The world as will and representation wwr german die welt als wille und vorstellung wwv is the central work of the german philosopher arthur schopenhauerthe first edition was published in late 1818 with the date 1819 on the title page a second two volume edition appeared in 1844 volume one was an edited version of the 1818 edition while volume two consisted of commentary on the ideas . The world as will and idea by arthur schopenhauer translated from the german by r b haldane ma and j kemp ma vol i containing four books ob nicht natur zuletzt sich doch ergunde goethe seventh edition. First published in 1818 the world as will and representation contains schopenhauers entire philosophy ranging through epistemology metaphysics philosophy of mind and action aesthetics and philosophy of art to ethics the meaning of life. An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon