GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS

I. IMMANUEL KANT
A. BIOGRAPHY - German philosopher, considered by many the most influential thinker of modern times. -He was born in Konigsberg in 1724 and died on 12th of February 1804. -He was a person of incredibly regular habits and almost as regular a producer of paper and books. -Kant entered the university of his native city at the age of 16th and graduated from it six years later. -Being unable to secure an academic position, he took work as a private tutor in various households. It was not until the age of 31 that he obtained a post at the university, as a private docent, an unsalaried employment which conferred the privilege of giving public lectures, and a chance of securing a reward through private tuition. -Born in Knigsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), April 22, 1724, Kant received his education at the Collegium Fredericianum and the University of Knigsberg. At the college he studied chiefly the classics, and at the university he studied physics and mathematics. After his father died, he was compelled to halt his university career and earn his living as a private tutor. In 1755, aided by a friend, he resumed his studies and obtained his doctorate. Thereafter, for 15 years he taught at the university, lecturing first on science and mathematics, but gradually enlarging his field of concentration to cover almost all branches of philosophy. -Although Kant's lectures and works written during this period established his reputation as an original philosopher, he did not receive a chair at the university until 1770, when he was made professor of logic and metaphysics. For the next 27 years he continued to teach and attracted large numbers of students to Knigsberg. Kant's unorthodox religious teachings, which were based on rationalism rather than revelation, brought him into conflict with the government of Prussia, and in 1792 he was forbidden by Frederick William II, king of Prussia, to teach or write on religious subjects. Kant obeyed this order for five years until the death of the king and then felt released from his obligation. In 1798, the year following his retirement from the university, he published a summary of his religious views. He died February 12, 1804. - In addition to works on philosophy, Kant wrote a number of treatises on various scientific subjects, many in the field of physical geography. His most important scientific work was General Natural History and Theory of the Heavens (1755), in which he advanced the hypothesis of the formation of the universe from a spinning nebula, a hypothesis that later was developed independently by Pierre de Laplace. -Among Kant's other writings are Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (1783), Metaphysical Rudiments of Natural Philosophy (1786), Critique of Judgment (1790), and Religion Within the Boundaries of Pure Reason (1793).

B. PHILOSOPHY -Kant tried to synthesize the problem posed by empiricism and rationalism. The synthesis he proposed affirmed the existence of sensible intuition [favoring the empiricists] and concepts [favoring the rationalists] in the idea of knowledge or consciousness. In his synthetic a priori judgment, he made mention that things exist because there is/are necessary property/ies of natural phenomena, that although with an a posteriori basis, they have an a priori reality. Thus, the nearest distance between two points is indeed a straight line not only because it is observed by drawing a curve line and a straight line [and comparing the two] to connect the two lines, but because it is in fact the nearest distance in itself. Kant further said that the mind possesses a priori categories of human thought. These categories [time and space] give shape and form to phenomena. Realities observed by the senses are made clear by these categories after being grasped. Nonetheless, Kant posited the idea of the thing-in-itself as something which exists yet cannot be known [and in no way can be known]. Herein, he distinguished the world of noumena from the world of phenomena

II. GEORGE WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL

A. BIOGRAPHY -He was, according to Copleston, the greatest of German idealist and one of the most outstanding of western philosophers. -He was born at Stuttgart on August 27th, 1770. -He was brought up in an atmosphere of Protestant Pietism and became thoroughly acquainted with the Greek and Roman classics while studying at the Stuttgart gymnasium (preparatory school). Encouraged by his father to become a clergyman, Hegel entered the seminary at the University of Tbingen in 1788. There he developed friendships with the poet Friedrich Hlderlin and the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling. Having completed a course of study in philosophy and theology and having decided not to enter the ministry, Hegel became (1793) a private tutor in Bern, Switzerland. In 1797 he assumed a similar position in Frankfurt. Two years later his father died, leaving a financial legacy that was sufficient to free him from tutoring. -In 1801 Hegel went to the University of Jena, where he studied, wrote, and eventually became a lecturer. At Jena he completed The Phenomenology of Mind (1807; trans. 1910), one of his most important works. He remained at Jena until October 1806, when the city was taken by the French and he was forced to flee. Having exhausted the legacy left him by his father, Hegel became editor of the Bamberger Zeitung in Bavaria. He disliked journalism, however, and moved to Nrnberg, where he served for eight years as headmaster of a Gymnasium. -During the Nrnberg years Hegel met and married Marie von Tucher. Three children were born to the Hegels, a daughter, who died soon after birth, and two sons, Karl and Immanuel. Before his marriage, Hegel had fathered an illegitimate son, Ludwig, who eventually came to live with the Hegels. While at Nrnberg, Hegel published over a period of several years The Science of Logic (1812, 1813, 1816; trans. 1929). In 1816 Hegel accepted a professorship in philosophy at the University of Heidelberg. Soon after, he published in summary form a

