It is divided into four Books, with Books One and Three about the world as representation and Books Two and Four about the world as will. Our text contains excerpts from the Books concerning the world as will. In 1844, Schopenhauer republished the work, this time adding a second volume which expands on the topics covered in the first. Before looking at the philosophical works just mentioned, I will say a bit about the influence of the world of perception on Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer found in the world of perception a spectacle of incessant change, which results from the activities of relentless forces.
Human activity is no exception.
The only difference is that human efforts are guided by motives, by abstractly conceived ends toward which our efforts are pointed. It was Schopenhauer's observation that the dominant end of most people's actions is themselves. The chief and fundamental incentive in man as in the animal is egoism , that is, the craving for existence and well-being. . . . He desires to have the greatest amount of well-being and every pleasure of which he is capable . . . This conclusion is based on Schopenhauer's impressions of the world of perception, filtered to some extent by the English newspapers of the day, which he read assiduously.