Editing Arthur Schopenhauer (section)

==== Eternal justice ====
Schopenhauer calls the principle through which multiplicity appears the ''[[principium individuationis]]''. When we behold nature we see that it is a cruel battle for existence. Individual manifestations of the will can maintain themselves only at the expense of others—the will, as the only thing that exists, has no other option but to devour itself to experience pleasure. This is a fundamental characteristic of the will, and cannot be circumvented.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Parerga and Paralipomena|last=Schopenhauer|first=Arthur|at=Vol. 2, § 173}}</ref>

Unlike temporal or human justice, which requires time to repay an evil deed and "has its seat in the state, as requiting and punishing",<ref name="World as will and idea Vol. 1 § 63"/> eternal justice "rules not the state but the world, is not dependent upon human institutions, is not subject to chance and deception, is not uncertain, wavering, and erring, but infallible, fixed, and sure".<ref name="World as will and idea Vol. 1 § 63">''The World as Will and Idea'' Vol. 1 § 63</ref> Eternal justice is not retributive, because retribution requires time. There are no delays or reprieves. Instead, punishment is tied to the offence, "to the point where the two become one. ... Tormenter and tormented are one. The [Tormenter] errs in that he believes he is not a partaker in the suffering; the [tormented], in that he believes he is not a partaker in the guilt."<ref name="World as will and idea Vol. 1 § 63"/>

Suffering is the moral outcome of our attachment to pleasure. Schopenhauer deemed that this truth was expressed by the Christian dogma of [[original sin]] and, in Eastern religions, by the [[Reincarnation|dogma of rebirth.]]