8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
1/23
ONTHE FOURTHEMESAND VARIATIONSOFTHE COMPLEXOF REALITY
For the man who has tasted the serious will no longerrelish the comic, especially when it is of a tedious nature.
(WWv2xxvi)
Contemporary philosophers pay little or no attention to many problems that once puzzled
the greatest of scholars. Uncontested, science has grown so expansive that scholars no longer
rack their minds over good old-fashioned philosophical problems. Perhaps that is why interest in
questions of space and time has fizzled out in the philosophical world, to such an extent that
students of philosophy are more likely to find stimulating advanced discourse on such topics at
physics forums rather than in philosophy classrooms. The advances made in quantum physics
overshadow the great philosophical systems that dealt with the questions of space, time, and
causality, notwithstanding that many philosophical issues are still open to debate. After all,
metaphysics takes up where physics ends.
The philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer is arguably the most noteworthy of all classical
treatments of space, time, and causality, due to its systematic completeness, clarity, and wealth
of ideas. In his earliest studies, Schopenhauer introduced a wildly interesting idea: the complex
of reality. Time, space, and causality, form a matrix governed by the universal and necessary
formulas creating the empirical world. Schopenhauer states:
The empirical representations, belonging to the ordered and regulated
complex of reality appear in both forms simultaneously; in fact, an
intimate union of the two is the condition of reality. To a certain extent,
reality grows out of them as a product out of its factors. What produces
1
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
2/23
this union is the understanding which, by means of its own peculiar
function, combines those heterogeneous forms of sensibility so that from
their mutual interpenetration, although only for the understanding itself,
there arises empirical reality as a general and comprehensive
representation. This creates a COMPLEX, held together by the forms of
the principle of sufficient reason, yet with problematic limitsThus in a
word, this entire, objective, real world exists for us in this complex.
Although, the objective real world exists for us in this complex, the complex, as such, is
not a single representation; it is a matrix within which there emerge the possible representations
of space, time, causality and will, that constitute our various real world experiences. There are
four different categories of experience, each of which grows out of a uniquely defined form of
the complex of reality: empirical reality, abstract knowledge and self-consciousness, mystical
experience, and aesthetic experience. Any sort of experience must fall within one of the four
categories. There are no exceptions: that is to say; any alleged experience outside of the four
categories is unjustifiable.
Through participation in each of the categories, the individual enters a different stage of
knowledge, starting with knowledge under the service of the will and ending in pure will-less
knowledge. Knowledge under the service of will is limited by the particular will and belongs to
it; pure will-less knowledge, although it exists only momentarily, is free from the particularities
of the will; consequently it captures complete objectivity. The knowledge that exists in relation
to the particularities of will is motive-orientated, making it subjective and ego dominated.
Empirical reality is the category furthest from pure will-less knowledge; aesthetic experience is
2
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
3/23
the closest to pure will-less knowledge. Therefore, as when scaling any ladder, this exposition
must start at the bottom rung.
FIRSTCATEGORY: EMPIRICALREALITY
Schopenhauer begins his magnum opus, The World as Will and Representation with the
following sentence: The world is my representation: this a truth valid with reference to every
living and knowing being, although man alone can bring it into reflective, abstract
consciousness. (WWv1p3) This sentence sums up half of Schopenhauers system and represents
the starting point at which to begin deconstructing the category empirical reality. Following
this lead, one must first ask the question: what is knowledge? Knowledge is mainly
representation. What is representation? Schopenhauer describes representation as a complex
physiological occurrence within an animals brain, creating a mental picture thereof.
(wwv2p191)
Knowledge divides into inner and outer sensibility. Outer sensibility is empirical reality,
the outside world of phenomena, and the material, physical realm. Outer experience or empirical
reality must operate under the three forms: time, space, and causality. The complex must be
present in order to create the proper environment for bringing outer experience to fruition. If
time were the only form of the phenomenal world there would be no coexistence. There is no
coexistence in time because time is linear and one-dimensional. Proof of this is the fact that our
thoughts occur one at a time, linearly and as if pushed along a straight line, rather than
simultaneously with other thoughts. Schopenhauer explains:
Only one distinct representation can be present to the subject at any one time,
although such a representation may be very complex. Representations are
immediately present implies that they not only become the complete and
3
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
4/23
comprehensive representations of empirical reality in the union of time and space
effected by the understanding, but are known as representations of the inner sense
in mere time, and indeed at the neutral point between the two diverging directions
of these, which is called the present.
