The main methods of philosophical discourse - 2024

German Classical Philosophy

Philosophy of the Modern Age

History of Philosophy

German philosophy of the 18th century evolved in a distinctly different direction compared to its English and French counterparts. This divergence is not only evident in philosophy but also in economic and political thought, where German ideas diverged from English and French ones. While English and French Enlightenment thinkers grounded their theories in empiricism, German philosophers leaned towards rationalism. The genesis of German classical philosophy is attributed to Christian von Wolff (1679-1754). Wolff divided sciences into philosophical and historical categories. The former include all studies of the world and humanity, employing the rational method, while the latter focus on past facts and use the empirical method. Echoing Leibniz, Wolff considered sufficient justification as the main criterion of scientific validity. For historical sciences, which rely on empirical methods, this justification entails having an adequate amount of facts, whereas for philosophical sciences, which rely on reason, it involves logical coherence and consistency within the system.

The foremost thinker of this period in German philosophy was Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), who served as the rector of Königsberg University. Kant's work is divided into two periods: the pre-critical, when he engaged in natural science, and the critical, when he delved into philosophical problems. His numerous works covered all the relevant themes of contemporary philosophy and are referred to as critical or transcendental philosophy.

The starting point of Kant's philosophy was the theory of knowledge. He posed the question of how human reason can produce general knowledge when sensory perception only deals with particular instances. For example, while our eyes do not see all trees that have ever existed, exist, or will exist, reason understands that all trees grow with their crowns upward and roots downward. To address this, Kant analyzed forms of statements and identified three types of judgments: synthetic a posteriori (describing particular facts, e.g., "Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine"), analytic (describing eternal and unchanging laws, e.g., "The square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other sides"), and synthetic a priori (general knowledge based on experience, e.g., "All copper conducts electricity"). Kant considered only the third type of judgment as scientific and explained its formation. For experience to be transformed into general knowledge, both experience and reason are required. Knowledge progresses through three stages: first, the senses perceive individual facts of reality, which are chaotic but organized by the senses into a structured format, assigning each a place in time and space. Kant viewed time and space as subjective forms of knowledge rather than objective realities. The second stage involves reason, which analyzes the data of experience by categorizing it into twelve categories. Kant emphasized that reason can only partially know a thing; what it can know is termed "the thing for us," whereas what remains inaccessible is "the thing in itself." Once reason has analyzed sensory data, understanding synthesizes it to create a worldview, addressing questions about God, the world, and the human soul. Thus, Kant held that knowledge stems equally from experience and reason: experience gathers facts, and reason processes and transforms them into knowledge. Kant termed this understanding of the nature of knowledge a "Copernican revolution" in philosophy.

The second major theme in Kant's philosophy was ethics, where he sought to determine what constitutes a morally good action. A morally good action, according to Kant, is one performed from duty, which he defined as an internal motive not influenced by external factors. An action is morally good if done well without expectation of reward or compulsion. Conversely, if an action is motivated by external incentives or coercion, even if it is good, it cannot be deemed moral. Kant proposed that the principal moral imperative is the categorical imperative: one should act in a way one wishes everyone else would act. Since a law requires a legislator, Kant believed that morality is impossible without God.

In aesthetics, Kant similarly asserted that the criterion of beauty is the sensation of aesthetic pleasure without any additional stimuli. Something is beautiful if it pleases people not because it is widely considered beautiful or is conventionally accepted as such.

Kantian philosophy had a profound impact on numerous thinkers, initiating 19th-century Kantianism and later reviving in neo-Kantianism during the 20th century. However, the 18th and 19th centuries also saw the emergence of philosophical directions that did not merely repeat Kant’s ideas but could not have arisen without them. One such direction was German Idealism, which, despite its speculative and often unfounded conclusions, had a significant influence on global philosophy. German Idealism was most vividly represented by three philosophers:

• Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) questioned what is primary: being or consciousness. Since consciousness cannot be derived from being, Fichte concluded that consciousness is primary to being, and thus philosophical inquiry should begin with consciousness. Consequently, Fichte introduced the concept of the "I" (the thinking subject) into philosophy. He began his philosophical exploration where Kant left off. Kant had claimed that reason apprehends the "thing for us" but not the "thing in itself." If reason cannot know a thing in its entirety, then where do the knowledge of complete things come from? Fichte believed that such knowledge is created by consciousness, or the "I." In other words, the "I" constructs representations of reality, making what the "I" knows simply that which the "I" has created. Another area of interest for Fichte was politics. During a time when the German states were embarking on economic development, many German economists saw obstacles to Germany’s progress posed by highly developed countries (such as England, France, and the Netherlands). To avoid this, Fichte advocated for the formation of a closed state focused solely on its own citizens. This idea of a closed state later inspired the concept of the nationalist state.
• Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775-1854) disagreed with Fichte’s view that reality is merely a projection of the "I." Schelling shifted the creative principle, which for Fichte was the "I," to nature itself. For Schelling, reality is the process of nature's self-revelation. In explaining the nature of knowledge, Schelling completely rejected experience. While empiricists considered experience as the sole source of knowledge and Kant argued that knowledge arises from the cooperation of experience and reason, Schelling entirely discarded experience, positing that knowledge results from intellectual intuition—an inner vision of the essence of things.
• Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), the third major figure of German Idealism, introduced dialectics into the history of philosophy. Hegel argued that nothing in the world is static; everything is in a state of development. Therefore, it is more appropriate within philosophy to discuss not being as something static, but development as an ongoing dynamic. Hegel termed the law governing universal development "dialectics." Previously, the term "dialectics" had been synonymous with "logic." Hegel believed that everything that exists develops dialectically, passing through three phases: thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. In other words, everything that exists (thesis) generates its negation (antithesis), and the opposition between thesis and antithesis always culminates in a synthesis, which in turn becomes a new thesis, inevitably attracting a new antithesis. For instance, the primitive communal order (thesis) was characterized by the absence of private property. Its antithesis was the slave-owning system, where everything, including people, could become property. The opposition between these two systems resulted in feudalism, which was a middle ground between the primitive communal and slave-owning orders. All history, according to Hegel, is a continuous dialectic. The next question for Hegel was the nature of reality: what exactly develops dialectically? Hegel referred to the totality of all that exists and develops dialectically as the Absolute Spirit. If reality is not static being but dynamic development, then the object of knowledge is not things, as previous philosophers had thought, but the laws of development—dialectics.

In cultures where Hegel had some influence, including Ukraine, the focus remains on development rather than essence; it is believed that to understand truth, one must study not the truth itself but its historical evolution. Today, it is clear that Hegelian dialectics is a complete fabrication, unsupported by any facts. This led the eminent philosopher Bertrand Russell to write in his History of Western Philosophy: "In my opinion, almost the whole of Hegel's doctrine is false." Nevertheless, some philosophers continue to regard Hegel as an authority, adhere to dialectics, and refuse to acknowledge that Hegelian dialectics is pure fantasy, far removed from science.