Lecture 8. The non-classical Western philosophy

1. "The turn in philosophy" at the end of the XIX century.

2. The doctrine of the “world will” of A.Shopenhauer.

3. S. Kierkegaard: life as existential.

4. Revaluation of values in the philosophy of Nietzsche.

 

The Modern period of philosophy generally corresponds to the 19th and 20th Century. More recent developments in the late 20th Century are sometimes referred to as the Contemporary period. Along with significant scientific and political revolutions, the Modern period exploded in a flurry of new philosophical movements. In addition to further developements in Age of Enlightenment movements such as German Idealism, Kantianism, and Romanticism, the Modern period saw the rise of Continental Philosophy, Hegelianism, Transcendentalism, Existentialism, Marxism, Modernism, Positivism, Utilitarianism, Pragmatism, Analytic Philosophy, Logical Positivism, Ordinary Language Philosophy, Logicism, Phenomenology, and the more contemporary Structuralism, Post-Structuralism, Post-Modernism and Deconstrutionism, among others.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was a German philosopher, and an important figure in the German Idealism and Romanticism movements in the early 19th Century. He believed that the "will-to-life" (the force driving man to survive and to reproduce) was the driving force of the world, and that the pursuit of happiness, love and intellectual satisfaction was essentially futile and anyway secondary to the innate imperative of procreation. His vision of Aesthetics and his doctrine of Voluntarism (as well as his aphoristic writing style) influenced many later philosophers as well as the Romantics of his own time. Perhaps more than any other major philosopher, Schopenhauer has been subject to trends and fashions in popularity, sinking from celebrity and renown to almost complete obscurity, before rebounding again in recent years (not least because of his perceived influence on the young Wittgenstein and Nietzsche).

Schopenhauer was very much an atypical philosopher. He was genuinely interested and knowledgeable about Hinduism and Buddhism, and the only major Western philosopher to draw serious parallels between Western and Eastern Philosophy. He was the first major philosopher to be openly atheist, and was unusual in placing the arts and Aesthetics so highly.

His most important work is usually considered to be "The World as Will and Representation" of 1819, in which he expounded his doctrine of Pessimism (the evaluation and perception of life in a generally negative light). In contrast to wide-ranging optimism of most his Romantic contemporaries in 19th Century Germany, he felt that all existence was ultimately futile since it can be fundamentally characterized by a want of satisfaction that can never be attained.

Suren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a 19th Century Danish philosopher and theologian. Although relatively isolated during his life, he became extremely influential once his works were translated into German after his death. Sometimes dubbed "the father of Existentialism", his works represent a reaction against the dominant Hegelian philosophy of the day (and against the state church in Denmark), and set the stage for modern Existentialism.

He was a lifelong committed Lutheran and a prominent supporter of the doctrine of Fideism, the view that religious belief depends on faith or revelation, rather than reason, intellect or natural theology.

Kierkegaard's peculiar authorship and literary style employed irony, satire, parody, humour, polemic and a dialectical method of "indirect communication" in order to deepen the reader’s passionate subjective engagement with ultimate existential issues.

He elaborated on a host of philosophical, psychological, literary and theological categories (including anxiety, despair, etc.n). Throughout his work, he took Socrates and Jesus Christ as his role models, and saw how one lives one’s life as the prime criterion of being in the truth.

Kierkegaard's early works, his university thesis "On the Concept of Irony" of 1841 and "Either/Or" of 1843, both critiqued major figures in Western philosophic thought (Socrates in the former, and Hegel in the latter), and showcased Kierkegaard's unique style of writing.

Later in 1843, he published "Fear and Trembling", which, together with "Either/Or", is perhaps his best known book. Focusing on the Biblical story of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac, this work (as well as "Repetition" of the same year), moves beyond the aesthetic and the ethical, and introduces a higher stage on the dialectical ladder, the religious. His works from 1844 to 1846 (written using a pseudonym), focus even more on the perceived shortcomings of the philosophy of Hegel and form the basis for existential psychology.