For Schopenhauer, cognition is necessarily linear, in that it is subject to the form of time and
consequently only one representation at a time is possible. In space, there is coexistence without
succession and in time, there is succession without coexistence. Linear modes of thought are
therefore chainlike in structure, in that each representation links back to previous representations.
The empirical world is therefore a slideshow, in which, the pictures change at such a fast rate as
to form a continuum.
The world as we know it becomes possible only with the union of space; the primary
form of the outer sense, and time; the primary form of the inner sense. If space were the only
form of the phenomenal world there would be coexistence, but no succession. Time is
inextricably linked to succession. This is why arithmetic is a science of pure time, while
geometry is a science of pure space. Schopenhauer makes this point clear in chapter six of The
Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. He states:
All counting depends on this nexus of parts of time, and its words serve
merely to mark the single stages of succession; consequently the whole of
arithmetic depends on it, a science that teaches nothing but methodical
abbreviations of countingThe whole of geometry also rests on the nexus of
the position of the parts of space. (p197-198)
For Schopenhauer, as with most idealists, the empirical world is merely a picture or
reflection of the thing-in-itself, the ideal and not the real. Therefore, Schopenhauer claims that
4
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
5/23
we know an eye that sees a sun and not the sun itself. This applies to all representations
without any exception. Representations do not exist independently from the individual; in fact,
representations are wholly dependent on the conscious mind for which they appear.
Schopenhauer examines one of the more popular arguments against the idealist
standpoint. Does an individuals existence depend on their representation in anothers
consciousness? One can imagine total isolation and absence from any other persons
consciousness, but this does not entail ones non-existence. Ones existence is independent of
consciousness, or at least the consciousness of others. Schopenhauer objects to this claim by
introducing the concept of subject object division:
That other being, whose object I am now considering my person to be, is not
absolutely the subject, but is in the first instance a knowing individual. Therefore,
if he too did not exist, in fact, even if there existed in general no other being
except myself, this would still by no means be the elimination of the subject in
whose representation alone all objects exist. (WW v2. P6)
He states that the individual is not only an object filling space, but also primarily knowing
subject. The individual does not cease to exist when absent from the conscious mind of another
person. The individual is both knower and known, subject and object wrapped up into one
complete package. Why would an individual need the conscious mind of another when they
have a mind of their own? Like any other object, the human form is an object suspended in
space; except, that the latter has the distinctive capacity to function as both knower and known.
In other words, the complex of reality is part of each object independent of any other object.
Existence depends on the individuals consciousness, not on the consciousness of another
5
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
6/23
individual. In fact, it is a phenomenon of the brain, no matter whether the brain in which it
exhibits itself belongs to my own person or to anothers. (WWv2 p.6)
Considering this approach it might seem difficult to imagine any sort of empirical reality.
However, the external world maintains its objectivity due to the law of causality and the faculty
of understanding. Following Kant, Schopenhauer makes it clear that the individual can never
reach knowledge of the thing-in-itself by using the causal law because the causal law deals
exclusively with changes in the physical world. The causal law is responsible for making
objectivity possible, and without it the empirical world would lose all objectivity. For
Schopenhauer, the empirical world is completely intellectual, which is why Schopenhauer
claims that the world of representation as it appears to the conscious mind is product of
perception and not of the senses.
Schopenhauer distinguishes between sensation and perception. The senses supply only
the raw material and not the finished product. In this sense, the faculty of understanding
orchestrates with assistance from the law of causality the shift from raw sensation to refined
perception. Schopenhauer outlines this Kantian epistemological conclusion in a long but
powerful paragraph:
One must be forsaken by all the gods to imagine that the world of intuitive
perception outside, filling space in its three dimensions, moving on in the
inexorably strict course of time, governed at each step by the law of causality that
is without exception that such a world outside had an entirely real and
objective existence without our participation, but then found its way into our
heads through mere sensation, where it now had a second existence like the one
outside even in the noblest organs of sense it is nothing more than a local
6
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
7/23
specific feeling, capable in its way of some variation, yet in itself always
subjective sensation remains an event within the organism but as such it is
restricted to the region beneath the skin; and so, in itself, it can never contain
anything lying outside the skin and thus outside ourselves yet it remains
sensation, like every other within our body; consequently it is something
essentially subjective whose changes directly reach our consciousness only in the
form of the inner sense and hence of time alone, that is to say successively
Sensations are to perceptions as the individual notes are to symphonies. This conclusion further
proves the ideality of empirical reality and the many changes it undergoes before it comes to
fruition in consciousness. Schopenhauer repeatedly states that the senses merely supply the
data, immediately handed over to the faculty of understanding, and only then converted into
intuitive perception.
The understanding gathers the data passed on from the senses, designates every change as
an effect and links it together with its cause. Schopenhauer says that physiologically the brain
creates perception, but actually it is the faculty of the understanding employing the a priori
complex (space, time, and causality) that puts together empirical reality. Without the faculty of
understanding and the law of causality, the empirical world would be little more than what
Nietzsche called an anarchy of atoms. Take for example the sense of sight. Schopenhauer
claims the understanding has a fourfold purpose in organizing the sense of sight. Firstly, the
understanding flips the reversed image upright. Secondly, the understanding transposes the
doubled image into one single and seamless image. Thirdly, the understanding creates bodies
from their surfaces. Fourthly, the understanding recognizes distance.
7
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
8/23
Outer perception, otherwise known as the world of representation, is completely
intellectual, but does the will make its way into the world of representation?
Perhaps this is an appropriate time to introduce the role of the will and its relationship to the
world of representation.
All matter is will, or rather, all matter whether organic or inorganic is the objectification
of will. Schopenhauer means by objectification that all matter, from the smallest particle to the
largest galaxy, from a bacterium to a man, is manifestation of one and the same will. That is
because matter, in addition to being for others, must also be being-in-itself, which Schopenhauer
designates as will. If matter were simply being-for-others, then the empirical world would lose
any sense of reality and fade away into phantasmagoria. Following this line of thought, one
easily slips headlong into a solipsistic trap.
Yet the perceived object must be something in itself, and not merely
something for others; for otherwise it would be positively only
representation, and we should have an absolute idealism that in the end
would become theoretical egoism, in which all reality disappears, and the
world becomes a mere subjective phantasm. (WWv1. Pg 193)
In other words, the will (being-in-itself) is the root of all phenomena and the underlying element
of all matter. The will is real and the phenomenal world is ideal; without the real, everything
remains ideal. At bottom, Schopenhauer characterizes the will as mainly will-to-live, in as
much as, all matter or phenomena spring naturally towards life and existence.
Empirical reality is the category furthest from pure will-less knowledge, because the
representation, which makes up empirical reality, is totally subjective. Schopenhauer states, the
world is my representation not the world is our representation, because each individual paints
8
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
9/23
their own picture of existence. This is not to say, that each experience is so totally different as to
be incapable of cohering with others. It is rather that no two individuals experiences are exactly
alike or homogenous.
In addition, that which the individual perceives is merely phenomenal and therefore only
the objectification of will. If the thing-in-itself were completely empirical then it would no
longer be in-itself. Instead, it would be a being for others. This poses a problem through
empirical knowledge, the three forms, and the will, the individual can never reach the thing-in-
itself. It merely skates across the surface of existence.
