Romanticism
Proponents
- SchopenhauerSchopenhauer
Schopenhauer
Notes
all of rationality is desires
we are a slave of passions & desires
Buddhist influences
thought he was an heir of both Spinoza and KantKant
Kant
Wrote [[Kant, What is Enlightenment?]]
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
...
- HegelHegel
Hegel
Wrote: Intro to Philosophy of HistoryHegel, Intro to Philosophy of History
Intro to Philosophy of History
Written by [[Hegel]]
Themes
Spirit:
consciousness
self-consciousness
freedom
progress of history
Class Notes
![[Hegel, Intro to Philosophy of History.pdf]]
Summary
Hegel wrote about Spirit, and how it is realized. He explained that the essence of Spirit is Freedom, so then he had to talk about Freedom; and that led to a discussion of consciousness (specifically self-consciousness) and existence. You see, Spirit exists in itself, meaning that it is...
Notes
absolute idealist
key member of German IdealismGerman Idealism
German Idealism
Members
Fichte
HegelHegel
Hegel
Wrote: Intro to Philosophy of HistoryHegel, Intro to Philosophy of History
Intro to Philosophy of History
Written by [[Hegel]]
Themes
Spirit:
consciousness
self-consciousness
freedom
progress of history
Class Notes
![[Hegel, Intro to Philosophy of History.pdf]]
Summary
Hegel wrote about Spirit, and how it is realized. He explained that the essence of Spirit is Freedom, so then he had to talk about Freedom; and that led to a discussion of consciousness (specifically self-consciousness) and existence. You see, Spirit exists in itself, meaning that it is...
Notes
absolute idealist
key member of German IdealismGerman Idealism
German Idealism
Members
Fichte
HegelHegel
Hegel
Wrote: Intro to Philosophy of HistoryHegel, Intro to Philosophy of History
Intro to Philosophy of History
Written by [[Hegel]]
Themes
Spirit:
consciousness
self-consciousness
freedom
progress of history
Class Notes
![[Hegel, Intro to Philosophy of History.pdf]]
Summary
Hegel wrote about Spirit, and how it is realized. He explained that the essence of Spirit is Freedom, so then he had to talk about Freedom; and that led to a discussion of consciousness (specifically self-consciousness) and existence. You see, Spirit exists in itself, meaning that it is...
Notes
absolute idealist
key member of [[German Idealism]]
student of Fichte & relied on him in his work
the great intellect is not personal & is accessible to man b/c man's intellect is an extension of its intellect
view of history
teleological development - development in a direction ([[Darwin]] takes this and runs w/ it)
history recognizes internal contradictions and s...
Schelling
Spinoza
Schleiermacher
SchopenhauerSchopenhauer
Schopenhauer
Notes
all of rationality is desires
we are a slave of passions & desires
Buddhist influences
thought he was an heir of both Spinoza and KantKant
Kant
Wrote [[Kant, What is Enlightenment?]]
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
...
Map of 19th Century Philosophers
!Map of 19th c. philosophers.png
Class Notes
speculative massive encompassing system
everything is idea
grew out of trying to complete KantKant
Kant
Wrote Kant, What is Enlightenment?
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
... (Transcendental Idealism)
Kant's epistemology of the phenomena & noumena (the thing in itself); the noumena is unknowable
Fichte combines the phenomena & noumena; everything th...
student of Fichte & relied on him in his work
the great intellect is not personal & is accessible to man b/c man's intellect is an extension of its intellect
view of history
teleological development - development in a direction (Darwin takes this and runs w/ it)
history recognizes internal contradictions and s...
Schelling
Spinoza
Schleiermacher
SchopenhauerSchopenhauer
Schopenhauer
Notes
all of rationality is desires
we are a slave of passions & desires
Buddhist influences
thought he was an heir of both Spinoza and KantKant
Kant
Wrote [[Kant, What is Enlightenment?]]
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
...
Map of 19th Century Philosophers
!Map of 19th c. philosophers.png
Class Notes
speculative massive encompassing system
everything is idea
grew out of trying to complete KantKant
Kant
Wrote Kant, What is Enlightenment?