systematic statement of his entire philosophy entitled Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Outline (1817; trans. 1959). In 1818 Hegel was invited to teach at the University of Berlin, where he was to remain. He died in Berlin on November 14, 1831, during a cholera epidemic. -The last full-length work published by Hegel was The Philosophy of Right (1821; trans. 1896), although several sets of his lecture notes, supplemented by students' notes, were published after his death. Published lectures include The Philosophy of Fine Art (1835-38; trans. 1920), Lectures on the History of Philosophy (1833-36; trans. 1892-96), Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion (1832; trans. 1895), and Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837; trans. 1858). -Strongly influenced by Greek ideas, Hegel also read the works of the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, the French writer Jean Jacques Rousseau, and the German philosophers Immanuel Kant, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, and Schelling. Although he often disagreed with these philosophers, their influence is evident in his writings. B. PHILOSOPHY -Hegel's aim was to set forth a philosophical system so comprehensive that it would encompass the ideas of his predecessors and create a conceptual framework in terms of which both the past and future could be philosophically understood. Such an aim would require nothing short of a full account of reality itself. Thus, Hegel conceived the subject matter of philosophy to be reality as a whole. This reality, or the total developmental process of everything that is, he referred to as the Absolute, or Absolute Spirit. According to Hegel, the task of philosophy is to chart the development of Absolute Spirit. This involves (1) making clear the internal rational structure of the Absolute; (2) demonstrating the manner in which the Absolute manifests itself in nature and human history; and (3) explicating the teleological nature of the Absolute, that is, showing the end or purpose toward which the Absolute is directed.

III. ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER

A. BIOGRAPHY -German philosopher, who is known for his philosophy of pessimism. -He was born on February 22nd 1788 in Danzig and died in Frankfurt am Main in 1860. At the end of his life, Schopenhauer just beginning to enjoy the measure of fame. -He came from a wealthy family -1n 1809, he entered the University of Gottingen to study medicine but he changed to philosophy in his second year in the university. -The name Arthur was chosen because it was shared by several European languages. -He possessed a great breadth of culture and he could write extremely well. -He is a man of strong character and will, he was never afraid to express his opinions and he had a gift of wit.

-He was egoistic, vain, quarrelsome and on occasion even boorish and he can hardly be said to have been remarkable for gifts of the heart. -He had a great admiration for Kant, but he had the habit of referring to thinkers such Fitche, Schelling, and Hegel. -He then settled in Frankfurt am Main, where he led a solitary life and became deeply involved in the study of Buddhist and Hindu philosophies and mysticism. He was also influenced by the ideas of the German Dominican theologian, mystic, and eclectic philosopher Meister Eckhart, the German theosophist and mystic Jakob Boehme, and the scholars of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. -Schopenhauer disagreed with the school of idealism and was strongly opposed to the ideas of the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who believed in the spiritual nature of all reality. Instead, Schopenhauer accepted, with some qualification in details, the view of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant that phenomena exist only insofar as the mind perceives them, as ideas. He did not, however, agree with Kant that the thing-in-itself (Ding an sich), or the ultimate reality, lies hopelessly beyond experience. He identified it with experienced will instead. According to Schopenhauer, however, will is not limited to voluntary action with foresight; all the experienced activity of the self is will, including unconscious physiological functionings. This will is the inner nature of each experiencing being and assumes in time and space the appearance of the body, which is an idea. Starting from the principle that the will is the inner nature of his own body as an appearance in time and space, Schopenhauer concluded that the inner reality of all material appearances is will; the ultimate reality is one universal will. -His famous works are The World as Will and Idea I and II, On the Will in Nature, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason B. PHILOSOPHY -German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer developed a philosophy of pessimism that focused on the nature of the will, a term Schopenhauer used to mean both a person s individual desires as well as the overall essence of being alive. Schopenhauer believed that although will was essential to life, it was also the source of endless striving and discontent. In this excerpt from Parerga und Paralipomena (1851, translated as Essays and Aphorisms), Schopenhauer contemplated the role of suffering in human life, and argued that pain was an inescapable part of life. Schopenauer s acceptance of human suffering reflected the influence of both Christian and Indian Buddhist religious traditions.

