A HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY - SPIRITUAL MINDS

A HISTORY OF

PHILOSOPHY

A HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY by Frederick Copleston, S.J.

VOLUME I: GREECE AND ROME

From the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus

VOLUME II: MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY

From Augustine to Duns Scotus

VOLUME III: LATE MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE PHILOSOPHY

Ockham, Francis Bacon, and the Beginning of the Modern World

VOLUME IV: MODERN PHILOSOPHY

From Descartes to Leibniz

VOLUME V: MODERN PHILOSOPHY

The British Philosophers from Hobbes to Hume

VOLUME VI: MODERN PHILOSOPHY

From the French Enlightenment to Kant

VOLUME VII: MODERN PHILOSOPHY

From the Post-Kantian Idealists to Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche

VOLUME VIII: MODERN PHILOSOPHY

Empiricism, Idealism, and Pragmatism in Britain and America

VOLUME IX: MODERN PHILOSOPHY

From the French Revolution to Sartre, Camus, and Levi-Strauss

A HISTORY OF

PHILOSOPHY

VOLUME VII

Modern Philosophy: From the Post-Kantian Idealists to Marx, Kierkegaard, and

Nietzsche

Frederick Copleston, S.J.

New York

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First Image Books edition of Volume VII of A History of Philosophy published 1965 by special arrangement with The Newman Press and Burns & Oates, Ltd.

This Image edition published March 1994.

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Imprimatur: Franciscus, Archiepiscopus Birmingamiensis Birmingamiae die 26a Julii 1962

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Copleston, Frederick Charles.

A history of philosophy.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Contents: v.!. Greece and Rome-[etc.]-

v. 7. From the post-Kantian idealists to Marx,

Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche-v. 8. Empiricism, idealism,

and pragmatism in Britain and America-v. 9. From the

French Revolution to Sartre, Camus, and Levi-Strauss.

1. Philosophy-History. I. Title.

B72.C62 1993

190

92-34997

ISBN 0-385-47044-4

Volume VII copyright ? 1963 by Frederick Copleston

All Rights Reserved

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

CONTENTS

PREFACE

Pag'

ix

PART I POST-KANTIAN IDEALIST SYSTEMS

1. INTRODUCTION

I

Preliminary remarks-Kant's philosophy and idealist metaphysics--The meaning of idealism, its insistence on system and its confidence in the power and scope of philosophy-The idealists and theology-The romantic movement and German idealism-The difficulty in fulfilling the idealist programmeThe anthropomorphic element in German idealism-Idealist philosophies of man.

II. FICHTE (I)

32

Life and writings--On looking for the fundamental principle of

philosophy; the choice between idealism and dogmatism-The pure ego and intellectual intuition-Comments on the theory

of the pure ego; phenomenology of consciousness and idealist

metaphysics-The three fundamental principles of philosophy -Explanatory comments on Fichte's dialectical method-The

theory of science and formal logic-The general idea of the two deductions of consciousness--The theoretical deduction-The

practical deduction-Comments on Fichte's deduction of

consciousness.

III. FICHTE (2)

59

Introductory remarks--The common moral consciousness and

the science of ethics-Man's moral nature-The supreme

principle of morality and the formal condition of the morality of

actions-Conscience as an unerring guide-The philosophical

application of the formal moral law-The idea of moral vocation

and Fichte's general vision of reality-A community of selves

in a world as a condition of self-consciousness-The principle or

rule of right-The deduction and nature of the State-The

closed commercial State-Fichte and nationalism.

IV. FICHTE (3)

Fichte's early ideas on religion-God in the first version of the theory of science-The charge of atheism and Fichte's replyThe infinite Will in The Vocation of Man-The development of the philosophy of Being. I80I-5-The Doctrine of ReligionLater writings--Explanatory and critical comments on Fichte's philosophy of Being.

V. SCHELLING (I)

94

Life and writings--The successive phases in Schelling's thought

-Early writings and the influence of Fichte.

v

vi

CONTENTS

Chapter VI.

SCHELLING (2)

The possibility and metaphysical grounds of a philosophy of Nature-The general outlines of Schelling's philosophy of Nature-The system of transcendental idealism-The philosophy of art-The Absolute as identity.

Page

105

VII. SCHELLING (3)

126

The idea of the cosmic Fall-Personality and freedom in man

and God; good and evil-The distinction between .negative and positive philosophy-Mythology and. ~ev.elatJon-General remarks on Schelling-Notes on Schelling s mfluence and on some kindred thinkers.

VIII. SCHLEIERMACHER

149

Life and writings-The basic reli~ious e?,perience and. its interpretation-The moral and religIOUS life of man-Fmal

remarks.

IX. HEGEL (x)

159

Life and writings-Early theological writings-Hegel's relations

to Fichte and Schelling-The life of the Absolute and the

nature of philosophy-The phenomenology of consciousness.

