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In 1820 Arthur Schopenhauer, a 32-year-old lecturer at the University of Berlin, scheduled his lectures at the same hour as Hegel’s. Five students came. His main book, The World as Will and Representation, had appeared at the end of 1818 and been met with near silence, and an expanded edition in 1844 fared little better. Fame came only in 1851, with Parerga and Paralipomena, a two-volume collection of essays for which he was paid in ten copies of the book. Wagner, Tolstoy and Thomas Mann became his readers, and the young Nietzsche called his discovery of Schopenhauer a revelation. This guide covers his eight key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 8 key books · 1813–1864 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Arthur Schopenhauer’s main work is The World as Will and Representation (1819), expanded with a second volume in 1844. His other key books are On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason (1813), The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics (1841) and Parerga and Paralipomena (1851). Start with Parerga and Paralipomena; below is what each book argues and the order that makes the system easiest to follow.
Where to Start with Arthur Schopenhauer
If you want the essays that made him famous
→ Parerga and Paralipomena (1851) — short pieces on happiness, reading, noise and death.
If you want his whole philosophy
→ The World as Will and Representation (1819) — the four books of the first volume.
If you want his ethics
→ The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics (1841) — free will and compassion, in two prize essays.
If you want something short and practical
→ The Art of Being Right (1864) — 38 tricks for winning an argument.
8 Arthur Schopenhauer Books, in Order
On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason
His doctoral dissertation, which earned him a PhD from the University of Jena in 1813. It argues that the principle that nothing is without a reason takes four distinct forms, covering physical causes, logical grounds, mathematics and human motives. He treated it as the groundwork for everything that followed and published a revised second edition in 1847.
On Vision and Colours
Written in a few weeks in Dresden after his conversations with Goethe about Goethe’s Theory of Colours (1810). Schopenhauer argues that colour is an activity of the retina, which divides into complementary parts, rather than a property of light or objects. Goethe rejected some of its conclusions, and the two drifted apart. He reworked it in Latin in 1830 and issued a second edition in 1854.
The World as Will and Representation
His main work, completed in March 1818 and published that December, though the title page is dated 1819. It opens with “The world is my representation” and runs in four books: knowledge, the will as the inner nature of everything, art (with music as the highest form), and ethics, ending in the denial of the will-to-live. An appendix criticises Kant. The first edition was met with almost complete silence.
On the Will in Nature
A short book that sets out to support his metaphysics with evidence from the sciences of his day, from physiology and comparative anatomy to plant life, astronomy and linguistics. It also includes a chapter on Sinology. It was his first new book in seventeen years.
The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics
Two prize essays in one volume. “On the Freedom of the Will” won the prize of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences in 1839. “On the Basis of Morality”, which grounds morality in compassion rather than in Kant’s duty, was the only entry for the Royal Danish Society’s competition, which still refused to award it in 1840. The book appeared in September 1840, dated 1841.
The World as Will and Representation
The second edition of 1844 added a whole new volume of supplementary chapters that follow the four books of the first, expanding them with material on death, sexual love, genius, music and the vanity of life. It too drew little interest at first. A further expanded third edition appeared in 1859, the year before his death.
Parerga and Paralipomena
Two volumes of essays and shorter thoughts, published by Hayn in Berlin in a run of 750 copies after other publishers had hesitated. The first volume holds six long essays, including “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life”; the second gathers shorter pieces under 31 headings, among them “On Women”. A review by John Oxenford in the Westminster Review, translated into German in 1853, finally made him famous. Most English selections, such as Penguin’s Essays and Aphorisms, are drawn from it.
The Art of Being Right
An unfinished, sarcastic treatise on dishonest argument, probably written around 1830–1831 at the end of his Berlin years and published after his death by his disciple Julius Frauenstädt in 1864. It names and illustrates 38 stratagems for winning a debate whether or not you are right, from the straw man to the personal attack, with a defence against each. It is also published as The Art of Controversy and The Art of Always Being Right.
In What Order to Read Arthur Schopenhauer
Schopenhauer saw his work as one system. In the preface to The World as Will and Representation he asks readers to know Kant, to read On the Fourfold Root first, and to read the main book twice. Volume Two is not a sequel but a set of commentaries, chapter by chapter, on the four books of Volume One, so it is best read alongside it or afterwards.
Most readers do better coming in the other way: start with the essays of Parerga and Paralipomena, where he wrote for a general audience, then go to Volume One of the main work. The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics and The Art of Being Right stand on their own and can be read at any point.
A reading path
1. Parerga and Paralipomena (1851)
2. The World as Will and Representation, Volume One (1819)
3. The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics (1841)
4. The World as Will and Representation, Volume Two (1844)
5. On the Fourfold Root (1813)
Everything Else Arthur Schopenhauer Published
Beyond the 8 key books: 7 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Revised and Latin editions
4
4 books · 1830–1859
- 1830Theoria colorum physiologicahis own Latin reworking of On Vision and Colours, not a mere translation
- 1847On the Fourfold Root, second editiona revised edition of his dissertation
- 1854On Vision and Colours, second editionan improved edition
- 1859The World as Will and Representation, third editionexpanded once more, the year before his death
Parts often published on their own
3
3 books · 1839–1851
- 1839On the Freedom of the Willthe essay that won the Royal Norwegian Society’s prize, collected in The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics
- 1840On the Basis of Moralitythe essay the Royal Danish Society declined to crown, collected in the same volume
- 1851Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Lifehis essay on happiness from Parerga and Paralipomena, often sold alone as The Wisdom of Life
The years · 1788–1860
Quick facts about Arthur Schopenhauer
- Known for
- Schopenhauer is known as the philosopher of pessimism, who argued that a blind, endless will drives everything in the world, that life is mostly suffering, and that art, compassion and the renunciation of desire offer the only relief.
