Schopenhauer concluded that the Will could be overcome by intellectual realization that our mortal selves are mere slaves and tools in the metaphoric hands of the Will. The Universal Will is eternal, but we are not. However, death is not to be feared according to Schopenhauer because it is through death that we are united with the Universal Will.
This is a perplexing conclusion, which if taken to its next step justifies suicide. However Schopenhauer countered this seemingly inevitable conclusion when he argued that suicide is an act of the will and constitutes a surrendering of the intellect to the Will rather than the overcoming of the Will through contemplation.