X. HEGEL (2)

x89

The logic of Hegel-The ontological status of the .Idea or Absolute in itself and the transition to Nature-The phllosophy of Nature-The Absolute as Spirit: subjective Spirit-The

concept of right-Morality-The family and civil society-The State-Explanatory comments on Hegel's idea of political philosophy-The function of war-Philosophy of history-

Some comments on Hegel's philosophy of history.

XI. HEGEL (3)

226

The sphere of absolute Spirit-T~e philosophy of. ~rt-The philosophy of religion-:-The relation J;>etween re~lglOn and philosophy-Hegel's philosophy .o~ ~he history of.phllos?phyThe influence of Hegel and the diVISion between nght-wmg and left-wing Hegelians.

PART II

THE REACTION AGAINST METAPHYSICAL IDEALISM

XII. EARLIER OPPONENTS AND CRITICS

248

Fries and his disciples-The realism of Herbart-Beneke and

psychology as the fundamental science-The logic of BolzanoWeisse and I. H. Fichte as critics of Hegel.

XIII. SCHOPENHAUER (x)

261

Life and writings-Schopenhauer's .doctorate dissertationThe world as Idea-The biological function of concepts and the possibility of metaphysics-Th.e world a.s ~he manifestati?~ of the Will to live-Metaphysical pessimism-Some cntlcal comments.

CONTENTS

vii

Chapter XIV.

XV.

SCHOPENHAUER (2)

Aesthetic contemplation as a temporary escape from the slavery of the Will-The particular fine arts-Virtue and renunciation: the way of salvation-Schopenhauer and metaphysical idealism-The general influence of SchopenhjluerNotes on Eduard von Hartmann's development of Schopenhauer's philosophy.

Page

277

. THE TRANSFORMATION OF IDEALISM (1)

293

Introductory remarks-Feuerbach and the transformation of

theology into anthropology-Ruge's criticism of the Hegelian

attitude to history-Stirner's philosophy of the ego.

XVI. THE TRANSFORMATION OF IDEALISM (2)

305

Introductory remarks-The lives and writings of Marx and

Engels and the development of their thought-Materialism-

Dialectical materialism-The materialist conception of history

-Comments on the thought of Marx and Engels.

XVII. KIERKEGAARD

335

Introductory remarks-Life and writings-The individual and

the crowd-The dialectic of the stages and truth as subjectivity

-The idea of existence-The concept of dread-The influence

of Kierkegaard.

PART III

LATER CURRENTS OF THOUGHT

XVIII. NON-DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM

352

Introductory remarks-The first phase of the materialist

movement-Lange's criticism of materialism-Haeckel's

monism-Ostwald's energeticism-Empirio-criticism con-

sidered as an attempt to overcome the opposition between

materialism and idealism.

XIX. THE NEO-KANTIAN MOVEMENT

361

Introductory remarks-The Marburg School-The School of

Baden-The pragmatist tendency-E, Cassirer; concluding

observations-Some notes on Dilthey.

XX. THE REVIVAL OF METAPHYSICS

374

Remarks on inductive metaphysics-Fechner's inductive

metaphysics-The teleological idealism of Lotze-Wundt and

the relation between science and philosophy-The vitalism of

Driesch-Eucken's activism-Appropriation of the past:

Trendelenburg and Greek thought; the revival of Thomism.

XXI. NIETZSCHE (x)

390

Life and writings-The phases of Nietzsche's thought:as

'masks'-Nietzsche's early writings and the critique of con-

temporary culture-The critique of morals-Atheism and its

consequences.

viii

Chapter

XXII.

CONTENTS

NIETZSCHE (2)

The hypothesis of the Will to Power-The Will to Power as manifested in knowledge; Nietzsche's view of truth-The Will to Power in Nature and man-Superman and the order of rank -'The theory of the eternal recurrence-Comments on Nietzsche's philosophy.

Pags

40 7

XXIII. RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

421

Some questions arising out of nineteenth-century German philosophy-The positivist answer-The philosophy of existence-The rise of phenomenology; Brentano, Meinong, Husserl, the widespread use of phenomenological analysisReturn to ontology; N. Hartmann-The metaphysics of Being; Heidegger, the Thomists-Concluding reflections.

ApPENDIX: A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY

443

PREFACE

As Volume VI of this History oj Philosophy ended with Kant, the natural procedure was to open the present volume with a discussion of post-Kantian German idealism. I might then have turned to the philosophy of the first part of the nineteenth century in France and Great Britain. But on reflection it seemed to me that nineteenthcentury German philosophy could reasonably be treated on its own, and that this would confer on the volume a greater unity than would otherwise be possible. And in point of fact the only nonGerman-speaking philosopher considered in the book is Kierkegaard, who wrote in Danish.

