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The Word as Will and Representation is a work by Arthur Schopenhauer. His central concept is willthat could also be described as "desire, striving, wanting, effort, and urging" – quoting Wikipedia here and below. His philosophy, however, doesn't limit the will to humans but holds that all the nature expresses the will. I will discuss the notion, briefly, and connect it with 'active matter' in my understanding of some elements of Nietzsche, although I provide only minimal references. Feel free to jump to Swords in Germanic Myths or directly to What Valyrian Steel has to do with it?
Consider everything in the universe having some internal force in it, some will – that would be a decent starting point to understand Schopenhauer. He writes about human and animals, making his notion of 'will' very close to what certain green little master describes as the Force between all living things. Some part of Sch.'s writing might be understood, though, as applicable to unanimated objects, and that is the understanding I will need for this Ice and Fire connection. It is perfectly legitimate to question the significance of Schopenhauer for ASoIaF. But here are some reasons why he might be known to GRRM.
Significant influence on late 19-th century philosophy and 20-th century literature. "Schopenhauer would become the most influential philosopher in Germany until World War I." Uniqueness of Schopenhauer is in how much he influenced non-philosophers: general thinking public, artists, writers. Quote: "Especially artists were attracted to the work. No philosopher had given so much importance to art..." I argued connections between GRRM's works and classic European literature - in a sense I consider GRRM as starting with Dumas easy-reading romantic adventures and bridging it to brainier works by the likes of Hemingway, Remarque, and existentialists. That essentially explains the 'fantasy but not really fantasy' feel of the book.
The underlying sadness of Schopenhauer's works. Compare it what we know about the hero that was killed to start the book, a challenge that GRRM always wanted: Rhaegar Targaryen.
Connections with Buddhism. Obviously that would work only if I can establish links between Buddhism, Hinduism, and Ice and Fire - and I attempt to do it in (links).
I can't do much more in a short post, so here are only some quotes from the wiki. You might recognize some allusions to IaF:
Nietzsche is not really known for his theory of matter. Nevertheless, in his 'Will to Power' we find similarities to Schopenhauer. Here are some (not quite) random quotes from ‘Will to Power’ wiki that might be relevant for Ice and Fire:
Consider also this quote from Heidegger's lectures on Nietzsche: “I have found strength where one does not look for it: in simple, mild, and pleasant people, without the least desire to rule—and, conversely, the desire to rule has often appeared to me a sign of inward weakness: they fear their own slave soul and shroud it in a royal cloak (in the end, they still become the slaves of their followers, their fame, etc.)”
This inclusion of inanimate objects is important for the suggested hypothesis about Valyrian steel.
Observation 1: philosophers that could have influenced Martin considered objects as potentially having a 'will' or a 'force'.
Observation 2: Obsession with Mind Control
Preston Jacobs is right when he points out that our favorite author is obsessed with things like genetics and mind control. Where PJ is wrong is in finding too many sources of god or human MC in IaF. I believe there is a simpler and more interesting explanation.
Observation 3: Our favorite author's favorite author, Tolkien, has the Ring of Power. That often somehow seems to have its own will. In Tolkien's work we find objects influencing minds: rings, palantirs, creations of previous ages, etc. Most of those objects are methodically crafted with strange forces embedded in them.
Observation 4: There are methodically crafted objects in Ice and Fire with terrible forces put in them – specifically Valyrian steel weapons and armor.
GRRM doesn’t provide any cosmology or universe-explaining, but consider this as a foundational mythology of the world of Ice and Fire.
Primordial fire. Matter created with an inner fire, burning within all things, in a certain sense. As opposed to the cold of emptiness and space.
The inner fire is a source of action, energy in physics sense, and driving force of personal minds. It has a will, in Nietzsche sense, desiring to dominate, to assert itself. It is neither good nor evil by itself, but creates potential for both, similar to Targaryen story.
It manifests itself mostly in ‘magical’ items, like dragonglass. Notice how Schopenhauer considered the Will to be a foundation allowing life and logically preceding, eclipsing it.
The closest humans came to expressing this primordial inner fire is Valyrian steel – which is often presented as containing fire ‘within’, like dragonglass.
On more specific level: Valyrian artifacts actively influence minds and thus should be considered actors in the novel, not just passive objects of somebody else’s actions.
The links discussing philosophy of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer in the context of Valyrian steel and its implications for Targaryens and Jon-Jorah-Daenerys are: