The World as Will and Representation, Vol. 2

Took me awhile to understand the central claim(s), but once I did I was very impressed. Schopenhauer was, rightly so, an influence on most of the great thinkers in the modern era and this text effectively illustrates why.

This arrived today and I'm happy to say that the print and paper quality are both excellent. I'm still cracking into this edition, but so far I have nothing but nice things to say about it.As far as the actual work is concerned, this is Schopenhauer's magnum opus and should be read by absolutely everyone who claims to enjoy Western philosophy.

My favorite pessimist. Schopenhauer is matter of fact when it comes to being human.

This is a review of the translation and not the work, which by the way is one of the best works in philosophy. The translator evidently did not know philosophy and was not familiar with Schopenhauer's philosophy. How come you translate Gehirn as brain when in the context of Schopenhauer's philosophy is clearly "mind"?

This is a book you just read and try to understand. Yes it is dated now but it's also the building block for many of the ideas that follow and are taken for granted today. The Kindle copy is clean and easy to read which is not always the case.

I absolutely love Arthur Schopenhauer writings and would recommend them to anyone.

read the complete works of Schopenhauer, never again will I participate in the vile obscenity of capitalism. Good bye forever, Amazon.

Very happy with book

O livro veio como esperava.

Throughout the 30 odd years that I've been reading, I have to say that volume 2 of World as Will and Representation is the most fascinating book I have ever come across. I have read of most Schopenhauer's works, and this book is certainly the most thought-provoking and magical of his writings. Although his writing is very clear, his ideas are not so easy to get your head around, it definitely needs a second and third reading. I would even say that this book is life changing.Essays I highly recommend are:On Man's Need for MetaphysicsOn HistoryOn Death and Its Relation to the Indestructability of Our Inner NatureOn the Vanity and Suffering of LifeOn EthicsOn the Doctrine of the Denial of the Will-to-LiveThe Road to SalvationEpiphilosophyMost highly recommended!!

In the second volume of 'The World as Will and Representation' Schopenhauer gives, sometimes in a too exhaustive manner, further comments and explanations on his first volume. Hereafter, a tentative summary of some of its main points.The will, matter, the body, the intellectMatter is the mere visibility of the will. Its essential nature consists in acting. It is through and through causality.Our body is matter, but also will. The individual can understand through his body's actions from within the real inner nature of things, the thing-in-itself, the will.All philosophers have made the mistake of placing that which is metaphysical, indestructible and eternal, in man's intellect. But, the intellect is nothing more than a tool of the will. The kernel is not the knowing consciousness, because it perishes together with the individual. The will however continues to live. It remains untouched by time. It is simply indestructible.Knowledge, reason, power of judgment, morality, man's characterAll knowing is essentially a making of representations. Since the faculty of reason is given to all, but power of judgment to few, the consequence is that man is exposed to delusion, which can induce him to commit perversities and follies of all kinds.Morality is directly opposed to the will, for the thing-in-itself is absolutely egoistic.Man's actions which are consequently done from the pure impulse of his own nature, are real symptoms of his true and inalterable character. Man's action results every time with strict necessity from two factors, his character and the motives that present themselves.Genius, ArtWisdom and genius are rooted in the perceptive faculty. Every new knowledge, every new truth is the fruit of a perception, of directly apprehending a new side of things.The genius has a more profound vision of the world. His art presents things more clearly and characteristically by emphasizing the essential. Therefore, the will must be silenced, must vanish from conscience.Man's miseryMan's life is often nothing more than the bare maintenance of his very existence, in constant conflict with misery and want, and with death in prospect. 'To enter at the age of five a cotton-spinning or other factory, and from then on to sit every day first ten, then twelve, and finally fourteen hours, and perform the same mechanical work, is to purchase dearly the pleasure of drawing breath.'The chief source of the most serious evils affecting man is man himself : homo homini lupus. The world is the battle-ground of tormented and agonized beings who continue to exist only by each devouring the other.Death, religion, philosophyThe thing-in-itself remains untouched by time, but not its phenomena, who die. All religions and philosophical systems are primarily the antidote to the certainty of death. This powerful attachment to life is irrational and blind. It can be explained only from the fact that our whole being-in-itself is the will-to-live, to which life must appear as the highest good, however embittered short and uncertain it may be.SexThe sexual impulse is the kernel of the will-to-live. The sex-relation is the invisible central point of all man's action and conduct, a cause of war and peace. In all sexual love, instinct holds the rein, and creates illusion, since for nature the interest of the species takes precedence over all others. The ultimate aim of all love-affairs is nothing less than the composition of the next generation.Journalists, priests'Professional purveyors of opinion, such as journalists, as a rule give out only false goods.''There has never been a lack of persons who have endeavoured to create their livelihood out of man's need for metaphysics, and to exploit it as much as possible. Therefore in all nations there are monopolists and farmers-general of it, namely the priests.' 'The symbol of Christianity is an instrument of torture.The Road to SalvationOne should live a life as a process of purification, leaving immorality and wickedness behind as dross. Then will appear what the Veda says : 'whoever beholds the highest and profoundest, has his heart's knot cut, all his doubts are resolved, and his works come to nought'.As Bertrand Russell remarked : Schopenhauer himself did not become an ascetic.For those who don't have the time to read the more than one thousand double pages of Schopenhauer's masterpiece, I recommend Bryan Magee's 'The Philosophy of Schopenhauer'.

Beautiful Book. Well manufactured and fast delivery by amazon. Packaging was unsuitable for both volumes but somehow despite the damage to the box and volume one, this book was still in mint condition.

This man is the master. It's a good translation of the original work.