German classical philosophy represents an influential current of philosophical thought of the New Age. It sums up its development in this period of Western European history. This current belongs to philosophical doctrine I. Kant, I. Fichte, G. Hegel, F. Schelling, L. Feuerbach. They posed in a new way many philosophical and ideological problems that neither rationalism, nor empiricism, nor enlightenment were able to solve. These thinkers are brought together by common ideological and theoretical roots, continuity in the formulation and resolution of problems. By "classical" we mean highest level its representatives and the significance of the problems solved by this philosophy.

The formation of the classical form of philosophy is discussed in one of the textbooks, starting with Descartes, and this has its own logic. The authors of the textbook highlight the following directions in the classical philosophical tradition

Kant's work is divided into two periods: pre-critical (from 1746 to the 1770s) and critical (from the 1770s to his death). In the pre-critical period, Kant was mainly concerned with cosmological problems, i.e. questions of the origin and development of the Universe. In his work “General Natural History and Theory of the Heavens,” Kant substantiates the idea of ​​the self-formation of the Universe from the “primordial nebula.” Kant gave an explanation of the emergence of the solar system, based on Newton's laws. According to Kant, Cosmos (nature) is not an immutable, ahistorical formation, but is in constant motion and development. Kant's cosmological concept was further developed Laplace and went down in history under the name “Kant-Laplace hypothesis”.

The second, most important period Kant's activity is associated with the transition from ontological, cosmological issues to issues of epistemological and ethical order. This period is called “critical”, because it is associated with the publication of two of Kant’s most important works - “Critique of Pure Reason”, in which he criticized the cognitive capabilities of man and “Critique of Practical Reason”, in which the nature of human morality is analyzed. In these works, Kant formulated his main questions: “What can I know?”, “What should I do?” and “What can I hope for?” The answers to these questions reveal the essence of his philosophical system.

In "Critique of Pure Reason" Kant defines metaphysics as the science of the absolute, but within the boundaries human mind. Knowledge according to Kant is based on experience and sensory perception. Kant questioned the truth of all human knowledge about the world, believing that man tries to penetrate into the essence of things, cognizes it with distortions that come from his senses. He believed that the boundaries of human cognitive abilities should first be explored. Kant argued that all our knowledge about objects is not knowledge about their essence (to denote which the philosopher introduced the concept of “thing in itself”), but only knowledge of the phenomena of things, i.e. about how things reveal themselves to us. The “thing in itself,” according to the philosopher, turns out to be elusive and unknowable. In historical and philosophical literature, Kant’s epistemological position is often called agnosticism.

Kant's theory of knowledge is based on the recognition of the existence of pre-experimental knowledge or a priori knowledge, which is congenital. The first pre-experimental forms of consciousness are space and time. Everything that a person knows, he knows in the forms of space and time, but they are not inherent in the “things in themselves”. From the senses the process of cognition passes to reason, and from it to reason. Reason that goes beyond its boundaries, i.e. the boundaries of experience are already the mind. The role of reason, according to Kant, is higher than other human cognitive abilities. The ability for supersensible knowledge, he called transcendental apperception. This meant that a person was already given the ability to navigate in space and time at birth. And even animals have innate instincts(for example, little ducklings go to the water and start swimming without any training). Thanks to transcendental apperception in human consciousness, a gradual accumulation of knowledge is possible, a transition from innate ideas to ideas of rational knowledge.

For Kant, human behavior should be based on three maxima:

1. Act according to rules that can become universal law.

2. In your actions, proceed from the fact that a person is of the highest value.

3. All actions must be done for the benefit of society.

Kant's ethical teaching has enormous theoretical and practical significance; it orients man and society towards values moral standards and the inadmissibility of neglecting them for the sake of selfish interests.

Thus, all morality in society should be based on observance of a sense of duty: a person must, in relation to other people, show himself as a reasonable, responsible being who strictly observes moral rules.

I. Kant also suggested, based on the categorical imperative, change the lives of people in society, create a new “ethical social system.”

He believed that people live in two dimensions:

1) among regulation and establishment in the state;

2) in the process of one’s life in society, in the world of morality.

I. Kant did not consider the world officially regulated by the state and the church to be a truly human world, since such a world, in his opinion, is based on superstitions, deceptions and remnants of animal drives in humans.

Only a society in which people's behavior will be regulated by voluntary compliance with moral laws, and above all the categorical imperative, can give true freedom to man. Kant, having formulated the moral law - the moral imperative “act so that your behavior can become a universal rule,” also put forward the idea of ​​“eternal peace” based on economic disadvantage and the legal prohibition of war.

