History of Philosophy

Episode 1

Inaugural Address Prefatory Note Introduction A. Notion of the History of Philosophy 1. Common Ideas regarding the History of Philosophy a. The History of Philosophy as an accumulation of Opinions b. Proof of futility of Philosophical Knowledge obtained through History of Philosophy itself c. Explanatory remarks on the diversity in Philosophies 2. Explanatory remarks on the Definition of the History of Philosophy a. The Notion of Development b. The Notion of the Concrete c. Philosophy as the apprehension of the development of the Concrete 3. Results obtained with respect to the notion of the History of Philosophy a. The development in Time of the various Philosophies b. The application of the foregoing to the treatment of Philosophy c. Further comparison between the History of Philosophy and Philosophy itself B. Relation of Philosophy to other Departments of Knowledge 1. The Historical Side of this Connection a. Outward and historical conditions imposed upon Philosophy b. The commencement in History of an intellectual necessity for Philosophy c. Philosophy as the thought of its time 2. Separation of Philosophy from other allied departments of Knowledge a. Relation of Philosophy to Scientific Knowledge b. Relation of Philosophy to Religion c. Philosophy proper distinguished from Popular Philosophy 3. Commencement of Philosophy and its History a. Freedom of Thought as a first condition b. Separation of the East and its Philosophy c. Beginnings of Philosophy in Greece C. Division, Sources, and Method adopted in treating of the History of Philosophy 1. Division of the History of Philosophy 2. Sources of the History of Philosophy 3. Method of Treatment adopted Oriental Philosophy PART ONE: GREEK PHILOSOPHYPART TWO: PHILOSOPHY OF THE MIDDLE AGESPART THREE: MODERN PHILOSOPHY

Introduction Section One: Modern Philosophy in its First Statement THE first two philosophers whom we have to consider are Bacon and Boehme;there is as complete a disparity between these individuals as between their systems of philosophy. None the less both agree that mind operates in the content of its knowledge as in its own domain, and this consequently appears as concrete Being.

This domain in Bacon is the finite, natural world; in Boehme it is the inward, mystical, godly Christian life and existence; for the former starts from experience and induction, the latter from God and the pantheism of the Trinity.

A. Bacon B. Jacob Boehme Section Two: Period of the Thinking Understanding AFTER Neo-Platonisim and all that is associated with it is left behind, it is not until Descartes is arrived at that we really enter upon a philosophy which is, properly speaking, independent, which knows that it comes forth from reason as independent, and that self-consciousness is an essential moment in the truth. Philosophy in its own proper soil separates itself entirely from the philosophizing theology, in accordance with its principle, and places it on quite another side. Here, we may say, we are at home, and like the mariner after a long voyage in a tempestuous sea, we may now hail the sight of land; with Descartes the culture of modern times, the thought of modern Philosophy, really begins to appear, after a long and tedious journey on the way which has led so far. It is specially characteristic of the German that the more servile he on the one hand is, the more uncontrolled is he on the other; restraint and want of restraint - originality, is the angel of darkness that buffets us. In this new period the universal principle by means of which everything in the world is regulated, is the thought that proceeds from itself; it is a certain inwardness, which is above all evidenced in respect to Christianity, and which is the Protestant principle in accordance with which thought has come to the consciousness of the world at large as that to which every man has a claim. Thus because the independently existent thought, this culminating point of inwardness, is now set forth and firmly grasped as such, the dead externality of authority is set aside and regarded as out of place. It is only through my own free thought within that thought can however be recognized and ratified by me. This likewise signifies that such free thought is the universal business of the world and of individuals; it is indeed the duty of every man, since everything is based upon it; thus what claims to rank as established in the world man must scrutinize in his own thoughts. Philosophy is thus become a matter of universal interest, and one respecting which each can judge for himself; for everyone is a thinker from the beginning.

On account of this new beginning to Philosophy we find in the old histories of Philosophy of the seventeenth century - e.g., that of Stanley - the philosophy of the Greeks and Romans only, and Christianity forms the conclusion. The idea was that neither in Christianity nor subsequently any philosophy was to be found, because there was no longer a necessity for it, seeing that the philosophic theology of the Middle Ages had not free, spontaneous thought as its principle (Vol. I. pp. 111, 112). But though it is true that this has now become the philosophic principle, we must not expect that it should be at once methodically developed out of thought. The old assumption is made, that man only attains to the truth through reflection; this plainly is the principle. But the determination and definition of God, the world of the manifold as it appears, is not yet revealed as necessarily proceeding from thought; for we have only reached the thought of a content which is given through ordinary conception, observation, and experience.