The World as Will and Representation, Vol. 1 by Arthur Schopenhauer (EPUB)

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Arthur Schopenhauer’s Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung is one of the most important philosophical works of the nineteenth century, the basic statement of one important stream of post-Kantian thought. It is without question Schopenhauer’s greatest work. Conceived and published before the philosopher was 30 and expanded 25 years later, it is the summation of a lifetime of thought.For 70 years, the only unabridged English translation of this work was the Haldane-Kemp collaboration. In 1958, a new translation by E. F. J. Payne appeared that decisively supplanted the older one. Payne’s translation is superior because it corrects nearly 1,000 errors and omissions in the Haldane-Kemp translation, and it is based on the definitive 1937 German edition of Schopenhauer’s work prepared by Dr. Arthur Hübscher. Payne’s edition is the first to translate into English the text’s many quotations in half a dozen languages. It is thus the most useful edition for the student or teacher.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From the Back Cover Arthur Schopenhauer’s Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung is one of the most important philosophical works of the nineteenth century, the basic statement of one important stream of post-Kantian thought. It is without question Schopenhauer’s greatest work. Conceived and published before the philosopher was 30 and expanded 25 years later, it is the summation of a lifetime of thought.For 70 years, the only unabridged English translation of this work was the Haldane-Kemp collaboration. In 1958, a new translation by E. F. J. Payne appeared that decisively supplanted the older one. Payne’s translation is superior because it corrects nearly 1,000 errors and omissions in the Haldane-Kemp translation, and it is based on the definitive 1937 German edition of Schopenhauer’s work prepared by Dr. Arthur Hübscher. Payne’s edition is the first to translate into English the text’s many quotations in half a dozen languages. It is thus the most useful edition for the student or teacher.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Imagine this. You are in your car at 3 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. It’s hot. You’re painfully lonely, you have no friends to speak of. The sun is beating on your face. You have absolutely nothing to do. You feel the pressure of time and consciousness. You hear an advertisement on the radio about another blow-out sale in a nearby mall. You want to scream. Sound familiar? This is when a nice cup of Arthur Schopenhauer is in order.I first learned about Schopenhauer when I was in a rather low point in my life and was looking for a consolation in the philosophy section of a bookstore. There I stumbled across

⭐, which had a section about Schopenhauer and his basic outlook on the human condition. I never had a problem with pessimism and in fact always looked for someone great to defend it. Anyway, I slowly started preparing myself for the first volume. I had no philosophical background, just an immense desire to understand Schopenhauer’s point of view since I knew then it would become my metaphysical backbone.One of the challenges was that English is my second language and I feared that philosophy in English would exact too big a demand on my language skills. But the realization that with Schopenhauer lay the answers to my angst was enough to commit to this project.I first read

⭐, which I understood for the most part and became even more intrigued. I definitely gained some philosophical muscle and so I plunged into volume one shortly after. It took me three months and it was a rather grueling experience. Partly because of the terminology and new concepts, partly because of the style, partly because of the translation. As one of the readers noted, some of the Latin and Greek phrases are not translated, which infuriated me each time I encountered them. For crying out why? But all these problems are nothing compared with the immense pleasure I got from reading the work, which my body frequently heralded with goosebumps!I just finished the second volume (took me another 5 or 6 months). I read just a few pages a day. But I’ll never regret spending the time. If there’s an intellectual equivalent of orgasm, this is it. This experience will be forever etched in my brain. Transcendental idealism (which is also the basis of Buddhist metaphysics) is a life changing idea. I kind of look at myself and everything that happens to me through that lens now.One of the ideas that was always on the tip of my tongue and that I never was able to articulate even to myself is Schopenhauer’s notion about the negativeness of happiness and positiveness of suffering. In other words, happiness is only a subtraction from suffering. Needs, discomfort and suffering is what we start from. Turns out Voltaire said it even more succinctly: “There are no great pleasures without great needs”. To, me it’s a profound insight and both volumes are worth reading just because of this. If this idea does not give you goosebumps, then Schopenhauer might not be for you. Later I read Ann Ryand’s “Atlas Shrugged”, where that idea was attacked at least once — but just as a bare assertion. By the way, “Atlas Shrugged” is the most tedious and crude attempt at realism (or objectivism) I ever read. But I’m digressing again.I do have a couple of gripes with Schopenhauer’s style. Some sentences are REALLY long with sub-sentences and sometimes sub-sub-sentences. Sometimes, I needed to re-read them a dozen times. Also, Schopenhauer is surprisingly repetitive in places, which was also commented on by Magee. But if you think about it, in the age of no computers and fancy editors, it was probably difficult to spot repetition. On the flip side, I found the repetitiveness of his ideas helpful when a particular major concept was not clear, because sure enough he would describe it ten more times from slightly different angles.Schopenhauer says several times that everything that he had written must be read to fully understand his philosophy. He prescribes a list of his works to be read before “The World as Will and Representation” (TWAWR) is begun. The list includes:1) His doctoral thesis.