Kant's ideas were continued and developed by the philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte(1762-1814). His concept was called “Scientific Teaching”. He believed that philosophy is a fundamental science that helps to develop a unified method of cognition. The main thing in philosophical knowledge is intellectual intuition. In the process of cognition, the subject interacts with the object, his consciousness acts as an active and creative principle.

The process of knowledge, according to Fichte, goes through three stages:

1) “I” asserts itself, creates itself;

2) “I” opposes itself to “Not-I”, or object;

1) “I” and “Not-I,” limiting each other, form a synthesis.

To the natural question: “Does an object exist without a subject or not?” - Fichte's philosophy answers that without a subject there is no object. That is, only the active “I”, or the will of the subject, through interaction with an object, is capable of changing the world and establishing itself in it.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

1) the law of transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones;

2) the law of unity and struggle of opposites;

3) the law of negation of negation.

In the sphere of social and philosophical concepts, Hegel expressed a number of valuable ideas: about the meaning of history, about the understanding of historical patterns, about the role of the individual in history. Hegel had the greatest influence on the fields of philosophy of state and philosophy of history. He views the general history of the world as a process of self-consciousness of the world spirit and at the same time as “progress in the consciousness of freedom.” Freedom consists in the fact that a person recognizes his identity with the absolute and identifies himself with the formation of the objective spirit (the state and law).

Hegel's followers, who adopted his dialectical method, began to be called Young Hegelians. They wanted changes in the political system, they wanted government reforms. Supporters of the preservation of old forms of life - Old Hegelians - they justified the reality of the feudal-class state by reason. In the 30s and 40s of the 19th century in Germany, as in other European countries, there was a theoretical struggle between these two branches of post-Hegelian philosophy. It reflected both the power of Hegel’s ideas on society and the social need for the implementation of progressive ideals.

In the initial period of his philosophical activity he belonged to the school of Young Hegelians Ludwig Feuerbach(1803-1872).

L. Feuerbach among German philosophers he is a representative of the materialist movement. Having criticized idealism, he put forward a holistic and consistent materialist picture of the world. He considers matter as a natural objective principle of the world, deeply analyzes such properties of matter as movement, space and time. He developed a theory of knowledge, in which he acts as a sensualist, highly appreciating the role of feelings in knowledge. He believed that a person understands the world through his sensations, which he considered as a manifestation of nature. Feyrbach substantiated with a high assessment the role of feelings in cognition. Feuerbach substantiated the objective value of man in the world system, criticizing religious ideas about man as the creation of God; developed the basic principles of humanism, based on the idea that man is a perfect part of nature.

Feuerbach is the ancestor anthropological materialism, but at the same time, he remained an idealist in his understanding of society. He argued that historical eras differ in changes in religious consciousness. Christianity proclaims love as the main creative spiritual force that changes morality and the attitude of man to man. According to Feuerbach, love for God also expresses love for man, since God is the alienated essence of man. Through religion, a person expresses his feeling of love, striving for immortality. This spiritual aspiration expresses both the ancestral essence of man and his ideal essence coming from the ancestral essence. Moral regeneration of people for Feuerbach becomes the mover social development. His philosophy completed the classical stage of German philosophy and laid the foundations of German materialism.

Self-test questions

(first level of material reproduction)

1. Name the historical framework and main features of German classical philosophy.

2. What are the features of Kant’s philosophy of the pre-critical and critical periods?

3. What is the essence of the basic laws of dialectics formulated by Hegel?

The philosophy of the Enlightenment was able to find practical implementation in the ideals and slogans of the Great French Revolution, which took place between 1789 and 1794. German philosophy of that period went down in history as classical. The problems of German classical philosophy, summarized below, were not satisfied by the teachings of their predecessors. Therefore, the developments of German philosophers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries became a fundamentally new milestone in the Enlightenment. The topic of this article was brief description German classical philosophy. Let's get acquainted with it by considering the work of the main philosophers of that time. So, German classical philosophy in brief: read the most important things below.

Kant

Immanuel Kant became the first philosopher on whose worldview the classical German philosophy. By briefly examining its postulates, we can get an idea of ​​the beginning of this historical period.

