Handouts

• Lecture №9 German Classical philosophy

and History

• Philosophy

• 3 credits
• PhD Yerkin Massanov
 Content of discussion:
• 1. Brief history of German
classical Ph-y;
• 2. The main five philosophers;
The concepts a posteriori and a
priori.
• 3. F. Hegel Who thinks
abstractly?
 Previous lecture
• XIX century Philosophy
• Foundation of basic modern subjects and
discipline;
• Based on a lot of branch natural and humanitarian
science;
• Architecture, chemistry, math, physics etc.
• Sociology – founder Agust Comte;
• Political science – founder as a science Aristotle, as
subject in USA Columbia college.
Five German classical
philosophy:

1) Immanuel Kant
2) Johann Fichte
3) Friedrich Schelling
4) Friedrich Hegel
5) Ludwig Feuerbach
 German classical philosophy
became one of the peaks of world
philosophy.
Factor: small principalities
competition impact socio-economic
developing.
Protestant ethics.
 The specific role of Germ. Cl. Ph-y:
1) deeply research the problems that
bothered mankind for centuries, and come to
such conclusions that determined the entire
future development of philosophy;
2)combine almost all the ph-cal trends
known at that time - from subjective idealism to
vulgar materialism and irrationalism;
3) discover a lot of great ph-ers who are
included in the “golden fund” of world ph-y
( Marx, Engels, Nietzsche, etc.).
1. Ancestor of
German classical
philosophy was
Immanuel Kant
(1724-1804).
 In before critical period Kant’s
philosophy was a combination of
natural-scientific materialism and
the philosophy of Leibniz. In 1755
Kant wrote a work “General
Natural History and Theory of the
Celestial Bodies”
 In Kant’s philosophy there are
two stages:
1)before critical
2)critical.
At the first stage Kant is a
materialist.
 Scientific knowledge, according
to Kant, is based on two sources:
 a posteriori(after
experiment) , that is, empirical
data
 a priori (before experiment)
forms of sensibility and reason.
2. Johann Gottlieb Fichte
(1762-1814)
Self-awareness is the
awareness (осознание)
that human exists as an
individual being.
 Subject (I) is the only one who is
real and absolute. All other world
including the nature world, is a
product of activity of “Me”
Me = Me
Me = not Me
Me = synthesis of Me and not
Me (self-identity)
3. Friedrich Wilhelm
Joseph von Schelling
(1775-1854)
 We can distinguish four
periods of his philosophy:
1.natural-philosophical,
2.transcendental idealism
(Nature is derived from the
subjective-idealistic beginning),
 3. philosophy of identity of
nature and spirit
4.philosophy of revelation
(откровение).
4. Georg Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel
(1770-1831)
 3. Week-9 Essay for the self-studying:
Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)
Hegel Who thinks abstractly?
Observation only one side of the
situation or looking from only one
point of view, is as simple as that.
 Abstract thinking is thinking with
the help of abstract concepts. That is,
with the help of various generalized
terms, such as "being",
"consciousness", "meaning", "life",
"knowledge", "Universe" and so on.
 Hegel has compiled (обобщил)
many rational ideas of classical
German philosophy in the field
of dialectics.
 Spirit also passes through
three stages:
1.subjective spirit (individual
consciousness);
2.objective spirit (right,
morality) and
3.absolute spirit (art, religion,
philosophy).
5. Ludwig Andreas
von Feuerbach
(1804-1872)
is the only
representative of
materialism in
German classical
philosophy.
 Feuerbach criticized idealism
or religion, has developed a
materialistic doctrine of the
nature of knowledge and man.
 Thinking can not create
matter, otherwise, matter itself
generates consciousness.
God is the alienated
(отчужденный) essence of man.
Anthropological materialism.
 In the second stage he moves to
the position of theoretical
agnosticism, and in many respects,
idealism.
 Critical period of
Kant’s philosophy
begins in 1770. In 1781
he published “Critique
of Pure Reason” in
which Kant explored
the possibilities of
human mind in
cognition.
 Kant raises the questions on
certain knowledge which has
necessary and universal essence.
How can pure mathematics be?
How can pure science be? How
can metaphysics be as a science?
 And he answers:
reliable
(достоверное)
knowledge is
possible in
mathematics and
natural sciences.
 A priori forms of sensibility are
space and time. They exist within
us before any kind of experience.
Relationship, causality
(причинность) and regularity
(закономерность ) are not objective
qualities.
 Kant was the first in history of
philosophy divided cognitive
activity on senses (чувства),
intellect and reason. Intellect is
an ability to construct logic
conclusions.
 №9 Seminar:
• 1. Comparative analyses:
Enlightenments and German Cl.
Ph-y?
• 2. Immanuel Kant: a posteriori
• a priori knowledge? Philosophy of
dialects: Friedrich Hegel?
• 3. Interpretation: F. Hegel
“Who thinks abstractly?”