- 1788
- Born in Danzig
- 1813
- Doctorate from the University of Jena
- 1833
- Settles in Frankfurt am Main for good
- 1860
- Dies in Frankfurt, aged 72
- Born
- 22 February 1788, Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland), to the merchant Heinrich Floris Schopenhauer and the writer Johanna Schopenhauer
- Died
- 21 September 1860, Frankfurt am Main, aged 72
- Education
- Universities of Göttingen and Berlin; doctorate from Jena, 1813
- Prize
- Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences, 1839, for his essay on the freedom of the will
- Lived
- Frankfurt am Main from 1833 until his death, with his poodles
- Influenced
- Nietzsche, Wagner, Tolstoy, Thomas Mann, Mahler and Wittgenstein, among many others
The red mark is 1819: The World as Will and Representation, the main work he spent the rest of his life expanding.
How Arthur Schopenhauer Writes: One Thought, Many Times
Almost everything Schopenhauer published after 1818 is a return to the same book. Volume Two of The World as Will and Representation follows the four books of Volume One chapter by chapter, On the Will in Nature looks for scientific support for its second book, and The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics expands its fourth. Even Parerga and Paralipomena means “supplements and remains”.
Unlike Kant or Hegel, he writes plain, direct German, built on concrete examples, metaphors and quotation from Greek, Latin and English authors, and he mocks obscure prose, Hegel’s above all. He was also one of the first Western philosophers to engage seriously with Indian thought: he read a Latin translation of the Upanishads, the Oupnekhat, and said his ethics agreed with the precepts of India’s sacred books and with Buddhism.
His central ideas are few and stated again and again: the world as we know it is representation, the thing behind it is a blind will, and suffering follows from willing. Relief comes from art, above all music, which he called a direct copy of the will itself, and from compassion, which he based on recognising that another being shares one’s own inner nature. That account of music is why composers from Wagner to Mahler and Schoenberg read him.
Frequently asked questions about Arthur Schopenhauer’s books
How many books has Arthur Schopenhauer written?
He published six books in his lifetime: On the Fourfold Root (1813), On Vision and Colours (1816), The World as Will and Representation (1819), On the Will in Nature (1836), The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics (1841) and Parerga and Paralipomena (1851). This page counts eight key books, adding the second volume of his main work (1844) and The Art of Being Right, published after his death in 1864.
What are Arthur Schopenhauer’s books in order?
On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason (1813), On Vision and Colours (1816), The World as Will and Representation (1819), On the Will in Nature (1836), The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics (1841), the second volume of The World as Will and Representation (1844), Parerga and Paralipomena (1851) and The Art of Being Right (1864).
Where should I start with Arthur Schopenhauer?
Parerga and Paralipomena, or a selection from it such as Penguin’s Essays and Aphorisms. These are the short essays he wrote for a general audience, and they introduce his main ideas before you take on The World as Will and Representation.
What is Arthur Schopenhauer’s most famous book?
The World as Will and Representation, published at the end of 1818 with a title page dated 1819 and expanded to two volumes in 1844. In his own lifetime, though, it was Parerga and Paralipomena (1851) that made him famous.
Why is Schopenhauer called a pessimist?
Because he argued that the inner nature of the world is a blind, insatiable will, so that life swings between want and boredom and suffering is its normal state. He did not stop there: art, compassion and finally the denial of the will-to-live are his ways out.
What did Schopenhauer think of Hegel?
Very little. In 1820 he scheduled his Berlin lectures at the same hour as Hegel’s and attracted five students. He went on to call Hegel a “clumsy charlatan” and attacked his obscure style in several books.
Did Schopenhauer influence Nietzsche?
Yes. Nietzsche called his discovery of The World as Will and Representation a revelation and at first regarded Schopenhauer as his teacher, before turning against his pessimism. Wagner, Tolstoy, Thomas Mann and Wittgenstein were among the others who read him closely.
Did Schopenhauer win any prizes?
One. His essay “On the Freedom of the Will” won the prize of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences in 1839. A year later the Royal Danish Society declined to award his “On the Basis of Morality”, although it was the only entry. He published both in The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics.
Was Schopenhauer a misogynist?
His views on women are the most criticised part of his work. In “On Women” (1851) he called women “big children” and claimed that woman is “by nature meant to obey”. In 1821 a Berlin neighbour, the seamstress Caroline Marquet, sued him after a dispute in which, she said, he attacked her; he said he had only pushed her away. In 1827 the court ordered him to pay her a pension for the rest of her life.
Was Schopenhauer influenced by Buddhism?
Yes, along with Hindu thought. He was introduced to the Upanishads in 1813, read them in a Latin translation, the Oupnekhat, and said his ethics agreed with the precepts of India’s sacred books and with Buddhism.
Footnotes
- Arthur Schopenhauer — Wikipedia
- Arthur Schopenhauer — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2006)
- The World as Will and Representation — Wikipedia
- Parerga and Paralipomena — Wikipedia
- On Vision and Colours — Wikipedia
- El arte de tener razón, introduction — Alianza Editorial
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“The world is my representation.”
— Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation (1819), the first line
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