Kant's work is divided into the following periods: pre-critical and critical. The most significant work of the pre-critical period was the treatise “General Natural History and Theory of the Heavens,” which was published in 1775. It was Kant who came up with the idea that would later be formalized in the form of the “collective” Kant-Laplace theory. This is the idea of ​​the origin of the Universe from a gas nebula under the influence of dynamic forces. Together with her, Kant developed the idea of ​​a holistic structure of the universe and the presence in it of laws that determine the interconnection of celestial bodies. Thanks to this assumption, the philosopher predicted the presence of undiscovered planets in solar system. At a time when mechanism dominated, Immanuel Kant was one of the first to formulate an evolutionary picture of the world.

The precritical period became a kind of foundation for the critical period. Already in those years, Kant formulated immortal postulates that would become part of the classics of world philosophy and would be recognized by him as part of the “Copernican Revolution.”

"Critique of Pure Reason"

Kant illustrated that when a person begins to reason about the universal, beyond the scope of his experience, he inevitably encounters contradictions. The antinomy of reason lies in the fact that opposing statements can be either provable or unprovable with equal success. On this in initial form was based on German classical philosophy. Kant briefly outlined the most important things in the form of theses and antitheses in his treatise “Critique of Pure Reason.”

The philosopher resolves the antinomies of reason by searching for the difference between the world of phenomena and the world of things in themselves. Each object, in his opinion, must be considered from two sides: as an element of the world of phenomena or cause-and-effect relationships and as an element of things in themselves or the world of freedom.

“The thing in itself,” or the absolute, is what Kant calls the spontaneous force that acts in man, but is not a direct object of knowledge. Man cognizes phenomena, not things in themselves. It was for this judgment that the philosopher was accused of agnosticism - denial of the knowability of the world.

"What can I know?"

In the work “Critique of Pure Reason” the philosopher asked the question “What can I know?” and tried to substantiate the conditions and possibilities of knowledge using the means of reason. Before you know something, you need to decide on the conditions of knowledge. The philosopher calls conditions a priori forms of knowledge, that is, those that do not depend on experience. “Understandability” of the world is achieved by the correspondence of mental structures to the connections of the world.

Knowledge is a synthesis of reason and sensuality. Sensuality is the ability of the human soul to contemplate objects. And reason is the ability to comprehend this contemplation. The understanding is unable to contemplate, while the senses are unable to think. Knowledge is never chaotic. It is always built on the basis of a priori manifestations of sensuality and reason.

Thus, while learning about the world, a person collects it from the chaos of impressions, which he brings under general concepts. Kant's theory of knowledge studies separately feelings, reason and reason. The study of the boundaries of knowledge did not run counter to science, but only denied its limitless possibilities and ability to explain any phenomenon. To “make room for faith,” Kant had to “limit knowledge.” The critical view illustrated the limitations of scientifically reliable knowledge.

"Critique of Practical Reason"

This treatise answered the philosopher’s second question: “What should I do?” Kant begins to draw a line between the theoretical and practical manifestations of reason. Theoretical (pure) reason is aimed at “defining” the subject of thought, and practical reason is aimed at its “implementation”. Morality, according to Kant, is the sphere of activity of practical reason.

In the history of mankind, one can observe a wide variety of behavioral norms, which may be completely different from each other. Moreover, the same act can be the norm in one society, and a gross violation of morality in another. Therefore, Kant decided to justify morality using philosophical means.

Morality is not part of the world of phenomena; it has a character independent of knowledge and development, and also makes a person human. Morality, from the point of view of a philosopher, is the only justification for a reasonable world order. The world is reasonable as long as moral evidence operates in it, which, for example, is endowed with conscience. It leads to certain decisions that do not require explanation. Practical reason, unlike theoretical reason, is directed towards what should be.

According to Kant, there are differences between socially approved norms and moral norms. The first are historical in nature and rarely ensure compliance with morality. Kant’s teaching was aimed at identifying the historical and timeless spectra of morality, which he tried to address to all of humanity. This is how classical German philosophy was born. It is difficult to briefly review Kant’s teaching, because it was one of the most comprehensive among the developments of the German classics.

Kant became the first “classic” and set the vector of development for his followers. This is why you can often hear the phrase “German classical philosophy and Kant.” Having briefly examined the work of this philosopher, we move on to his follower - Johann Fichte.

Fichte

Many single out only three philosophers on whose shoulders lay the formation of such a concept as German classical philosophy: Kant, Hegel (will be briefly discussed below) and Feuerbach (became the last of the German classics). However, the merits of Fichte and Schelling were no less significant.

For Fichte, philosophy was, above all, practical. Supporting Kant's teaching in many aspects, he also found in it weaknesses. The main one is the insufficient justification for the synthesis between the theoretical and practical parts of philosophy. It was this synthesis that became main task Fichte on his philosophical path.