SECOND
CATEGORY
: ABSTRACT
KNOWLEDGE
AND
SELF
- CONSCIOUSNESS
1
Self-consciousness, or the inward observation of our will, is different from empirical
reality in that it is free from the forms of space and causality and government by the will and
only subject to the form of time. Proof of this is apparent in that the monologue of our self-
conscious reverie is not physically extended in space. However, the inner sense is not totally
separated from empirical reality. Concepts the main tool of the inner sense, borrow their content
from the world of representation. This leads us to the question as to how representations lead of
concepts.
The faculty of reason organizes the content supplied by empirical reality, just as the
faculty of understanding shapes the world of phenomena. However, when and how does
knowledge change from perception into abstract knowledge? Or put it differently, how does
knowledge pass over from immediate representations to abstract concepts? Cognition seems too
fluid and seamless to contain so many dead ends and reversals of direction. Even Schopenhauer
recognizes the peculiarity of this shift and on numerous occasions even refers to it as
mysterious. In a beautiful passage, he describes the shift thusly:
9
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
10/23
As from the direct light of the sun to the borrowed reflected light of the moon, so
do we pass from the immediate representation of perception, which stands by
itself and is its own warrant, to reflection, to the abstract, discursive concepts of
reason, which have their whole content only from that knowledge of perception,
and in relation to it. (WWv1. P35)
By concept, Schopenhauer refers to a special class of representations. Concepts do not
just emerge immediately in the conscious mind; rather concepts are merely, representations of
representations. Their content derives from representations belonging to the first class of the
principle of sufficient reason: intuitive, perceptive, complete, empirical representations. As
Schopenhauer says; The abstract representation has its whole nature simply and solely in its
relation to another representation that is its ground of knowledge. The individuals mind would
undergo sensory overload were it to retain every minute detail of experience. Instead, the faculty
of reason changes the form of knowledge from the empirical to the abstract. Much is lost in the
abstractification process and ultimately for very good reason. Schopenhauer describes the
abstractification process as getting rid of unnecessary baggage, or even to working with extracts
instead of the plant species themselves, with quinine instead of bark. (PSR p151) One would
never be able to link concepts together if one were to retain every detail of every experience. In
effect, the faculty of reason screens and locates the major elements of intuitive perceptions.
This is why we remember only the crucial elements of our childhood and not the meaningless
events.
Concepts borrow material from empirical reality and in essence are empty until filled
with empirical residue. Schopenhauer describes this as reasons femininity. He claims the
10
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
11/23
faculty of understanding is masculine and the faculty of reason is feminine. The former supplies
data rather than receiving data. The latter (reason) can only supply data until it has received
data. The faculty of reason is wholly empty in itself, until the understanding passes over the
intuitive perception.
Once the faculty of understanding passes intuitive perception over into the faculty of
reason, it begins the shift from the empirical to the abstract. In other words, reason allocates
concepts that symbolize experience and then designates words to describe the concepts.
Language plays an important role in Schopenhauers philosophy because language helps the
faculty of reason complete the abstractification process. Hence, animals lacking the capacity for
language also lack the capacity for reason, because concepts rely on words to describe their
meaning. It is hard to imagine building concepts out of anything other than words.
Schopenhauer describes language as inadequate, in the sense that words and hence concepts can
never supply the real meaning of the empirical perceptions they represent.
Words and concepts will always be barren and dry, for this is their nature. It
would be foolish to hope and expect that words and the abstract idea could
become and fulfil that which the living intuitive perception was and fulfilled, a
perception which evoked the idea. The thought itself is only the mummy of the
perception and the words are the lid of the sarcophagus. Here we have the limit
of mental communication; it excludes the best. But words and concepts, dry as
their communication was, help us to understandthat which we subsequently
perceive just as the botanists tin box for plants is itself of lifeless metal, but
enables him to take home and preserve the flowers that he finds. (MR v3 p24)
Language serves its purpose and no more. It can only preserve an experience.
11
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
12/23
As I previously stated, concepts do not exist independently. They refer back to the
intuitive perceptions that make up empirical reality; in the case of reflection, they refer back to
other concepts as their ground of knowledge. A certain class of concepts relates directly to
intuitive perceptions and another class relates indirectly.
Concepts connected with perceptions through other concepts are called abstracta.
