The World as Will and Idea, Vol. 3 of 3: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The World as Will and Idea, Vol. 3 of 3, credited to Arthur Schopenhauer, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The World as Will and Idea, Vol. 3 of 3 by Arthur Schopenhauer. (Translated by R. B. Haldane.) Read in English by Expatriate In this work, Schopenhauer explains his fundamental idea that at the root of the reality we see around us is a Will that eternally, insatiably seeks to be satisfied. Each human Subject observes the Objects around her from the perspective of that fundamental Will working within each person. The human observer is distracted by the details of life and individual distinctions that obscure this Will; only by penetrating this “principium individuationis” (which is enslaved by the cause-and-effect tyranny of the Principle of Sufficient Reason) can the observer perceive the essential Thing-In-Itself. Art has the power to make us see the Thing-In-Itself, the Platonic Idea freed from the individual particular manifestation of it, thus enabling us to transcend the individual Will and perceive something of true Reality. Perceiving the common Will in all humanity, we are able to come closer to an ego-less love based on that shared essence. Schopenhauer squarely faces the fact that existence is fundamentally suffering, but it would be simplistic to label him (as is so often done) as nothing but a pessimist. His affirmation of Art and Love is a transforming principle, having a powerful influence on writers such as Tolstoy. In the end, he chooses the Way of Negation as the path toward peace; by denying our Will, by silencing the many outbreaks of Will in our lives, we can approach the ultimate peace of annihilation that is the theme of the great Vedic philosophy of India, to which Schopenhauer admits his profound debt. - Summary by Expatriate

Recording facts

• Recording title: The World as Will and Idea, Vol. 3 of 3
• Author credits: Arthur Schopenhauer
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 54
• Listed recording duration: 18:00:57

Catalogue topics

• philosophy
• ethics
• epistemology
• immanuel kant
• schopenhauer
• ontology
• aesthetics

Opening tracks: first 24 of 54

1. 01 - XXI. Retrospect and More General View — 7:55
2. 02 - XXII. Objective View of the Intellect, Pt. 1 — 18:55
3. 03 - XXII. Objective View of the Intellect, Pt. 2 — 18:29
4. 04 - XXII. Objective View of the Intellect, Pt. 3 — 23:08
5. 05 - XXIII. On The Objectification Of The Will In Unconscious Nature, Pt. 1 — 18:03
6. 06 - XXIII. On The Objectification Of The Will In Unconscious Nature, Pt. 2 — 17:54
7. 07 - XXIV. On Matter, Pt. 1 — 21:58
8. 08 - XXIV. On Matter, Pt. 2 — 19:22
9. 09 - XXV. Transcendent Considerations Concerning The Will As Thing In Itself — 27:32
10. 10 - XXVI. On Teleology, Pt. 1 — 22:09
11. 11 - XXVI. On Teleology, Pt. 2 — 24:05
12. 12 - XXVII. On Instinct And Mechanical Tendency — 18:56
13. 13 - XXVIII. Characterisation Of The Will To Live — 29:45
14. 14 - XXIX. On The Knowledge Of The Ideas — 10:46
15. 15 - XXX. On the Pure Subject of Knowledge — 25:34
16. 16 - XXXI. On Genius, Pt. 1 — 21:08
17. 17 - XXXI. On Genius, Pt. 2 — 22:25
18. 18 - XXXI. On Genius, Pt. 3 — 25:21
19. 19 - XXXII. On Madness — 11:34
20. 20 - XXXIII. Isolated Remarks on Natural Beauty — 6:12
21. 21 - XXXIV. On the Inner Nature of Art — 13:30
22. 22 - XXXV. On The Æsthetics Of Architecture — 23:57
23. 23 - XXXVI. Isolated Remarks On The Æsthetics Of The Plastic And Pictorial Arts — 14:32
24. 24 - XXXVII. On The Æsthetics Of Poetry, Pt. 1 — 20:33

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.