History of Philosophy

Schools of Contemporary Philosophy

Philosophical Schools of the 20th Century

The 20th century witnessed a rich array of philosophical schools and movements, each contributing significantly to the philosophical discourse through diverse themes. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, German philosophy saw the rise of Neo-Kantianism, a movement aimed at reviving Immanuel Kant’s philosophy, particularly his theory of knowledge, in opposition to the materialism prevalent in German philosophical circles. Neo-Kantianism embraced the slogan “Back to Kant!” championed by Otto Liebmann (1840-1912), and sought to reconcile empiricism and rationalism, with Kant’s critical philosophy advocating for a synthesis of reason and experience. Kant posited that knowledge arises from the interplay between reason and experience: experience provides the data, while reason processes it. Neo-Kantians opposed the dominant philosophical systems of the time, such as Hegelianism, Marxism, and Nietzscheanism.

Neo-Kantianism encompassed several schools, including the Marburg School founded by Hermann Cohen (1842-1918), who focused on theoretical issues in the natural sciences and mathematics and criticized psychologism, the attempt to explain cognition solely through psychology. Cohen argued that judgment, not concepts, is the fundamental form of thought, emphasizing the relationships between objects rather than the objects themselves. Another Marburg School philosopher, Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945), developed a philosophy of language and culture, reiterating Kant’s notion that human understanding constructs objects rather than discovering them. For Cassirer, language was the primary means of objectifying the world, with an object being defined by a name.

Another prominent Neo-Kantian group was the South-West German or Baden School, represented by Wilhelm Windelband (1848-1915) and Heinrich Rickert (1863-1936). While the Marburg School focused on the nature of science, the Baden School philosophers treated philosophy as a theory of values, or axiology.

Another significant development at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was Neo-Scholasticism, an attempt to revive medieval Scholasticism, particularly the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, in response to the chaos and uncertainty of modern philosophy and the rise of modernism. Critics argued that innovations in philosophy had only led to uncertainty and the destruction of old ideals, whereas Scholasticism had provided answers to fundamental worldview questions. Prominent Catholic thinkers championed Scholasticism, and in 1879, Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Aeterni Patris, mandating Catholic educational institutions worldwide to base their teachings on Scholasticism, giving it a significant boost. Neo-Scholasticism became a major force in European philosophy until the Second Vatican Council in 1962, focusing on renewing Aquinas’s philosophy rather than creating new ideas, though it did offer fresh interpretations of old themes.

Another influential current in 20th-century philosophical thought is phenomenology, founded by Edmund Husserl (1859-1938). This was a time when philosophy was marked by calls to return to past giants: "Back to Kant!", "Back to Thomas!", "Back to Hegel!". Husserl issued the rallying cry "Back to the phenomena!"; he urged philosophers to set aside complex theories and focus directly on phenomena as they are. Central to phenomenology are the phenomena themselves—primary human experiences, the direct perceptions of individuals. Husserl aimed to discover an indisputable foundation for all knowledge, which he identified as the phenomenon, or what is directly observed by people. Phenomena are known to individuals as they are perceived by consciousness, which is why the study of consciousness holds pivotal importance in phenomenology.

Modern philosophy, in its multifaceted nature, spans a diverse range of knowledge domains and has introduced new understandings of issues related to language, knowledge, science, politics, economics, history, law, culture, anthropology, ethics, aesthetics, and more. In each of these areas, philosophy seeks to address fundamental questions. For instance, the main question in the philosophy of law concerns the nature of law itself, with debates centering on natural law theory—asserting that there is an eternal and unchanging law reflected by legislation—and legal positivism, which contends that law is a product of human activity. In political philosophy, the central issue is the nature of the state. Philosophers debate whether humans are inherently evil and thus need a state to restrain their malevolent nature; whether humans are inherently good and the state is necessary to allow the realization of their virtuous nature; or whether, according to anarchists, the state is altogether unnecessary and should be abolished.

In social philosophy (theory of society), discussions revolve around the principles governing societal life. In the philosophy of history, the debate concerns whether there are inherent patterns in historical development. Some philosophers argue that history is linear, viewing human history as a single continuous process. Others believe history is staged, consisting of distinct phases, each a separate historical complex, as exemplified by Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee. Economic philosophy or economic theory is also a significant aspect of contemporary philosophical discourse, addressing issues such as the relationship between the economy and the state, specifically analyzing the extent of state intervention in economic processes. Major economic schools such as classical economic theory, Marxism, and institutionalism emerged in previous centuries, with the 20th century adding new perspectives on economic processes, notably Keynesianism.

The study of contemporary philosophy is distinguished by its unique characteristic: unlike Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern era, which are complete and can be assessed based on their outcomes, the present era is ongoing, and many topics in contemporary philosophy remain subjects of active debate.