A Note on Schopenhauer’s Will and the Selfish Foundations of Political Ideals: Commentary Essay

This brief commentary expands on my earlier paper, The Objectification and Identity of Will: Applying Schopenhauer’s Metaphysics to Plato’s Critique of Democracy. The central idea developed here is that the deepest layer of Schopenhauer’s concept of the Will amounts to an intense and irrational selfishness, and that this selfish core has shaped political history far more than the ideals we publicly invoke. Human beings often justify their desires through political doctrines, but beneath such doctrines lies the same Will striving for its own preservation and expansion. This essay offers a short reflection on that underlying dynamic.