Concepts connected directly to intuitive perception are called concreta. The former class of
concepts links indirectly to intuitive perception and consequently they come to fruition through
the medium of other concepts. Schopenhauer describes the concepts of relation, virtue,
investigation, beginning as abstracta. It is apparent that the concept of relation remains empty
unless thought through another concept. However, concepts in concreta link directly to intuitive
perception. The concepts man, stone, horse are examples of concepts in concreta.
Schopenhauer notes that the class of concepts called concreta is only figurative, in that, as
concepts they are necessarily abstract. This last name, however, fits the concepts denoted by it
only in quite a figurative way, for even these too are always abstracta, and in no way
representations of perception. Therefore, these concepts are never completely direct.
That a concept includes abstract representations or representations of perceptions is a
secondary quality and not inherent to the concepts themselves. Schopenhauer describes this
quality as accidental, but yet necessary, in that the possibility of multiple relations must remain
open. The concept- sphere may include other concepts because of their connection with intuitive
perception. One representation may bring to fruition several concepts.
Thus a concept has generality, not because it is abstracted from several objects,
but conversely because generality that is to say, non-determination of the
12
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
13/23
particular, is essential to the concept as abstract representation of reason; different
things can be thought through the same concept. Pg 42 wwv1
Schopenhauer describes this as the concepts range. He states that the concepts outermost
sphere relates back to the sphere of other concepts. The sphere of these other concepts relates
back to the spheres of others. Schopenhauer defines judging as the ability to demonstrate the
relations between different concepts.
However, our thinking process is not solely concept juggling, and for Schopenhauer there
are many levels of thinking. The concept gains substance from intuitive perception. Our thought
patterns, however, do not crystallize in the form of concepts. In forming conclusions, we can
compare concepts, but this is not practical. Schopenhauer claims that judging consists of
comparing two concepts, and inference consists of comparing two judgments. Judgments are
more complete than concepts, in that no conclusion can be drawn from concepts. It is only with
the judgment that conclusions can be drawn. The chain of conclusions and inferences revolve
around the sphere of judgments. Schopenhauer designates the syllogism as the model for our
conclusion-making ability. He dedicates a whole chapter on the science of syllogisms, thereby
proving the great importance he places on this aspect of his philosophy. He states that when
forming conclusions we primarily compare two judgments with a third judgment formed
independent from any outside information. There are certain conditions through which we form
these syllogisms: the two judgments must have at least one concept in common, or else, there is
no apparent link to join them together. Then by the power inherent in the faculty of reason, and
performed by its judging capacity, one combines two separate concepts into a conclusion.
Therefore, one foresees the conclusion when forming premises leading to the conclusion. This is
beneficial because one comes to closer terms with ones conclusion making and inferential
13
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
14/23
capability. One gains a more intimate knowledge of their thinking pattern by realizing that the
conclusion one is trying to prove influences the premises that lead to the conclusion.
Schopenhauer says:
The nature of the inference or conclusion consists in our bringing to distinct
consciousness the fact of having thought already in the premises the statement of
the conclusion. Accordingly it is a means of becoming more distinctly conscious
of our own knowledge, of getting to know more fully, or becoming aware of what
we know. (wwr v2 p108)
This realization is not immediate and Schopenhauer claims that two premises can reside in a
mans head for many years without leading to a conclusion. Then out of the blue, when the
right major hits the right minor a conclusion is born. The possibility of forming such
conclusions remains latent within the individual until the right circumstances bring the concepts
together. The individual and their pursuit in finding a solution to a problem direct the form of
thinking discussed previously. However, there is another level from which we can examine
thinking and therefore another question that needs attention. What directs the association of
ideas?
Schopenhauer admits that mankind only knows a shallow layer of consciousness, and that
beyond this shallow layer there resides a mystical and illusive core. He claims every idea that
comes to consciousness links back to empirical data and explains that the cases which seem as
though they arise out of thin air are delusions, in that the occasions that spawn such ideas get
overshadowed by the idea itself.
