THE WORLD AS WILLINGNESS AND REPRESENTATION

the Schopenhauerian individual and his ethical relationship with the universe

Abstract

Our reflection developed here aims to analyse the concepts of representation and will in Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), based on the work "The World as Will and as Representation", volumes I and II of the philosopher in question and the contribution of other thinkers about this work. Schopenhauer works on the relation between subject - his interpretation and his interference - and object in the world as a discourse of that same subject.

          With this in mind, we analyse how the philosopher's theory shows itself in a practical way in the everyday life of the individual. We found that the will is not a mere faculty of the individual, but an active and dominant instance in every being, so that it is considered by the thinker as the essence of the world and cause of suffering and dissatisfaction, leaving the individual insatiable; this same world is pure representation of the thinking subject. Schopenhauer was greatly influenced by Kantian philosophy, among others, and theorized about the "thing in itself" (noumenon) and the "phenomenon" (apparition) in a deep and comprehensive way. We emphasize, however, the importance of the body in the construction of this philosophizing, without which the representation and the will would not be materialized. Moreover, the exposure of Schopenhauerian ethics is also visited in this reflection, because it occupies a prominent space in the confrontation against the selfishness present in all eras. Here is an immanent metaphysics, compassion, the true foundation of morality.