Schopenhauer, deeply influenced by Kant’s work, extended the distinction between Phenomena and Noumena by introducing his concept of the will. While Kant viewed the noumenal world as unknowable, Schopenhauer identified it as a blind will that drives all living beings. This will, much like Aristotle’s life force (entelechy), propels existence. The key difference in Schopenhauer’s view is that, for humans, it leads only to suffering and dissatisfaction because of our heightened self-awarness, especially of death.

Schopenhaouer’s path to contentment was a life of ascetism. The more desires you manage to purge from your life, the more content you will become. He wrote that it is desire itself that is the source of suffering. Every new desire leads to striving, and when that desire is fulfilled, it only makes way for new cravings. By practicing pure asceticism—the rejection of material or worldly pleasures—Schopenhauer thought one could minimize the endless cycle of longing and achieve a state of inner peace. In his view, contentment comes from reducing the friction between our will (desires) and the world’s inability to fully satisfy them. To provide context, the Buddhist Middle Way lies between Schopenhauer’s asceticism and indulgence.

Relation to the Idea of Ideas: The Idea of Ideas—splitting the material world from our ideas about it—is more aligned with Kant’s approach, maintaining a neutral view of reality. Unlike Schopenhauer’s dark interpretation, the Idea of Ideas avoids seeing life as a struggle of endless desire, focusing instead on understanding how our ideas interact with the material world. Beyond the Idea of Ideas, TST Philosophy advocates for using various applied philosophies, and a focus on moderation, to live a life well-lived.

For more, read Evolution’s Consciousness Misstep: An Existential Toolkit.