The philosopher’s first work was the treatise “The Purpose of Man,” which was published in 1800. The philosopher considered the principle of freedom to be the main principle that allows combining theory with practice. It is noteworthy that the scientist in his work concludes that human freedom is incompatible with the recognition of objective reality.

As a result, in his philosophy, Fichte abandons Kant’s “thing in itself” and interprets this concept from a subjective idealistic point of view.

Fichte clearly distinguishes between idealism and materialism based on the problems of being and thinking they solve. Materialism is the result of the primacy of being relative to thinking. At the same time, idealism comes from the derivativeness of being from thinking. Thus, materialism is inherent in people with a passive position, and idealism is the opposite.

Fichte's main merit is the doctrine of the dialectical (antithetical) way of thinking. Antithetical thinking is a process of cognition and creation, which is characterized by a triadic rhythm of negation, positing and synthesis.

Schelling

The philosophy of Friedrich Schelling is a kind of connecting link between Kant’s worldview, the developments of Fichte and the formation of Hegelian philosophy. Moreover, Schelling made a significant contribution to the formation of Hegel, with whom they many years were on friendly terms. Therefore, when considering such an issue as classical German philosophy, it is worth briefly mentioning Schelling’s work.

At the head of his philosophical reflections is the construction unified system knowledge based on knowledge of truth in various areas. This is reflected in his “natural philosophy,” which was the first generalization of scientific discoveries under the prism of a philosophical principle.

This system is based on the idea of ​​the “ideal essence of nature.” Schelling's natural philosophical system is permeated with dialectics as a connecting link in explaining world unity. The philosopher discovered such a concept as polarity. It was built on the idea that the essence of any activity can be characterized by the unity of opposing forces. As a result, the philosopher was able to interpret such complex processes as life, organism, etc. from the point of view of dialectics.

"The System of Transcendental Idealism"

Schelling's main work was published in 1800 and was called “The System of Transcendental Idealism.” Within the classical tradition, he distinguishes between practical and theoretical philosophy. The theoretical part substantiates the highest principle of knowledge. Moreover, the history of philosophy is a confrontation between the objective and the subjective. In this regard, Schelling distinguishes three philosophical eras:

1. From sensation to creative contemplation.
2. From creative contemplation to reflection.
3. From reflection to an absolute act of will.

The object of study of practical philosophy is the problem of human freedom. In the history of mankind, freedom is realized through the creation of a rule of law state. Living people act in history, which means that the combination of freedom and necessity acquires special meaning. When necessity begins to be cognized, it becomes freedom, Schelling believes. Considering questions about the nature of laws, the philosopher comes to such a concept as “blind necessity.”

Despite the fact that Schelling, like Fichte, is not always mentioned when talking about German classics, his contribution to philosophy was very significant. Along with more important philosophers, Schelling and Fichte outlined some of the features of German classical philosophy. Having briefly examined their achievements, we move on to more outstanding philosophers. The next classic after Schelling was Hegel. German classical philosophy will ultimately owe a lot to him.

Hegel

Briefly speaking about the achievements of Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, it is worth noting that, based on the principle of development, he gave a very impressive model of being. It was he who constructed dialectics as a system of relationships and categories from the point of view of an absolute idea. However, the description of the absolute idea was not for Hegel the end in itself of philosophical work. By studying the relationship between ideas and reality, the philosopher determines the problem of the transition from the ideal to the real or from the absolute idea to nature. According to the philosopher, the absolute idea must go beyond itself and enter other spheres, one of which is nature.

Thus, an idealistic idea is formed that nature is explained by the idea underlying it. Analysis of problems from the point of view of dialectics is one of the most effective forms thoughts about the world. It allows us to consider the world as an integral system operating according to certain laws.

Dialectics, from the point of view of the Hegelian worldview, is a special model of philosophical approach. In this case, it means a theory of development, which is based on the formation and resolution of contradictions. According to Hegel, contradiction is the root of all movement.

Any phenomenon or object represents a unity of parties that come into conflict over time. Development, thus, is carried out through the negation of qualities with the preservation of some of their properties, generating new, more attractive qualities.

The dependencies that Hegel defined characterize the process from different sides. The categories that reflect these dependencies serve as a kind of conceptual framework that allows us to describe the world without absolutizing any phenomena or processes. Ultimately, Hegel creates a unique philosophical system of spiritual human culture, considering its stages as the formation of the spirit. This is a kind of ladder along which humanity and each of its individual representatives walk. At its peak, the complete triumph of thinking and being is achieved, followed by logic, i.e. pure thinking.