⭐.2) Hi prize winning essay.

⭐.3)

⭐4) His critique of Kant’s philosophy at the end of volume one.I started with the critique of Kant and quickly abandoned it because it required a decent knowledge of Kant. By the way, Schopenhauer once said that he who hasn’t read and understood Kant is a mere child. But I was not ready for Kant yet. So, I skipped Kant’s critique and moved on to volume one. I can now say that at least a general idea about the fourfold principle of sufficient reason (FPSR) is required to fully get it. So, do yourself a favor, look it up and read at least a summary of it. Otherwise a lot of the meaning will be lost. But FPSR is all you really need to get started.By the time you finish TWAWR, even if you don’t agree with his ideas, you will definitely be amazed by the sheer breadth of his knowledge. For starters, he spoke four foreign languages fluently — English, French, Greek and Latin. His knowledge of science of that time is also quite staggering. He frequently provides his insight on physics, math, logic, astronomy, medicine (anatomy and physiology), botany, zoology, biology and chemistry. His knowledge of philosophy is similarly awesome. He constantly refers to and quotes Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Locke, Berkley, Kant and others. Fine arts? Sure! He had a lot to say about poetry, music, sculpture and architecture. In fact, he had something to say about everything that matters.To conclude, I love Schopenhauer. Too bad I can’t thank him in person. To those who accuse him of pessimism, I can only say that just because something is pessimistic, doesn’t mean it’s not true. And Schopenhauer does make his case strong.Remember to look at your life through the prism of eternity. Hang in there, accept your lot and carry it with pride. Everything passes…Thank you, Arthur.========= 9 years later ========Shortly after reading Schopenhauer I plunged into learning Latin. I didn’t like that I couldn’t understand the quotes and Latin was a cool thing to learn anyway. I did that for about 3 years religiously. If you’re bored like I was, Latin will keep you entertained for a LONG time 🙂 I ended up reading some ancient authors in the original, which I consider an accomplishment.I got married and have a daughter now. But my philosophical outlook hasn’t changed much. I’m re-reading Magee’s introduction to Schopenhauer and am enjoying that again. Maybe I’ll re-read Schopenhauer himself one more time at some point.

⭐Contemporary philosophy tends to try to illuminate particular phenomena. It is rightly suspicious of sweeping generalizations that explain all of reality. Schopenhauer, however, is not of this inclination. As he states, this whole book is merely the illustration of a single idea which, surprisingly, explains metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, epistemology and even political philosophy. If one were to fault Schopenhauer it would not be for lack of ambition.Essentially, his idea is not new but was expressed by the ancient Indian sages in the Vedas and, with a slightly different perspective, in the teachings of Buddha. The world of appearance is, at its root, the expression of a single ever-questing will. This will reaches its epitome in man but the same will is found in animals, plants and even inorganic matter.The secret to life is then to recognize that this insatiable will leads only to suffering. By recognizing that all is fundamentally one and no longer asserting one’s own will above others one can escape the futility of trying to satisfy its demands.Art is then merely a temporary realization of this fundamental reality while the ethical saint is the one who fully recognizes the need to subordinate the will. Immorality is the imposition of one’s own will over another. Human rights are merely assertions of the impropriety of having one’s will dominated. The state is what guarantees these human rights.If one likes systems that explain everything, or if you share the Buddhist outlook on wants as the basis of suffering, one will enjoy Schopenhauer’s masterpiece. It is clear, well-written and mostly free of philosophical jargon making it accessible to any reader.Personally, I think the account bares little relevance to modernity. A pastiche of Kantianism and Buddhism, it contains parts which might be true. However, these ideas are more rigorously grounded in contemporary neuroscience, a field obviously inaccessible in Schopenhauer’s day.Ultimately, I would shy away from Schopenhauer’s philosophical views based on Kant’s reflections on the mind and rely more on verifiable scientific theories of human nature.But I recognize that Schopenhauer’s marriage of Kant and Eastern thought has not only brought solace to millions but is itself a work of genius. For all those seeking a system which explains everything by means of an elusive but essentially simple idea, Schopenhauer’s work is worth reflecting upon. Those with a more modern/scientific perspective may safely ignore an ingenious system that, in this reviewer’s opinion, is now somewhat passé.

