Division fondamentale
The architecture that governs Schopenhauer’s entire treatise. The goods of life fall into three classes: what one *is* (personality—health, strength, temperament, moral character, intelligence), what one *has* (property, possessions), and what one *represents* (what one is in the eyes of others—honor, rank, glory). The thesis: what one *is* determines happiness far more than the other two, for the latter are goods dependent on external causes, fragile and borrowed. This is a classification of the sources of happiness according to their reliance on the outside world, not a hierarchy of virtues. To be distinguished from what one *represents*—being in the eyes of others—which is never more than a reflection, whereas what one *is* accompanies us everywhere.
Nous avons déjà reconnu d’une manière générale que ce que l’on est contribue plus au bonheur que ce que l’on a ou ce que l’on représente.
Schopenhauer begins his treatise with a division. What sets mortals apart, he writes, boils down to three fundamental conditions: what one is—personality in the broadest sense—health, strength, beauty, temperament, moral character, intelligence; what one has—property and possessions of every kind; what one represents—how others perceive an individual, what he is in their eyes, meaning honor, rank, and glory. Three pillars, under which the rest of the book unfolds chapter by chapter.
The gesture is not neutral. By arranging these goods in this way, Schopenhauer already classifies them by origin. The differences in the first category are those nature has established among men; those in the other two stem from human rules, chance, and convention. From this, he infers that their weight on happiness cannot be equal: “Personal advantages, such as a great mind or a great heart, stand in relation to all the advantages of rank, birth—even royal—wealth, and the like, as true kings do to stage kings.”
The argument hinges on dependence. What one has and what one represents are goods tied to external causes: they can grow, collapse, change hands, or depend on another’s gaze. What one is endures—the individual carries himself at all times and in all places, coloring every event of his life with his own hue. It is the cheerfulness of disposition that belongs to this first class, and which determines on which side of the pain-boredom pendulum a man will lean.
This must not be confused with what one represents. Being-in-opinion—honor, glory, reputation—exists only in the minds of others; it aligns with the doxa the Ancients already placed beyond our control, and the vain glory that chases a reflection. Only what one is cannot be lent or stolen: it is the sole good that follows us everywhere.