Hegel also did huge contribution V social philosophy. He teaches about civil society, private property and human rights. In his works, the philosopher showed the universal significance of labor and the dialectics of man in society. Hegel also paid a lot of attention to the nature of value, prices, money and commodity fetishism. This is how versatile German classical philosophy was. Hegel briefly but very succinctly touched upon various aspects of human existence in his works.

Feuerbach

Despite the fact that German philosophy was most fully reflected in idealistic systems, the strongest materialist concept of Feuerbach arose in its depths.

Ludwig Feuerbach bases his philosophy on the opposition of philosophy and religion. In a materialistic spirit, he tries to rethink the essence of Christianity. He interprets the Christian God as an image reflecting the human essence in the minds of people, and not as a certain being or divine essence.

According to Feuerbach, the source of religion lies in man's fear and helplessness before nature, which gives rise to the creation of fantastic images. Due to the fact that God in people’s minds turns into a creator on whom their lives depend, religion paralyzes a person’s desire for the best. She replaces it with a submissive expectation of supernatural retribution.

Criticizing religion, the philosopher comes to criticize the idealistic worldview in all its manifestations. Thus, with his help, German classical philosophy takes on a new look. Feuerbach, to put it briefly, in his work proceeds from the fact that thinking is secondary in relation to being. In his system, the question of being has practical significance for humans. Philosophy must comprehend vitally important existence, and not contradict actual existence. Feuerbach also realizes his philosophical opposition to Hegel in his theory of knowledge, in which he replaces thinking with sensibility.

There have always been two points of view regarding the transformation of social life. Adherents of the first of them argued that the moral growth of each individual and the correction of our essence are necessary. The opposite side proposed radical changes in living conditions, considering them to be the cause of all misfortunes. Feuerbach was more inclined to the second point of view. The end of classical German philosophy, briefly discussed above, was the beginning of Marxism, which emerged in the mid-19th century. It is based on some of Feuerbach's ideas.

Historical significance

A general description of German classical philosophy, briefly presented by the work of its five luminaries, showed that this historical period changed the style of thinking not only in European, but also in world culture. The philosophical acquisitions of that time turned out to be very significant.

The features of German classical philosophy, briefly outlined above, clearly illustrate the breadth and universality of thinking, which became the main novelty of this period. Ideas about development through the resolution of contradictions, the cognitive activity of the subject, as well as the comprehensive nature of spirit and consciousness, caused a great resonance in society. Philosophical concepts and categories were developed by German classics at the highest level.

The features of German classical philosophy can be briefly expressed by the phrase “historical thinking,” which became the main merit of the five German classics.

Conclusion

Today the subject of our conversation was classical German philosophy. Having briefly examined the achievements of its main representatives, we can draw a conclusion about the uniqueness and importance of this historical period. Of course, it has become one of the foundations of the worldview modern man. In many sources, only three names are associated with German classical philosophy: Kant, Hegel, Feuerbach. Briefly reviewing this period, it is worth noting that Fichte and Schelling also played an important role in it.

Introduction

German classical philosophy spans more than a century. It is associated with the names of the great philosophers I. Kant (1724-1804), I.G. Fichte (1762-1814), F.W. Schelling (1775-1854), G.V. Hegel (1770-1831), L. Feuerbach (1804-1872).

Despite the fact that each of these thinkers is surprisingly unique, we can speak of German classical philosophy as a single, holistic entity, since it is distinguished by its commitment to a number of general principles.

Firstly, philosophers classified as German classical philosophy are united by a similar understanding of the role of philosophy in the history of mankind and culture. They believed that philosophy is called upon to critically comprehend the history of mankind.

Secondly, in the philosophical systems of German thinkers, a holistic, dialectical concept of development was developed, which makes it possible to study all spheres of human life.

Thirdly, German classical philosophy is characterized by a scientific-theoretical approach to the study of history, a rejection of its intuitive comprehension. Philosophers tried to highlight the patterns of historical development, which they understood as the principles of historical “reasonableness.”

All these principles developed on an idealistic basis.

Brief description of German classical philosophy

philosophy dialectics kant hegel

Classical German philosophy occupies a period of time from the middle of the 18th century. until the 70s of the nineteenth century. It is represented by five outstanding minds of mankind: I. Kant (1724-1804), I. Fichte (1762-1814), F. Schelling (1775-1854), G. Hegel (1770-1831), L. Feuerbach (1804-1872 ). The first two are most often classified as subjective idealists, the next two as objective idealists, and the last as materialists. Thus, German classical philosophy embraces all the main philosophical directions.