The volume has been entitled Fichte to Nietzsche, as Nietzsche is the last world-famous philosopher who is considered at any length. It might indeed have been called Fickte to Heidegger. For not only have a good many philosophers been mentioned who were chronologically posterior to Nietzsche, but also in the last chapter a glance has been taken at German philosophy in the first half of the twentieth century. But I decided that" to call the volume Fichte to Heidegger would tend to mislead prospective readers. For it would suggest that twentieth-century philosophers such as Hussed, N. Hartmann, Jaspers and Heidegger are treated, so to speak, for their own sake, in the same way as Fichte, Schelling and Hegel, whereas in fact they are discussed briefly as illustrating different ideas of the nature and scope of philosophy.

In the present work there are one or two variations from the pattern generally followed in preceding volumes. The introductory chapter deals only with the idealist movement, and it has therefore been placed within Part I, not before it. And though in the final chapter there are some retrospective reflections, there is also, as already indicated, a preview of thought in the first half of the twentieth century. Hence I have called this chapter 'Retrospect and Prospect' rather than 'Concluding Review'. Apart from the reasons given in the text for referring to twentieth-century thought there is the reason that I do not propose to include within this History any full-scale treatment of the philosophy of. the present century. At the same time I did not wish to end the volume abruptly without any reference at all to later developments. The result is, of course, that one lays oneself open to the comment that

ix

x

PREFACE

it would be better to say nothing about these developments than to make some sketchy and inadequate remarks. However, I decided to risk this criticism.

To economize on space I have confined the Bibliography at the end of the book to general works and to works by and on the major figures. As for minor philosophers, many of their writings are mentioned at the appropriate places in the text. In view of the number both of nineteenth-century philosophers and of their publications, and in view of the vast literature on some of the major figures, anything like a full bibliography is. out of the question. In the case of the twentieth-century thinkers mentioned in the final chapter, some books are referred to in the text or in footnotes, but no explicit bibliography has been given. Apart from the problem of space I felt that it would be inappropriate to supply, for example, a bibliography on Heidegger when he is only briefly mentioned.

The present writer hopes to devote a further volume, the eighth in this History, to some aspects of French and British thought in the nineteenth century. But he does not propose to spread his net any farther. Instead he plans, circumstances permitting, to turn in a supplementary volume to what may be called the philosophy of the history of philosophy, that is, to reflection on the development of philosophical thought rather than to telling the story of this development.

A final remark. A friendly critic observed that this work would be more appropriately called A History of Western Philosophy or A History of European Philosophy than A History of Philosophy without addition. For there is no mention, for instance, of Indian philosophy. The critic was, of course, quite right. But I should like to remark that the omission of Oriental philosophy is neither an oversight nor due to any prejudice on the author's part. The composition of a history of Oriental philosophy is a work .for a specialist and requires a knowledge of the relevant languages which the present writer does not possess. Brehier included a volume on Oriental philosophy in his Histoire de la philosophie, but it was not written by Brehier.

Finally I have pleasure in expressing my gratitude to the Oxford University Press for their kind pennission to quote from Kierkegaard's The Point of View and Fear and Trembling according to the English translations published by them, and to the Princeton University Press for similar permission to quote from Kierkegaard's

PREFACE

xi

Sickness unto Death, Concluding Unscientific Postscript and The Concept of Dread. In the case of quotations from philosophers other than Kierkegaard I have translated the passages myself. But I have frequently given page-references to existing English translations for the benefit of readers who wish to consult a translation rather than the original. In the case of minor figures, however, I have generally omitted references to translations.

A HISTORY OF

PHILOSOPHY

PART I

POST?KANTIAN IDEALIST SYSTEMS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Preliminary remarks-Kant's philosoPhy and idealist meta? physics-The meaning of idealism, its insistence 9n system and its confidence in the power and scope of philosophy-The idealists and theology-The romantic movement and German idealism-The difficulty in fuljilJing the idealist programmeThe anthropomorphic element in German idealism-Idealist philosophies of man.

1. IN the German philosophical world during the early part of the nineteenth century we find one of the most remarkable flowerings of metaphysical speculation which have occurred in the long history of western philosophy. We are presented with a succession of systems, of original interpretations of reality and of human life and history, which possess a grandeur that can hardly be called in question and which are still capable of exercising on some minds at least a peculiar power of fascination. For each of the leading philosophers ofthe period professes to solve the riddle of the world, to reveal the secret of the universe and the meaning of human existence.

True, before the death of Schelling in 1854 Auguste Comte in France had already published his Course of Positive Philosophy in which metaphysics was represented as a passing stage in the history of human thought. And Germany was to have its own positivist and materialist movements which, while not killing metaphysics, would force metaphysicians to reflect on and define more closely the relation between philosophy and the particular sciences. But in the early decades of the nineteenth century the shadow of positivism had not yet fallen across the scene and speculative philosophy enjoyed a period of uninhibited and luxuriant growth. With the great German idea~sts we find a superb confidence in the power of the human reason and in the scope of philosophy. Looking on reality as the self?manifestation of infinite reason, they thought

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