14
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
15/23
Self-consciousness, the means through which the individual comes to know the inner
stirrings of the will, is different from abstract knowledge in that it is closer to the mystical and
illusive core. Schopenhauer says:
Through the preponderating intellect that here appears, not only are the
comprehension of the motives, their multiplicity and variety, and generally
the horizon of the aims infinitely increased, but the distinctness with
which the will is conscious of itself is also enhanced in the highest degree,
in consequence of the clearness of the whole consciousness which has
come about. This clearness, supported by the capacity for abstract
knowledge, now reaches complete reflectiveness. (pg 280 ww v2)
Through the intellect, plus self-consciousness, our passions and urges take on a deeper meaning,
in that the individual comes to gain the ability to reflect upon them. However, the passions and
urges themselves are more direct, whereas reflection and introspection are indirect. Passions are
direct because they represent merely whether the circumstance is in agreement with the will, or
whether or not it goes against the will. The will is the primary element of self-consciousness and
therefore, any sort of impression on the will appears directly to self-consciousness. Therefore,
various feelings, i.e., love, hatred, fear, etc; seem so much closer to the individuals inner being.
In addition, once feelings are cognized and the individual begins reflecting upon them,
they lose all immediacy and directness. Language is always cumbersome and many times the
most sublime feeling loses all greatness while the individual tries formulating an expression of it.
Due to these factors, abstract knowledge and self-consciousness remain far from
representing pure will-less knowledge and, in effect, this form of knowledge remains under
service of the will. As I have repeatedly said, the will is the primary element in self-
15
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
16/23
consciousness and therefore every inner reflection is motive-oriented for the sake of the will, and
therefore remains intractably subjective. The game we are hunting is pure will-less knowledge,
in other words, objectivity.
THIRD CATEGORY: MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE2
In man there is to be found a cognitive faculty which as a rule remains hidden
and is different from the ordinary cerebral faculty, and to this extent there
accrues to it a kind of omniscience, when it is not impeded by restrictions of
time and space, but knows what a very remote, long past, or in the future, just
as we know what is real and present. We first become acquainted with it from
experiments which clairvoyant somnambulists give of it, and also from
prophetic dreams and the like. [for the rest of the passage refer to mr v4 pg
336]
The third category is one of the more interesting and least explored categories. However,
in the past its interestingness is commonly lost in its complexity. In thefirst category we find
the complex of reality in the form of space, time, causality, and will. In thesecond category
we find it in the form of time, and will. In the third category we find the complex of reality in
the form of causality and will. Experiences of this sort last shortly and have their own unique
qualities.
For Schopenhauer, instances such as clairvoyant and deuteroscopic experiences originate
out of a secret or hidden cognitive faculty, not the ordinary faculty described in the first
category. The hidden cognitive faculty conveys into the brain those items that the will is
specifically interested in having appear there. Why does the will want the brain to have these
particular items of knowledge? The intellect is in servitude to the will and therefore the will
16
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
17/23
controls the direction of our thoughts. At bottom, the individual knows the will as the basic
feelings, weal and woe. Knowledge supplied by the hidden category is in the interest of the will
because as with all knowledge, it refers back to the individuals well being.
Knowledge of this sort is free from the forms of space and time, and consequently it can
refer back into the past and forward into the future. Knowledge of the past made visible usually
takes the form of spirit apparitions and other related phenomena, and knowledge of the future is
emblemised in the cases of clairvoyant somnambulism and deuteroscopy. The combination of
the hidden cognitive faculty with knowledge free of time and space gives privileged intellects
the chance to foresee future events. However, knowledge of this sort does not merely appear to
the individual rather, the will uses an object of intuition or perception as a symbol calling to
mind the particular thought.