Classical German philosophy arose and developed in the general mainstream of Western European philosophy of the New Age. She discussed the same problems that were raised in the philosophical theories of F. Bacon, R. Descartes, D. Locke, J. Berkeley, D. Hume and others, and tried to overcome the shortcomings and one-sidedness of empiricism and rationalism, materialism and idealism, skepticism and logical optimism, etc. German philosophers strengthened the claims of reason for the possibility of knowing not only nature (I. Kant) and the human “I” (I. Fichte), but also the development of human history (G. Hegel). Hegel’s formula “What is rational is real; and what is real is rational” was precisely intended to show that the reality of reason can be comprehended by philosophy. Consequently, according to Hegel, philosophy is time comprehended in thought. Bacon also has a similar statement: “... it is correct to call truth the daughter of time, and not of authority” (16. Vol. 2. P. 46).

Classical German philosophy is a national philosophy. It reflects the features of the existence and development of Germany in the second half of the 18th century. and the first half of the 19th century: its economic backwardness in comparison with the developed countries of that time (Holland, England) and political fragmentation. The unsightly German reality gave rise to German dreaming, which was expressed in the rise of the German spirit, in the creation of philosophical theories and great literary works(I. Schiller, I. Goethe, etc.). Something similar happened in the middle of the 19th century. Russia, whose literature (L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, I.S. Turgenev, N.A. Nekrasov, etc.) rose above the Russian reality bound by the chains of feudalism. One can probably say that the rotten swamp of life gives rise to a spiritual thirst to crawl out of it and create, at least in dreams, a new social reality in a dry and beautiful place.

German philosophers are patriots of their fatherland, even if it does not correspond to their ideals. At the height of the war with France, when Napoleon’s troops were stationed in Berlin (1808), Fichte, aware of the danger threatening him, delivered his “Speeches to the German Nation,” in which he sought to awaken the self-awareness of the German people against the occupiers. During the war of liberation against Napoleon, Fichte, along with his wife, devoted himself to caring for the wounded. Hegel, seeing all the ugliness of German reality, nevertheless declares that the Prussian state is built on reasonable principles. Justifying the Prussian monarchy, Hegel writes that the state in itself and for itself is a moral whole, the realization of freedom.

Classical German philosophy is contradictory, just as German reality itself is contradictory. Kant maneuvers between materialism and idealism; Fichte moves from the position of subjective to the position of objective idealism; Hegel, justifying German reality, writes with admiration about the French Revolution as the rising of the sun.

So, German classical philosophy covers relatively short period. Nevertheless, for a number of reasons it represents the pinnacle of philosophical development that could be achieved at that time, and thereby the pinnacle of pre-Marxist philosophy in general. Let's list at least some of its positive aspects. Kant's philosophy completes poetic (noema, noesis. - Trans.) philosophy. In Kant's philosophy, a theoretical reflection of the reflection of human freedom and equality in the period before the French Revolution found its expression. In German classical philosophy we find the beginnings of the “philosophy of the active side” in Fichte, the foundations of natural speculation in Schelling, his concept of the “dynamic process” in nature, close to materialist dialectics, Hegel’s dialectical concept, close to reality and at the same time thanks to its idealism is far from it. Beginning with Herder, German philosophy introduced historicism into the study of society and thereby rejected the ahistorical and mechanistic concepts of the previous era.

Post-Kantian philosophy introduces a serious critique of agnosticism and the entire previous poetic position. In Hegel's philosophy, the laws of not only objective but also subjective dialectics are developed.

The flip side of these positive results is the worldview statement of most philosophers in idealism. This tendency is associated with a number of circumstances that lie in the concept of idealism, where strict scientific explanation when formulating new discoveries, ideas, theories. The materialist position places great demands on the accuracy of presentation and the rigor of formulation, which presupposes a certain time period. The idealism of German classical philosophy is associated with pushing a concept to absurd results in defiance of experience or empirical evidence. The economic and political weakness of the German bourgeoisie played a role in this, which led to the fact that Germany experienced its existence more in theory than in practice.

The next point that explains the predominance of the idealistic position in German classical philosophy is associated with the development of philosophy after Descartes. In contrast to the ontological position of ancient and medieval philosophy as insufficiently substantiated, Descartes emphasized the idea that the most essential point from which philosophy must begin is the certainty of the knowing Self itself. Within this tradition, a number of modern philosophers place greater emphasis on the subject, than on an object, and the question of the nature of knowledge is given preference over the question of the nature of being. Kant's philosophy also reveals a similar privileged position of the subject. Although in the subsequent speculative phase of the development of philosophy (Schelling, Hegel) there is a transition to an ontological position, the former poetic priority of the subject is projected onto the concept of the foundations of all reality.