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
... (Transcendental Idealism)
Kant's epistemology of the phenomena & noumena (the thing in itself); the noumena is unknowable
Fichte combines the phenomena & noumena; everything th...
student of Fichte & relied on him in his work
the great intellect is not personal & is accessible to man b/c man's intellect is an extension of its intellect
view of history
teleological development - development in a direction (Darwin takes this and runs w/ it)
history recognizes internal contradictions and s...
Lecture Notes (Dewberry)
Introduction
- Romanticism is very difficult to define
- Not defined by its content, but a reaction to the Enlightenment
- Primarily influenced by arts & literature, but in 19th c. had profound effect on science & philosophy
General Context
- Romanticism is against egalitarian ethics (like utilitarianism) and against the mathematical-mechanical science of the EnlightenmentEnlightenment
Enlightenment
17th & 18th century
church authorities challenged
free gov, free religion
key players: BaconBacon
Francis Bacon
Class Notes
Four Idols of False Knowing
1) Idols of the tribe
2) Idols of the cave (your personal bias)
3) Idols of the market
4) Idols of the theater
seek truth using induction vs deductionReason
Reason
reason is the "natural light" [[Descartes]]
what is the difference b/t reason & thinking?
what is thinking?
processing information?
in this case, can an animal think?
what is reason?
a type of thinking?
can you only accept what has been proven by reason?
reason is like a telescope: it lets us see things clearer; but it must have ...
was against deductive reasoning
started a "scientific revolution"
inspired from Roger Bacon
emphasis on experimentation
, DescartesDescartes
Rene Descartes
Background Info
1596-1650
educated at Univ of Paris
Catholic Christian
not an academic
wrote [[Descartes, Meditations of First Philosophy]] from a [[Rationalism
rationalistic]] perspective
claims he is making a whole new start in philosophy
D. arrived at a certain and evident knowledge of the truth. He wants to see if he can persuade others by the same method that he himself used.
..., KantKant
Kant
Wrote [[Kant, What is Enlightenment?]]
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
..., many others
challenged monarchical structure, who gets to be king
leads to "enlightened despots"
those who rule in spirit of enlightenment (not divine right of kings, but are authoritarean)
includes Napoleon, Peter the Great, Catherine
don't assume anything; prove everything
. Nothin aroused greater indignation among Romantics than the notion that nature was inert matter, to be understood by dissection, experiment, and analysis. - against a natural law which wanted to blend morality with utility (egalitarianism, utilitarianism)
- Hegel is said to have captured the eessence of it with the idea of "Absolute Inwardness"
- RousseauRousseau
Rousseau
Wrote The Social ContractRousseau, Social Contract
Rousseau, Social Contract
Class Notes
what is general will
different from "will of all"
does social contract make gov legitimate?
Summary
Rousseau wrote about what gives government its authority. He argued that government can only have authority when people give it authority. And people give it authority when they enter into a contract with each other. Rousseau calls this the “social contract,” and says that when men enter such a contract, the real authority is calle...
is usually considered the root character in this drama- All branches of science have their origin in vices:
- Astronomy: superstition
- Math: greed
- Mechanics: ambition
- All branches of science have their origin in vices:
- In the end, the Enlightenment through that if they collected and used all human knowledge it would lead toa solution to all the human dilemmas. The Romantics thought they knew better
Scientific & Philosophical Context
- After Newton it was assumed that all terrestrial and heavenly bodies operated according to the mechanical laws derived by Newton. God may have created it, but it runs on its own
- No place for God in a purely mechanical system like NewtonNewton
Newton
came up with a limited small number of principles & explained everything with it
he was all the rage at the time of Reid, Hume; everyone wanted to be the new Newton
this is a code block
's - Newtonian science is reductionistic. Everything is reduced to matter in motion.
- The scientific method is the only way to knowledge. Empiricism combined w/ mathematics is the central feature of science. Goal is to control nature
- No place for God in a purely mechanical system like NewtonNewton
- For the Romantics, all nature is a single living organism (World Soul). Matter is in equilibrium between two polar active opposites. It is generating change out of itself
- But this change is deterministic (like Newton); a mind is involved, but it is deterministic
Romantics Reacted against Locke's EpistemologyEpistemology
Epistemology
how should epistemology change how I live?
