Ideas from 'The World as Will and Idea' by Arthur Schopenhauer [1819], by Theme Structure

[found in 'The World as Will and Idea' by Schopenhauer,Arthur (ed/tr Berman,Jill and David) [Everyman 1995,0-460-87505-1]].

green numbers give full details    |     back to texts     |     expand these ideas

---

1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 3. Philosophy Defined

4171	Philosophy considers only the universal, in nature as everywhere else

4186	Everyone is conscious of all philosophical truths, but philosophers bring them to conceptual awareness

1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 8. Humour

12171

Absurdity is incongruity between correct and false points of view

1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 4. Metaphysics as Science

21366

Metaphysics must understand the world thoroughly, as a principal source of knowledge

7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 2. Types of Existence

4168	Matter and intellect are inseparable correlatives which only exist relatively, and for each other

7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 3. Reality

21926

Schopenhauer, unlike other idealists, says reality is irrational [Lewis,PB]

7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 4. Anti-realism

4167	The knowing subject and the crude matter of the world are both in themselves unknowable

11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 4. The Cogito

4165	Descartes found the true beginning of philosophy with the Cogito, in the consciousness of the individual

11. Knowledge Aims / C. Knowing Reality / 3. Idealism / a. Idealism

21923

Schopenhauer can't use force/energy instead of 'will', because he is not a materialist [Lewis,PB]

4162	The world only exists in relation to something else, as an idea of the one who conceives it

21922

We know reality because we know our own bodies and actions

11. Knowledge Aims / C. Knowing Reality / 3. Idealism / b. Transcendental idealism

21913

Kant rightly separates appearance and thing-in-itself

12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 4. Sense Data / a. Sense-data theory

4164	Direct feeling of the senses are merely data; perception of the world comes with understanding causes

12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 5. Interpretation

4163	All perception is intellectual

15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 1. Consciousness / a. Consciousness

4166	A consciousness without an object is no consciousness

15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 2. Unconscious Mind

21369

We have hidden and unadmitted desires and fears, suppressed because of vanity

16. Persons / C. Self-Awareness / 2. Knowing the Self

21367

I know both aspects of my body, as representation, and as will

16. Persons / E. Rejecting the Self / 4. Denial of the Self

4175	It is as perverse to resent our individuality being replaced by others, as to resent the body renewing itself

16. Persons / F. Free Will / 5. Against Free Will

4176	We all regard ourselves a priori as free, but see from experience that character and motive compel us

16. Persons / F. Free Will / 6. Determinism / a. Determinism

4170	Man's actions are not free, because they follow strictly from impact of motive on character

20. Action / A. Definition of Action / 4. Action as Movement

4169	Every true act of will is also at once and without exception a movement of the body

20. Action / B. Preliminaries of Action / 2. Willed Action / a. Will to Act

7187	Schopenhauer was caught in Christian ideals, because he didn't deify his 'will' [Nietzsche]

21365

Only the will is thing-in-itself, seen both in blind nature and in human action

20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 3. Acting on Reason / a. Practical reason

4173	If we were essentially intellect rather than will, our moral worth would depend on imagined motives

21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 2. Aesthetic Attitude

21370

Schopenhauer is a chief proponent of aesthetic experience as 'disinterested' [Janaway]

21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 4. Beauty

4182	A principal pleasure of the beautiful is that it momentarily silences the will

21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 6. The Sublime

21928

The Sublime fights for will-less knowing, when faced with a beautiful threat to humanity [Lewis,PB]

21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 5. Objectivism in Art

21927

Schopenhauer emphasises Ideas in art, unlike most romantics [Lewis,PB]

21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 6. Value of Art

4174	Man is more beautiful than anything else, and the loftiest purpose of art is to reveal his nature

8116	The will-less contemplation of art brings a liberation from selfhood [Gardner]

22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / c. Purpose of ethics

21380

The only aim of our existence is to grasp that non-existence would be better

22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / d. Ethical theory

21374

We should no more expect ethical theory to produce good people than aesthetics to produce artists

22. Metaethics / B. Value / 1. Nature of Value / d. Subjective value

4181	Every good is essentially relative, for it has its essential nature only in its relation to a desiring will

22. Metaethics / B. Value / 1. Nature of Value / f. Ultimate value

5649	Will casts aside each of its temporary fulfilments, so human life has no ultimate aim [Scruton]

22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / e. Death

4177	Most people would probably choose non-existence at the end of their life, rather than relive the whole thing

22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / f. Altruism

4185	Altruistic people make less distinction than usual between themselves and others

22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / i. Self-interest

4183	Only self-love can motivate morality, but that also makes it worthless

22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 2. Happiness / a. Nature of happiness

4172	Happiness is the swift movement from desire to satisfaction, and then again on to desire

22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 2. Happiness / d. Routes to happiness

21371

We can never attain happiness while our will is pursuing desires

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / a. Nature of virtue

4184	Virtue must spring from an intuitive recognition that other people are essentially like us

26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 1. Nature

4179	The essence of nature is the will to life itself

29. Religion / B. Monotheistic Religion / 4. Christianity / a. Christianity

4178	Christianity is a pessimistic religion, in which the world is equated with evil

29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 1. Religious Commitment / a. Religious Belief

4180	Religion is the mythical clothing of the truth which is inaccessible to the crude human intellect