Schopenhauer on boredom

On the dominant interpretation, Schopenhauer possesses a will to will view of boredom: boredom consists in the dissatisfaction of a second-order desire to pursue objects of first-order desire. I challenge this account, arguing that it misconstrues one of boredom’s effects for its essence. Instead, I suggest that Schopenhauer identifies boredom with distress at the inactivity of our faculties. The major contributor to this distress is the inactivity of cognition. Schopenhauer thus possesses a will to cognize view of boredom: boredom primarily consists in the dissatisfaction of a desire for specifically mental occupation. That boredom finds frequent expression in a will to will is simply a consequence of desire’s role in generating mental activity.