In The World as Will and Representation, Schopenhauer defines egoism as an event in which a person “makes himself the center of the world and considers his own existence and well-being before everything else, [and] . . . is ready for this to sacrifice everything else . . . to annihilate the world in order to maintain his own self”.
Egoism means bringing oneself into the center where the only things that matter are one’s own interests and one’s own self. According to Schopenhauer, the egoist constantly carries out this bringing of the self into the center even if this bringing brings about the destruction of others, even if this entering into, and remaining in, the center renders the interests of others disrupted, for egoism means raising one’s own interests to “colossal proportions”.
According to Schopenhauer, egoism is not something that is unnatural or distant. Egoism is “the natural standpoint” because in everyone “the whole will” dwells and hence holds sway. That is, every self thinks that it is a “phenomenon of the will”.
This means that one always finds oneself in a relation, which is direct and continuous, with one’s own will. The force of this limited and limiting relation is that it allows oneself to assume that “the whole will” only dwells in oneself.
And although I can notice the other and observe that the other has also the capacity for desiring, suffering, and feeling, what remain important for me are only my interests and my desires. Schopenhauer says that it is natural for me to assume that I am the only “real person”.
According to Schopenhauer, there is a natural tendency to perceive and treat the other as a mere tool, as a thing, that can be used and manipulated in such a way that only satisfies one’s own desires, needs, and interests. There is a natural tendency to see the other as a means and not as an end.
“War, All Against All” and the State
In The World as Will and Representation, Schopenhauer discusses what he calls the “war, all against all” and links it together with egoism. The “war, all against all” is the result of our natural tendency to treat other people as mere things. The “war, all against all” holds sway because egoism is “the natural standpoint”.
This means that, for Schopenhauer, both egoism and the “war, all against all” are the natural conditions of human beings. That is, the other naturally tends to see me as a mere thing and hence manipulates me in such a way that negates my own interests and desires. I also naturally tend to perceive the other only as a means to reach that to which I am heading, that is, as a tool.
This violent relation, in which oneself and the other are placed, in which everyone is placed, renders the state necessary and justifies its existence. Egoism leads to the emerging of the state, or the state is the result of egoism.
This violent relation justifies the existence of the state because the only task of the state, according to Schopenhauer, is to reduce the harm that everyone does to everyone else. Reducing the harm that we do to one another means preventing us from using each other as tools, that is, it means preventing us from manipulating each other.
Egoism Is Not Always Wrong
In The World as Will and Representation, Schopenhauer says that egoism should not be considered to be always wrong.
That which renders egoism wrong, for Schopenhauer, is not the egoistic act itself, but rather the harm that it might cause to others. Harming the other is what renders egoism wrong.
But since we, according to Schopenhauer, always find ourselves placed in competitive and non-simple relations with each other, egoism and egoistic acts become necessarily and certainly wrong, for they necessarily imply treating each other as tools.
The competitiveness, into which we and everyone else are brought together, renders any egoistic act not only wrong, but rather the origin of all wrongdoing. This competitiveness, which takes place and announces itself as a “war, all against all”, is that from out of which every wrongdoing and all harm emerge.
This means that, for Schopenhauer, the origin of all wrongdoing is causing harm to others. In The World as Will and Representation, Schopenhauer says that harming others means denying and negating their wills by asserting one’s own will. This means that to cause harm to the other is to assert oneself to the point of negating the other.
The “Moral Worth” of What Does Not Harm the Other
The ground from out of which Schopenhauer’s discussion of egoism arises is that egoism is natural and that not all egoistic actions are necessarily wrong. We all have a natural tendency to be egoistic and we all endeavor to bring ourselves into a certain center, but if this natural tendency to place oneself in the center does not harm the other in its satisfying of itself, then it is not wrong.
Yet that which Schopenhauer attempts to carry out in his discussion of egoism in The World as Will and Representation is neither a linking together nor a rendering equal of egoism and wrongdoing, but rather a mere bringing into view of what he calls the “moral worth” of our actions.
Egoistic actions that are either hoping and waiting for a reward or fearing a certain punishment might never harm the other. These actions remain the same bringing of oneself into the center, but without negating the will of the other and without manipulating the other. But what is the “moral worth” of these actions?
“It is conceivable that a perfect state, or even perhaps a complete dogma of rewards and punishments after death firmly believed in, might prevent every crime. Politically much would be gained in this way; morally, absolutely nothing”
Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation
For Schopenhauer, all acting that emerges from self-interest, all acting that arises because of our bringing of ourselves into the center lacks “moral worth”. Schopenhauer places this acting, which lacks “moral worth”, over against another form of acting that is turned toward the other.
The “ultimate objective” of the other form of acting, which is turned toward the other, is the welfare of the other. The other form of acting is altruism. (What Schopenhauer means by altruism will be discussed in another article)
For more articles on Schopenhauer’s philosophy, visit this webpage.