- John Locke is seen as the villain to romantics (b/c he started British EmpiricismEmpiricism
Empiricism
Britiain leaned toward empiricism, common law.
)- Locke believed:
- Humans by nature start w/ blank slate & the mind is passive. They become through experience. Change his environment & you change man
- Very optimistic, perfectibility of man
- No original sin
- Move from God-centered to man-centered
- Opened man up to social engineering
- Locke believed:
Romantics Goal: Escape the world of appearance & enter the realm of self (real of God)
- Romantics turn against Enlightenment science
- It is the poet, not the scientist that represents the pinnacle of human knowledge. It is art not science that is the key. Rejects the Academy over public opinion.
- It is [[#The Genius]] that pushes the envelope not the mass of Bacon's democratic mass of unskilled workers
- observing nature implies understanding ourself and that understanding nature should not be obtained by force (eg disecting it or putting it in a zoo)
- Move to the Dark Side: From the Sun (Enlightenment) to the Moon (cold-hearted orb that rules the night)
- Recognize the darkness of the human interior, not glorious & perfectible like Locke thought
- Terrorized by a fear of God (nature)
- Because man's darkness is God's darkness
- Culture of feeling vs Culture of reason
- b/c intuitive feeling gets you to truth
Romanticism in Philosophy
- we must emphasize emotional self-awareness to improve society (not social engineeringRomanticism
Romanticism
Proponents
[[Schopenhauer]]
[[Hegel]]
Lecture Notes (Dewberry)
Introduction
Romanticism is very difficult to define
Not defined by its content, but a reaction to the Enlightenment
Primarily influenced by arts & literature, but in 19th c. had profound effect on science & philosophy
General Context
Romanticism is against egalitarian ethics (like [[utilitarianism]]) and against the mathematical-mechanical science of the [[Enlightenment]]. Nothin aroused gr...) - centered in Germany initially
- Universe a single unified whole, not a bunch of parts (rise of ecology)
- Universe is full of values, tendencies, and life
- We know it by intuition–we are a participant–not from outside
- Nature is an experience, not an object to manipulate; once experienced, you are in tune w/ your feelings; create good & true values
- Each philosopher has their own conception of what is good and/or moral
Individual Romantics
RousseauRousseau
Rousseau
Wrote The Social ContractRousseau, Social Contract
Rousseau, Social Contract
Class Notes
what is general will
different from "will of all"
does social contract make gov legitimate?
Summary
Rousseau wrote about what gives government its authority. He argued that government can only have authority when people give it authority. And people give it authority when they enter into a contract with each other. Rousseau calls this the “social contract,” and says that when men enter such a contract, the real authority is calle...
- noble savage, in tune w/ nature
- civilization corrupts man's wants
- seduces him from his true self
KantKant
Kant
Wrote Kant, What is Enlightenment?
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
...: Transcendental Idealism HegelHegel
Hegel
Wrote: Intro to Philosophy of HistoryHegel, Intro to Philosophy of History
Intro to Philosophy of History
Written by [[Hegel]]
Themes
Spirit:
consciousness
self-consciousness
freedom
progress of history
Class Notes
![[Hegel, Intro to Philosophy of History.pdf]]
Summary
Hegel wrote about Spirit, and how it is realized. He explained that the essence of Spirit is Freedom, so then he had to talk about Freedom; and that led to a discussion of consciousness (specifically self-consciousness) and existence. You see, Spirit exists in itself, meaning that it is...
Notes
absolute idealist
key member of German IdealismGerman Idealism
German Idealism
Members
Fichte
HegelHegel
Hegel
Wrote: Intro to Philosophy of HistoryHegel, Intro to Philosophy of History
Intro to Philosophy of History
Written by [[Hegel]]
Themes
Spirit:
consciousness
self-consciousness
freedom
progress of history
Class Notes
![[Hegel, Intro to Philosophy of History.pdf]]
Summary
Hegel wrote about Spirit, and how it is realized. He explained that the essence of Spirit is Freedom, so then he had to talk about Freedom; and that led to a discussion of consciousness (specifically self-consciousness) and existence. You see, Spirit exists in itself, meaning that it is...