Less known is that characteristic feature This idealism was pantheism (it was characteristic of Fichte, Schelling of the classical period and Hegel). Kant gave impetus to development with his criticism of metaphysical ideas (God, soul, the idea of ​​world integrity). Another reason for this orientation is the so-called Spinoza debate, caused by the book of F.-G. Jacobi (1743-1819) “On the Teachings of Spinoza,” published in 1785. The discussion aimed at rehabilitating Spinoza’s philosophy is one of the milestones of progressive spiritual development in Germany at that time. Herder participated in the Spinoza debate with his treatise "God" (1787), in which he tried to modernize Spinozism (replacing "prevalence" with "organic forces", the model of which is a living being rather than a physical object). In contrast to Jacobi's atheistic interpretation of Spinoza, Herder defends a pantheistic concept of God with some personal traits (wisdom, providence). Spinoza's discussion shows that post-Kantian philosophy also included those philosophical trends in Germany that developed independently of Kant.

Socially, German philosophy is evidence of the ideological awakening of the “third estate” of Germany. The economic immaturity and political weakness of the German bourgeoisie, the territorial fragmentation of Germany left their mark on it. At the same time, German philosophy used the results of the development of philosophical thought in Italy, France, England and Holland. This point is very positive.

The significance of German classical philosophy was partly devalued by the idealistic form, which later became fatal for it. At the same time, it contributed - despite its non-specific, mystifying nature, which excluded a strict causal analysis of the phenomena under study - to the fact that the reflection of new scientific knowledge and the impact of social development occurred so timely that, as they say, it instantly responded to new incentives.

The main representatives of German classical philosophy: I. Kant, I. Fichte, G. Hegel, F. Schelling, L. Feuerbach.

Their philosophy received its name, firstly, due to its national identity, and secondly, for the classical understanding of philosophy, going back to the ideas about the philosophy of its creators Plato and Aristotle. All those united by this school sought to build complete philosophical systems that included all parts: ontology, epistemology, the doctrine of man and society. They believed that the completeness of a system is a sign of its perfection. Some began with criticism of previous views on consciousness as a cognitive activity, others directly with ontology - the doctrine of being. What was common to all was the understanding of the fundamental role categories– most general concepts– in the construction of a philosophical worldview. Categories allow you to link knowledge in various areas into a common system.

German classical philosophy begins with research I. Kant(1724-1804). In the work of this philosopher and scientist, two periods are distinguished: “pre-critical” (before 1770) and “critical”. Kant always treated the process of cognition critically, otherwise he would not have been an outstanding scientist. (Get acquainted with the scientific discoveries of I. Kant.) But until the second half of the 1770s, his criticism was of a traditional nature - to doubt until there is sufficient evidence of truth.

Subsequently, the venerable scientist came to the conclusion: before thinking about whether or not I can cognize some phenomenon, I need to examine my ability to cognize. Is it unlimited, or are there limits to knowledge that a person cannot go beyond? Pushed Kant to take such an unusual step for the Enlightenment scientific activity and the concepts of some predecessors - philosophers, in particular D. Hume.

The “trial” of the cognitive ability of consciousness found expression in Kant’s classical works: “Critique of Pure Reason”, “Critique of Practical Reason”, “Critique of the Power of Judgment”. Kant's verdict is categorical: knowledge has limits. Reliable knowledge of entities is impossible.

In ontology, I. Kant takes a materialist position. He recognizes the existence of things outside consciousness. But it was precisely this recognition that became the starting point for determining the boundaries of knowledge of the objective world. Kant distinguished between “things in themselves,” i.e. forms of their existence in themselves, independently of us, and “things for us.” The first ones are truly unknown to us. Knowledge is limited to knowledge of “things for us”, i.e. what is given in our feelings. The world of “things in themselves” - entities - is outside the range of human cognitive ability, it is on the other side - transcendental.

Immanuel Kant's teaching on morality is widely known. It shows the German philosopher as a convinced humanist. First of all, pay attention to the content of the reference moral principle I. Kant - “categorical imperative”. Also clarify how I. Kant interpreted the connection between morality and religion.

I. Fichte(1762-1814) – an idealist who evolved from subjective idealism (before 1800) to objective. At first he absolutized the subject - “I”, introducing the formula of being - “I am not I”, in which “not I” was defined as “I”. I finished with an interpretation of the identity of existence with God.

