knowing The Thing In Itself
• XIX. On The Primacy Of The Will In Self-Consciousness
• XX. Objectification Of The Will In The Animal Organism
• Note On What Has Been Said About Bichat
• Supplements To The Second Book
• XXI. Retrospect And More General View
• XXII. Objective View Of The Intellect
• XXIII. On The Objectification Of The Will In Unconscious Nature
• XXIV. On Matter
• XXV. Transcendent Considerations Concerning The Will As Thing In Itself
• XXVI. On Teleology
• XXVII. On Instinct And Mechanical Tendency
• XXVIII. Characterisation Of The Will To Live
• Supplements To The Third Book
• XXIX. On The Knowledge Of The Ideas
• XXX. On The Pure Subject Of Knowledge
• XXXI. On Genius
• XXXII. On Madness
• XXXIII. Isolated Remarks On Natural Beauty
• XXXIV. On The Inner Nature Of Art
• XXXV. On The Æsthetics Of Architecture
• XXXVI. Isolated Remarks On The Æsthetics Of The Plastic And Pictorial Arts
• XXXVII. On The Æsthetics Of Poetry
• XXXVIII. On History
• XXXIX. On The Metaphysics Of Music
• Supplements To The Fourth Book
• XL. Preface
• XLI. On Death And Its Relation To The Indestructibility Of Our True Nature
• XLII. The Life Of The Species
• XLIII. On Heredity
• XLIV. The Metaphysics Of The Love Of The Sexes
• XLV. On The Assertion Of The Will To Live
• XLVI. On The Vanity And Suffering Of Life
• XLVII. On Ethics
• XLVIII. On The Doctrine Of The Denial Of The Will To Live
• XLIX. The Way Of Salvation
• L. Epiphilosophy
• Appendix