IV. CHRISTIAN WOLFF

A. BIOGRAPHY -German rationalist philosopher and mathematician, born in Breslau (now Wroc aw, Poland), and educated at the University of Jena. In 1706 he became professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at the University of Halle. Wolff's rationalist doctrines

gradually came into sharp conflict with the religious views of some of his faculty colleagues. In 1721 he delivered a lecture in which he cited the moral axioms of Confucius as proof that human reason could attain moral truth by its own efforts. As a result, he was banished from Prussia in 1723 on grounds of atheism and fatalism. He went to Hessen and taught at the University of Marburg until 1740. In that year Frederick II, king of Prussia, recalled Wolff to Halle, where, in 1743, he became chancellor of the university. B. PHILOSOPHY -Wolff's philosophy is a modification of the philosophic system developed by the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Although he was not an original thinker, Wolff was important as an organizing and systematizing philosopher. His voluminous writings include Vernnftige Gedanken von Gott, der Welt, und der Seele des Menschen (Rational Thoughts on God, the World, and the Souls of Men, 1719).

VI. GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM LESSING

A. BIOGRAPHY -German dramatist and critic, who was one of the leaders of the Enlightenment. -Lessing was born January 22, 1729, in Kamenz, the son of a Protestant minister, and was educated at the universities of Leipzig and Wittenberg, where he studied theology, philosophy, and medicine. While in Leipzig, he became interested in drama and wrote his first play, Der Junge Gelehrte (The Young Scholar, 1748). From 1748 to 1755 he lived in Berlin, where he was a drama and literary critic and wrote several plays, including Der Freigeist (The Freethinker, 1749) and Die Juden (The Jews, 1749). From 1755 to 1758 Lessing lived in Leipzig, where he formed a strong friendship with the poet Ewald Christian von Kleist. In 1758 he returned to Berlin and in 1759, with the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and the critic Christoph Friedrich Nicolai, he founded the critical journal Briefe, die Neueste Literatur Betreffend (Letters on the Latest in Literature, 1759-1765). Lessing contributed a notable series of essays to this periodical, contending that Shakespeare would be a better model for German dramatists than the classical French dramatists. The essays were instrumental in ridding German literature of French influence. From 1760 to 1765 Lessing was secretary to the governor of Breslau (now Wroc aw, Poland). In 1767, after two years in Berlin, he helped establish a national theater in Hamburg that proved to be unsuccessful; from 1770 until his death on February 15, 1781, he was librarian of the Brunswick ducal library at Wolfenbttel. -Lessing's dramatic and critical work established new standards in German literature and profoundly influenced the work of later German writers. His play Miss Sara Sampson (1755; trans. 1789) is notable as the first tragedy of middle-class life in German drama. The comedy The Disbanded Officer (1767; trans. 1786) and the blank-verse drama Nathan the Wise (1779; trans. 1781) are major classics of the German stage. The latter, based on the concept that nobility of character is not confined to any particular religious creed, is a moving plea for religious tolerance. One of his most popular plays, Emilia Galotti (1772; trans. 1868), is a tragedy of middle-class life based on a Roman legend. As a critic Lessing is noted for his writings on drama, literature, art, archaeology, and theology. His Hamburg Dramaturgy (1767-1768;

trans. 1879) is one of the earliest modern treatises on the craft of the playwright. His literary criticism is best represented by the essays in Briefe; by the essay on the fable that forms the preface to Fabeln (3 volumes, 1759); and by Zur Geschichte und Literatur (Contributions to History and Literature, 1773-1781). In the essay Laocoon (1766; trans. 1930), he analyzed poetry, sculpture, and painting and defined the limits of each. As an archaeologist Lessing is known for Briefe Antiquarische (Letters on Archaeology, 1768-1769), and Wie die Alten den Tod Gebildet (How the Ancients Depicted Death, 1769). As a theologian he is known for Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts (The Education of the Human Race, 1780).

VII. MOSES MENDELSSOHN

A. BIOGRAPHY -Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86), German philosopher and author, an ardent advocate of Jewish civil rights, and a pioneer in denouncing Jewish separatism. He was born in Dessau, Germany, and educated by his father and the local rabbi. In 1750 he became tutor to the children of a silk merchant in Berlin; subsequently he became the merchant's partner. In 1754 he was introduced to the German dramatist and critic Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, and the two became friends. Lessing, a champion of Jewish emancipation, later modeled the hero of his play Nathan der Weise (Nathan the Wise, 1779) after Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn's Philosophische Gesprche (Philosophical Discourses) was anonymously published by Lessing in 1755. In the same year their joint satire, Pope ein Metaphysiker (Pope a Metaphysician), appeared. -In 1764 Mendelssohn won the Berlin Academy prize for the best essay on a metaphysical subject with his work Abhandlung ber die Evidenz in den Metaphysischen Wissenschaften (Upon Proving Metaphysics a Science). His treatise Phdon (1767), in which he expounded his belief in the immortality of the soul, was modeled after Plato's dialogue Phaedo, and it earned him the appellation the German Socrates. In addition to works on philosophy, Mendelssohn wrote books on Judaism and Jewry. His most important contribution was opening the world of German language and literature to his fellow Jews with his translation of the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch), the Psalms, and other sections of the Bible into German.