Frederick C. Beiser
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691163093
- eISBN:
- 9781400852536
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691163093.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter discusses the “identity crisis” suffered by philosophers beginning in the 1840s, the decade after Hegel's death. They could no longer define their discipline in the traditional terms ...
More
This chapter discusses the “identity crisis” suffered by philosophers beginning in the 1840s, the decade after Hegel's death. They could no longer define their discipline in the traditional terms widely accepted in the first decades of the nineteenth century. So they began to ask themselves some very hard questions. What is philosophy? What is its purpose? And how does it differ from the empirical sciences? The remainder of the chapter covers the sources of the crisis, Trendelenburg's philosophia perennis, philosophy as critique, Schopenhauer's revival of metaphysics, the rise and fall of the neo-Kantian ideal, Eduard von Hartmann's metaphysics of the sciences, and Wilhelm Dilthey's conception of philosophy as a worldview.Less
This chapter discusses the “identity crisis” suffered by philosophers beginning in the 1840s, the decade after Hegel's death. They could no longer define their discipline in the traditional terms widely accepted in the first decades of the nineteenth century. So they began to ask themselves some very hard questions. What is philosophy? What is its purpose? And how does it differ from the empirical sciences? The remainder of the chapter covers the sources of the crisis, Trendelenburg's philosophia perennis, philosophy as critique, Schopenhauer's revival of metaphysics, the rise and fall of the neo-Kantian ideal, Eduard von Hartmann's metaphysics of the sciences, and Wilhelm Dilthey's conception of philosophy as a worldview.
Joanne Waugh and Roger Ariew
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199857142
- eISBN:
- 9780199345427
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199857142.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This paper has two parts. The first focuses on two twentieth-century discussions about Descartes and Leibniz, discussions that reflect two of the central myths of philosophy: that the problems of ...
More
This paper has two parts. The first focuses on two twentieth-century discussions about Descartes and Leibniz, discussions that reflect two of the central myths of philosophy: that the problems of philosophy are perennial, not contingent; and that we need not read philosophical texts in their historical contexts. Thus philosophers read philosophical texts from the past, locate “perennial problems,” formulate arguments for the texts’ authors in present day philosophical language, and evaluate these arguments in light of contemporary standards. The second part focuses on the substitution of philosophia perennis for the history of philosophy. Most twentieth century philosophers failed to distinguish the characteristics of formal languages from those of natural languages, and tended to treat texts and speech acts indiscriminately. But embodied speech acts are prior to texts and we should see a text as standing in for a speaker. This includes philosophical texts and the “problems” their authors share with their contemporaries.Less
This paper has two parts. The first focuses on two twentieth-century discussions about Descartes and Leibniz, discussions that reflect two of the central myths of philosophy: that the problems of philosophy are perennial, not contingent; and that we need not read philosophical texts in their historical contexts. Thus philosophers read philosophical texts from the past, locate “perennial problems,” formulate arguments for the texts’ authors in present day philosophical language, and evaluate these arguments in light of contemporary standards. The second part focuses on the substitution of philosophia perennis for the history of philosophy. Most twentieth century philosophers failed to distinguish the characteristics of formal languages from those of natural languages, and tended to treat texts and speech acts indiscriminately. But embodied speech acts are prior to texts and we should see a text as standing in for a speaker. This includes philosophical texts and the “problems” their authors share with their contemporaries.
Paul L. Gavrilyuk
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780198701583
- eISBN:
- 9780191771392
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198701583.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The chapter compares Harnack’s account of the Hellenization of early Christianity with Florovsky’s account of the Westernization of Russian theology. Methodologically, these accounts shared many ...
More
The chapter compares Harnack’s account of the Hellenization of early Christianity with Florovsky’s account of the Westernization of Russian theology. Methodologically, these accounts shared many similarities, although theologically they were diametrically opposed. For Harnack, Hellenization was a distortion of the original gospel, whereas for Florovsky, “Christian Hellenism” was a paradigm for a successful conversion of culture and a philosophia perennis. The limitations of both accounts are discussed.Less
The chapter compares Harnack’s account of the Hellenization of early Christianity with Florovsky’s account of the Westernization of Russian theology. Methodologically, these accounts shared many similarities, although theologically they were diametrically opposed. For Harnack, Hellenization was a distortion of the original gospel, whereas for Florovsky, “Christian Hellenism” was a paradigm for a successful conversion of culture and a philosophia perennis. The limitations of both accounts are discussed.