By this point, the reader probably feels deserted, completely helpless, and left asking
himself -How does the individual cognize future events? The answer to this question actually
takes us back to the first category. For Schopenhauer, our existence is completely determined;
our entire life is mapped out prior to our existence. This is so because the physical world is
governed by the principle of sufficient reason and the law of causality. Every event links
together and refers back to a previous cause; thus creating a chain of events. This chain extends
infinitely into the past and future, making existence in this respect not cyclical, but linear. The
linearity of existence and its deterministic nature makes possible the ability to foreshadow events
and recall long past experiences. Knowledge free from the limitations of space and time makes it
possible for the individual to travel back and forth on the timeline of reality. Certain people have
an enhanced ability to transcend cognitively into the distant future, i.e., somnambulists and
clairvoyants. Consider these rare cases as flipping ahead several pages through the book of
17
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
18/23
reality. Of course, the time traveler has to return to the present moment, and in so doing, the
complex of reality takes on an altogether different form.
If existence were not determined, any knowledge of the future would be completely
impossible, and as we have seen special cases that fall under the third category validate this
supposition. As special as this class might be, the knowledge it supplies still does not represent
pure will-less knowledge, although it reaches closer to objectivity than either the first or second
category. True, this variation of the complex of reality is free from both time and space.
However, all cases of this special knowledge refer directly back to the will.
FOURTH
CATEGORY
: AESTHETIC
EXPERIENCE
Having finally arrived at the ladders last rung, we realize the fourth category is different
from the previous ones, in that knowledge breaks away from will rather than the forms of space,
time, and causality. Schopenhauer outlines two forms of knowledge: knowledge under servitude
of the will and knowledge free of such servitude.
Knowledge under servitude of the will is subjective, motive-oriented, and totally
dependent upon its relationship to the will. All knowledge of this sort refers back to the
individuals personal aims and well being.
The brain, together with the nerves and the spinal cord attached to it, is a
mere fruit, a product, in fact a parasite, of the rest of the organism, in so far
as it is not directly geared to the organisms inner working, but serves the
purpose of self-preservation by regulating its relations to the external world.
(wwv2p201)
The will is concerned with nothing other than the individual and therefore any knowledge related
to the will is thwarted and inaccurate. As I argued, knowledge of this sort never reflects the
18
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
19/23
being-in-itself, only the phenomenal appearance. In addition, knowledge under servitude of the
will apprehends mainly relations between not only the individuals will and the external world,
but also various and different objects that make up the external world. Through each of these
relations, the individual perceives the empirical world against the backdrop of the will and since
the will is involved, knowledge of this kind remains irremediably subjective. In this respect,
Schopenhauer calls the will the antagonist of knowledge. Why does he say this? Listen to his
answer: The will is the root of the intellect and is opposed to every activity of the intellect
which is directed to anything other than its own aims. (wwv2p381) Egoistic motives spring
forth from the will creating a diaphanous haze clouding the path to objectivity. In effect, the
more conscious we are of ourselves the less conscious we are of other things. The brilliance of
this claim grows increasingly apparent when turned on its head The less conscious we are of
our selves the more conscious we are of other things. This brings us to knowledge free from
servitude of the will.
On the other side of the spectrum, knowledge free from servitude of the will epitomizes
pure objective knowledge without any reference to the will and hence to the individuals; well
being. Schopenhauer considers such experiences to be aesthetic, meaning brief moments of
freedom from the will. Brief, that is, until the intellect surrenders and the nefarious will regains
controls.
However, during this brief moment of freedom the knowledge that spills forth captures
the essential and universal aspect of existence. Schopenhauer designates the Platonic Ideas 3as
the paradigmatic of such epistemic spillage. He describes the Ideas as the permanent,
unchangeable forms, independent of the temporal existence of individual beings. (wwv2idea)
19
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
20/23
Such works are usually the product of genius and any genuine work of art must encapsulate the
Platonic Ideas.
Confirming his reputation as the father of pessimism, Schopenhauer concludes that
even the aesthetic experience does not represent the thing-in-itself, viz., they represent their
objective character, and thus always only the phenomenon. The aesthetic moment is not only
brief , but also inadequate and therefore the thing-in-itself still remains hidden.
