ETHICS reconciliation of freedom with necessity The will, which is the thing-initself, is free from eternity to eternity; but everything in nature, including human nature, is determined by necessity Just as inanimate nature acts in accordance with laws and forces, so each human being has a character, from which different motives call forth his actions necessarily If we had a complete knowledge of a person’s character and the motives that are presented to him, we would be able to calculate his future conduct just as we can predict an eclipse of the sun or moon We believe we are free to choose between alternatives, because prior to the choice we have no knowledge of how the will is going to decide; but the belief in liberty of indifference is an illusion If all our ethical conduct is determined by one’s character, it might seem that it is a waste of trouble to try to improve oneself, and it is better simply to gratify every inclination that presents itself In rejecting this, Schopenhauer makes a distinction between several kinds of character There is what he calls the intelligible character, which is the underlying reality, outside time, that determines our response to the situations presented to us in the world There is also the empirical character; that is to say, what we and others learn, through the course of experience, of the nature of our own intelligible character Finally, there is the acquired character, which is achieved by those who have learnt the nature and limitations of their own individual character These are persons of character in the best sense: people who recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, and tailor their projects and ambitions accordingly Our wills can never change, but many degrees are possible of awareness of will Humans, unlike other animals, possess abstract and rational knowledge This does not exempt them from the control of conflicting motives, but it makes them aware of the conflict, and this is what constitutes choice Repentance, for instance, never proceeds from a change of will, which is impossible, but from a change of knowledge, from greater self-awareness ‘Knowledge of our own mind and its capacities of every kind, and their unalterable limits, is the surest way to the attainment of the greatest possible contentment with ourselves’ (WWI 306) Even to the best of humans, Schopenhauer holds out no great hope of contentment We are all creatures of will, and will of its nature is insatiable The basis of all willing is need and pain, and we suffer until our needs are satisfied But if the will, once satisfied, lacks objects of desire, then life 230