Notes
absolute idealist
key member of German IdealismGerman Idealism
German Idealism
Members
Fichte
HegelHegel
Hegel
Wrote: Intro to Philosophy of HistoryHegel, Intro to Philosophy of History
Intro to Philosophy of History
Written by [[Hegel]]
Themes
Spirit:
consciousness
self-consciousness
freedom
progress of history
Class Notes
![[Hegel, Intro to Philosophy of History.pdf]]
Summary
Hegel wrote about Spirit, and how it is realized. He explained that the essence of Spirit is Freedom, so then he had to talk about Freedom; and that led to a discussion of consciousness (specifically self-consciousness) and existence. You see, Spirit exists in itself, meaning that it is...
Notes
absolute idealist
key member of [[German Idealism]]
student of Fichte & relied on him in his work
the great intellect is not personal & is accessible to man b/c man's intellect is an extension of its intellect
view of history
teleological development - development in a direction ([[Darwin]] takes this and runs w/ it)
history recognizes internal contradictions and s...
Schelling
Spinoza
Schleiermacher
SchopenhauerSchopenhauer
Schopenhauer
Notes
all of rationality is desires
we are a slave of passions & desires
Buddhist influences
thought he was an heir of both Spinoza and KantKant
Kant
Wrote [[Kant, What is Enlightenment?]]
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
...
Map of 19th Century Philosophers
!Map of 19th c. philosophers.png
Class Notes
speculative massive encompassing system
everything is idea
grew out of trying to complete KantKant
Kant
Wrote Kant, What is Enlightenment?
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
... (Transcendental Idealism)
Kant's epistemology of the phenomena & noumena (the thing in itself); the noumena is unknowable
Fichte combines the phenomena & noumena; everything th...
student of Fichte & relied on him in his work
the great intellect is not personal & is accessible to man b/c man's intellect is an extension of its intellect
view of history
teleological development - development in a direction (Darwin takes this and runs w/ it)
history recognizes internal contradictions and s...
Schelling
Spinoza
Schleiermacher
SchopenhauerSchopenhauer
Schopenhauer
Notes
all of rationality is desires
we are a slave of passions & desires
Buddhist influences
thought he was an heir of both Spinoza and KantKant
Kant
Wrote [[Kant, What is Enlightenment?]]
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
...
Map of 19th Century Philosophers
!Map of 19th c. philosophers.png
Class Notes
speculative massive encompassing system
everything is idea
grew out of trying to complete KantKant
Kant
Wrote Kant, What is Enlightenment?
Man's primary problem isn't sin; it's that he doesn't have the freedom to reason & be enlightened (??)
Background
came from Prussia, wrote under Frederick the Great
Kant - a rationalist who wants to confine reason to the bounds of experience
reason is bound by the condition of possible experience; cannot reason about unexperienced things
so, we can't reason a/b God crating the world because we didn't experience it
... (Transcendental Idealism)
Kant's epistemology of the phenomena & noumena (the thing in itself); the noumena is unknowable
Fichte combines the phenomena & noumena; everything th...
student of Fichte & relied on him in his work
the great intellect is not personal & is accessible to man b/c man's intellect is an extension of its intellect
view of history
teleological development - development in a direction (Darwin takes this and runs w/ it)
history recognizes internal contradictions and s...: most important philosopher in 19th c. Schopenhauer: disagreed w/ Hegel Goethe: - disregarded Newton's theory of light
- Newton: white light is a mixture of other colors
- Goethe: prism is destroying, killing light, not understanding it
- to understand light we nee dintuition, not mathematics
- understand light by painting landscapes Marx: Hegel applied to economics
- which does turn Hegel on his head, but hey German Idealists:
- Fichte
- Schelling
Naturphilosophie
- not reductionistic: whole
- can't disect a creature, can only understand it as a whole
- necessary to reunite man w/ nature
- Biology cannot be reduced to chemistry & physics
The Genius
- not trying to rule; not a tyrant
- just pursuing his own project
- elevated by public opinion
- Gente (artist) was an example