Nevertheless, how does the process ofideification extract the universal and essential
aspects of experience? For Schopenhauer and myself, the change that occurs during aesthetic
experience is both metaphysical and physiological. Metaphysical, because, such experience
results result from an act of self-denial, one in which the intellect, which is usually the lesser,
overpowers the will. Schopenhauer states:
To this extent it consists in knowledge turning away entirely from
our own will, and thus leaving entirely out of sight the precious
pledge entrusted to it, and considering things as though they could
never in any way concern the will. For only thus does knowledge
become pure mirror of the objective inner nature of things.
By Physiologically, Schopenhauer includes such experiences that result from a strong
excitation of the brains perceptive power without any inclination or motive. Schopenhauer
weeds out such cases as those induced by mind-altering substances, such as opium or alcohol.
Let us not think here of alcoholic drinks or of opium, on the
contrary, what is required is a peaceful nights sleep, a cold bath 4,
and everything that furnishes brain-activity with an unforced
20
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
21/23
ascendancy by a calming down of the blood circulation and of the
passionate nature.
Perhaps, if Schopenhauer tried opium or drank alcohol he would have thought differently. I
firmly believe consciousness expansion allows for a heightened sense of awareness and
ultimately the chance to perceive in depth objective reality.
An experience minus inclinations or motives requires along with a heightened sense of
awareness the complete separation of will from knowledge. The I or ego must withdraw in
order for the intellect to capture the objective element of existence. For Schopenhauer, examples
of pure will-less knowledge are apparent in genuine and true works of art, music being the best
example of what Schopenhauer means.
Such works produce an aesthetic feeling brought about through the quieting of the will,
which is the root cause of all suffering. The will is the source of all desire and sorrow and with
its withdrawal follows the temporary cessation of suffering. This accounts for the euphoric
feelings inspired by the great works of art, such as the Indian Upanishads the reading of which
had this quieting effect on Schopenhauer.
The aesthetic experience is the closest the individual gets to objective knowledge. Such
experiences are inaccessible to the normal mind and instead are primarily arrogated to
geniuses. Ultimately, some people exist without ever perceiving the objective side of nature. It is
not unreasonable to believe that such people do not even think twice about their deficiency. As
is well known, Schopenhauer considered himself such a genius a title he richly deserved.
Through the four categories, we have come to realize that the world and all its different
experiences are merely different forms of the complex of reality. The first category is different
from the second and the second is different from the third, yet each category relates back to the
21
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
22/23
empirical and therefore the first category. Although this is merely a snippet of Schopenhauers
system, I think the four variations on the complex of reality enable us to understand his system
and also explain it. This vision of Schopenhauers is unique and as far as I know there has never
been a systematic exposition of Schopenhauers philosophy organized in such a manner.
22
8/3/2019 Themes and Variations of the Complex of Reality
23/23
1 Abstract knowledge and self-consciousness fall under the second category because they both are part of the inner sense
and are subject to the form of time and free from causality and space. In addition, through concepts and the faculty of
reason, self-consciousness takes on a deeper meaning, in that, the individual can reflect upon their desires and strivings.The only difference is that self-consciousness is knowledge of the self while abstract knowledge deals primarily with
external knowledge.2 Disclaimer: It is not necessary for my purposes in this paper that the reader actually believe the ideas under this section. It
is sufficient to show that if these phenomena actually did occur, they would not (in spite of being mystical) lead to pure
will-less knowledge.3 For this very reason any translation of Schopenhauers, Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung that is translated into TheWorld as Will and Idea is automatically, from the outset rendered, not only incorrect but charged with flagrant
misunderstanding of the whole meaning of Schopenhauers system. Schopenhauer states in numerous passages that hereserves the concept of Idea to primarily the Platonic eidos.4 The cold bath signifies a slowing down of the blood circulation, in turn limiting the chance of sexual arousal.
Schopenhauer considers sexual arousal as one of the most powerful means through which the will objectifies itself.
Schopenhauer characterizes the will as the will-to-live. The will-to-live is expressed through the sexual impulse and
therefore the path to objective knowledge is impossible during any type of sexual excitation. The cold bath is intended to
render the man impotent, or at least unable to perform.
Top Related