Two Essays By Arthur Schopenhauer : I. On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason; II. On the Will in Nature - A Literal Translation

424 Pages·2003·33.84 MB·English

by  Arthur Schopenhauer

-
LD
.ru
m
\ STUDIA IN /
THE LIBRARY
of
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY
Toronto

BONN S PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY.
TWO ESSAYS
BY
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER.

TWO ESSAYS
BY
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER,
I.
ON THE FOURFOLD ROOT OF THE
PRINCIPLE OF SUFFICIENT REASON.
II.
ON THE WILL IN NATURE.
A LITERAL TRANSLATION.
LONDON
:
GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET,
COVENT GARDEN.
1889.
.
CHISWICK PRESS: C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT,
CHANCERY LANE.
TRANSLATOR PREFACE.
S
venturing to lay the present translationl before the
INpublic, I am aware of the great difficulties of mytask,
and indeed can hardly hope to do justice to the Author.
In fact, had it not been for the considerations I am about
to state, I might probably neverhave published what had
originally been undertaken in order to acquire a clearer
comprehension of these essays, rather than with a view to
publicity.
The two treatiseswhichformthe contents of the present
volume have so much importance for a profound and cor
rect knowledge of Schopenhauers philosophy, that it may
even be doubted whether the translation of his chief work,
"DieWeltalsWilleundVorstellung,"cancontributemuch
towards the appreciation of his system without the help at
k-iistofthe"VierfacheWurzeldesSatzesvomzureichenden
Gnmde." Schopenhauer himself repeatedlykand urgently
insists upon a previous thorough knowledge of Kant s
philosophy, as the basis, and of his own "Fourfold Root,"
as the key, to his own system, asserting that knowledge to
be the indispensable condition for a right comprehension
of his meaning. So far as I am aware, neither the "Four
fold Root" nor the "Will in Nature " have as yet found
a translator therefore, considering the dawning interest
;
which has begun to make itself felt for Schopenhauer s
philosophy in England and in America, and the fact that
1 From the fourth edition byJulius Frauenstadt. "Fourfold Root,"
Leipzig, 1875; "Will in Nature,"Leip/ig, 1878.
Yl TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.
no more competent scholar has come forward to do the
work, it may not seem presumptuous to suppose that this
version may be acceptable to those who wish to acquire
a more than superficial knowledge of this remarkable
thinker, yet whose acquaintance with G-erman does not
permit them to read his works in the original.
Now although some portions of both the Essays pub
lished in the present volume have of course become an
tiquated, owing to the subsequent development of the
empirical sciences, while others such as, for instance,
Schopenhauer s denunciation of plagiarism in the cases of
Brandis and Rosas in the beginning of Physiology and
Pathologyl can have no interestforthereaderof thepre
sent day, I have nevertheless given them just as he left
themand refrainedfromall suppressionoralteration. And
if, on the whole, the "Will in Nature " may be less indis
pensable for a right understanding of our philosophers
viewsthan the "Fourfold Root," being merely a record of
the confirmations which had been contributed during his
lifetime by the various branches of Natural Science to
his doctrine, that the thing in itself is the will, the Second
Essay has nevertheless in its own way quite as much im
portance as the First, and is, in a sense, its complement.
For they both throw light on Schopenhauer s view of the
UniverseinitsdoubleaspectasWillandasRepresentation,
each being as it were aresume of the exposition of one of
those aspects. Myplea for unitingthem in onevolume, in
spite of the difference of their contents and the wide lapse
oftime (seventeen years) whichlies betweenthem,mustbe,
that theycomplete each other, and that their great weight
and intrinsic value seem to point them out as peculiarly
fitted to be introduced to the English thinker.
In endeavouring to convey the Authors thoughts as he
1 See"Willin Nature,"pp. 9-18 oftheoriginal5 pp. 224-234of the
presenttranslation.