⭐Arthur Schopenhauer’s work constitutes a major breakthrough in philosophy. He smashed the straightjacket imposed by Immanuel Kant, who stated that we couldn’t know the essence of the world, the real nature of all matter, the thing-in-itself. Schopenhauer remarked judiciously that we could discover this real nature, because we have knowledge of our own body. He called this essence ‘the will” or the ‘will-to-live, which is practically the same as the Darwinian ‘struggle for life’.Hereafter, a tentative short summary of this astonishing book.Representation and willThe world (the object) is the representation of the subject (the individual). The essential form of this representation is the division into object and subject. Its subordinate forms are space = position, time = succession and (states of) matter = causality. The object (the world) is, on the one hand, only matter ; but, on the other hand, it has an innermost being, the thing-in-itself, which Schopenhauer calls ‘the will’, ‘the will-to-live’.The will, its phenomena and freedomThe will is the groundless essence of everything in nature. It is an endless striving and appears in every conscious and unconscious acting force of nature.How can we know the will ? Through information about our own body and its (voluntary and involuntary) actions and movements. Every individual, animal, plant, original inorganic force is to be regarded as a phenomenon (a manifestation) of the will.Knowledge, reason, feelingPerception is the first source of all evidence. Through it, we gather knowledge by discovering causality in the world. This leads to reflection on choices between several motives that govern the actions of the subject (the individual).Abstract knowledge consists of concepts conceived through language (grammar), planned action and science. Rational knowledge (reason) is crucial for making judgments (phrases), which describe the relation between a subject and a predicate.Feeling (religious, moral …) is the opposite of rational knowledge. But, human conduct is driven by feelings (love, hatred … ).ArtArt is the camera obscura of the will. Genial art shows the objects more purely and enables the individual to comprehend them better.Aesthetic pleasure is to be interpreted as a deliverance from the influence of the will.Music is the language of feeling, while words are the language of reason ; music reproduces all the emotions of our innermost being, but entirely without reality.Man’s daemon, Schopenhauer’s pessimismMan is not free. He is not independent of the law of causality. His actions are determined by motives. He has an elective decision between different motives, whose choices reveal his character. Every individual imagines that he can at any moment enter upon a different way of life, which is equivalent to saying that he can become a different person.All life is suffering, an endless striving. Every satisfaction is merely a starting point for new striving. Sexual intercourse is the most decided affirmation of the will-to-live.Egoism is the starting point of all conflict. ‘Wrong’ is the denial of the will that appears in the bodies of others. The State contract (the law) is there to diminish all that suffering.The last part of the book is a thorough, amazing and extremely detailed criticism of the Kantian philosophy.This book had, although not immediately, immense influence on philosophy and literature. Nietzsche turned Schopenhauer’s negative dark daemon into a positive ‘will to power’.

⭐This with volume 2 comprises the the definitive work on the metaphysics of transcendental idealism. It is beautifully written and I know of no other philosopher who writes or wrote with such clarity and with such colour. However, prior to reading these works, I would really recommend reading Bryan Magee’s introduction to Schopenhauer’s philosophy. After reading these works, for those intrigued by Schopenhauer’s uncanny prescience for developments in quantum physics, I recommend reading Fritjof Capra’s Tao of Physics. It is astonishing that Schopenhauer’s work anticipated not only Freud and Darwin but also Einstein and Heisenberg; and Heisenberg was just one of many physicists who have embraced Schopenhauer’s metaphysics.Finally, I would note, that anyone interested in the work of Wagner, Proust, Turgenev, Hardy to name just a few would find here the source of much of their inspiration.There is so much to find in these books; not just food for thought but a feast.

⭐People are already aware that modern philosophers are fiction novelists, so read it for entertainment but I must say that this book will teach you nothing, waste your time, harden your heart and make you arrogant and obstinate against the truth. The best thing to do is to take a look at the sun, which has much more to teach. It makes you feel good and happy. That is the reality of truth and goodness. So be good people, have good character and perform good deeds then feel the warmth of the greater sun in your heart.

⭐Great content – book was very very damaged when I received it, and the back cover is too wide and sticks out. Seems like it had a fight with the printer.

⭐Bought as a present and heard it’s good.

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