His second period of authorship is focused more on the perceived hypocrisy and shallowness of Christendom and modern society in general. He attempted to present Christianity as he thought it should be, and encouraged embracing Christ as the absolute paradox. From around 1848 until his death, Kierkegaard carried on a sustained literary attack on the Danish State Church.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a 19th century German philosopher and philologist. He is considered an important forerunner of Existentialism movement, and his work has generated an extensive secondary literature within both the Continental Philosophy and Analytic Philosophy traditions of the 20th Century.

He challenged the foundations of Christianity and traditional morality, famously asserting that "God is dead", leading to (generally justified) charges of Atheism, Moral Skepticism, Relativism and Nigilism. His original notions of the "will to power" as mankind's main motivating principle, of the "Ubermensch" as the goal of humanity, and of "eternal return" as a means of evaluating ones life, have all generated much debate and argument among scholars.

His most important books include "Human, All Too Human" of 1878, "The Gay Science" of 1882, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" of 1883-1885, "Beyond Good and Evil" of 1886, "On the Genealogy of Morality" of 1887, and "Twilight of the Idols" and "The Antichrist", both of 1888. It is in these books that Nietzsche develops some of his major themes (which are discussed in more detail below), including his "immoralism", his view that "God is dead", his notions of the "will to power" and of the "Ubermensch", and his suggestion of "eternal return".

In Ethics, Nietzsche called himself an "immoralist" and harshly criticized the prominent moral schemes of his day, including Christianity, Kantianism and Utilitarianism. However, rather than destroying morality, Nietzsche wanted a re-evaluation of the values of Judeo-Christianity, preferring the more naturalistic source of value which he found in the vital impulses of life itself.

He posited that the original system of morality was the "master-morality", dating back to ancient Greece, where value arises as a contrast between good and bad. "Slave-morality", in contrast, came about as a reaction to master-morality, and is associated with the Jewish and Christian traditions.

Another concept important to an understanding of Nietzsche's thought is that of the "Ubermensch", introduced in his 1883 book "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". Variously translated as "superman", "superhuman" or "overman" (although the word is actually gender-neutral in German), this refers to the person who lives above and beyond pleasure and suffering, treating both circumstances equally, because joy and suffering are, in his view, inseparable.

Nietzsche's thought extended a deep influence during the 20th century, especially in Continental Europe. In English-speaking countries, his positive reception has been less resonant.

Required reading:

1. Schopenhauer, A. 2010: The World as Will and Representation, Vol. I, translated by Judith Norman, Alistair Welchman, and Christopher Janaway, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2. Jordan, N., 2010, Schopenhauer's Ethics of Patience: Virtue, Salvation and Value, Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press.

3. Carlisle, Clare, 2005, Kierkegaard's Philosophy of Becoming: Movements and Positions, Albany: State University of New York Press.

4. Theunissen, Michael, 2005, Kierkegaard's Concept of Despair, translated by Barbara Harshav and Helmut Illbruck, Princeton University Press.

5. Grøn, Arne, 2008, The Concept of Anxiety in Søren Kierkegaard, translated by Jeanette B.L. Knox, Macon: Mercer University Press.

6. Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits. trans. R. J. Hollingdale. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

7. Untimely Meditations. trans. R. J. Hollingdale. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

8. The Will to Power. trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Random House, 1967.

 

Optional reading

1. Pyper, Hugh, 2011, The Joy of Kierkegaard: Essays on Kierkegaard as a Biblical Reader, Sheffield & Oakville: Equinox.

2. Podmore, Simon D., 2011, Kierkegaard and the Self Before God: Anatomy of the Abyss, Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indian University Press.

3. Emden, Christian J., 2008, Friedrich Nietzsche and the Politics of History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

4. Janaway, Christopher, 2007, Beyond Selflessness: Reading Nietzsche's Genealogy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

5. Lemm, Vanessa, 2009, Nietzsche's Animal Philosophy: Culture, Politics and the Animality of the Human Being. New York: Fordham University Press.

6. Mabille, Louise, 2009, Nietzsche and the Anglo-Saxon Tradition. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.

7. Rampley, Matthew, 2007, Nietzsche, Aesthetics and Modernity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

8. Shaw, Tamsin, 2007, Nietzsche's Political Skepticism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.