Fichte's teachings can be positively assessed by his idea that contemplation and theoretical understanding are preceded by a person's practical and active attitude to the objective world. The idea of ​​an active subject was not just new, but timely for the establishment of bourgeois society. Reality, according to Fichte, is a product of the activity of the subject.

Fichte's idealism is often called ethical.

G. Hegel(1770-1831) - idealist, created the most perfect system of objective-idealistic philosophy thanks to the development of the dialectical method. Dialectical ideas were expressed before Hegel. Hegel's merit lies in the fact that he gave dialectics a systematic character. Hegel formulated the principles of dialectical thinking, laws and basic concepts. From fragments, dialectical guesses, Hegel's dialectics was built into a holistic method. True, the idealist philosopher could not extend dialectics to nature, limiting it to the sphere of spirit, knowledge, therefore Hegelian dialectics remained local.

In ontology, Hegel proposed a closed system of development of being. The initial state of being is an objective Idea, an objective Spirit, which is in a state of necessity for development. yourself on initial stage The spirit is not aware. Nature is the otherness of the Spirit, its opposite. Human consciousness becomes a means of self-knowledge of the Spirit. Developing, the Spirit recognizes itself, it turns into the Absolute Idea, or the Absolute Spirit. The following is important here: Hegel understands movement as self-motion (the source, the force are inside the phenomenon); the reason for movement is in contradiction (unity of opposites); the movement is carried out progressively; development is a natural process. Any development presupposes the presence of 3 universal constituents - causes; directions; content and design. Accordingly, Hegel discovered to them three basic dialectical laws:

· The law of the unity of opposites;

· The law of mutual transition of quantitative and qualitative changes;

· The law of negation of negation.

These laws will be discussed in more detail in the chapter “Dialectics”.

Hegel first presented human history as an objective progressive development determined by the logic of the World Spirit. People do not create history, they realize the creative nature of the Spirit. History is incompatible with arbitrariness and extremism; in all manifestations they are ahistorical and impede development. At the same time, Hegel realized that in real story there is plenty of unreasonable stuff. Hence his remarkable explanation: there are two types of reality. There is a necessary reality, it is reasonable, but in parallel there is a reality that has lost its former necessity, such a reality is not reasonable. Hegel called rational (necessary) reality reality, arguing that “everything rational is real, and what is real is rational.”

F. Schelling (1775-1854)- representative of transcendental idealism. In contrast to Fichte and even Hegel, he paid considerable attention to natural philosophical problems. He considered natural philosophy as “an organic part of transcendental idealism.”

L. Feuerbach(1804-1872) - according to F. Engels, the last representative of German classical philosophy. It is symptomatic that its history began with the materialist I. Kant and ended with the materialism of L. Feuerbach. Feuerbach defined his materialism as “anthropological,” emphasizing the special place of man for philosophy. Religion is theocentric, but philosophy must be anthropocentric. Feuerbach criticized Christianity, rejected it, but was not in principle against religion. According to the philosopher’s understanding, religion needs to be reoriented from love of God to love of man. He said: to know a person, you need to love him.

The philosophy of the Enlightenment reflected the social upsurge associated with the destruction of the feudal system and hopes for bourgeois revolutions and reforms. After the 17th and 18th centuries came the 19th – the time of the dominance of capitalism. It turned out that in real life contradictions remained, social tension moved to other areas of relations. Social dynamics changed and new challenges tested the human spirit. German classical philosophy made an attempt to understand the changed reality, following general course Enlightenment on the rationality of human activity. Humanism, strength of Spirit, morality; further movement forward formed the core of her interest.

Central problems of German classical philosophy:

· Stages of world development;

· Driving forces world development;

· Place and role in the development of the human world;

· Knowledge of the world;

· Improvement of man and human relations;

· Morality, its reality and ideals;

· Contradictions, their nature and methods of resolution.

Key ideas:

· Justification of movement as self-motion;

· Recognition and development various types movements: within the initial state; progression of changes, return to the original state; transformation into the opposite;

· Discovery of the basic laws of the development of thinking;

· Construction of dialectics as a method of cognition based on the recognition of the unity of opposites;

· Analysis of the contradictions in the development of bourgeois society;

· Development of the humanistic teachings of the Enlightenment;

· Development of the problem of creativity, new look on the activity of the subject as a way of his active being.

Self-test questions.

2. What is a priori and a posteriori knowledge? Is the knowledge that you receive at lectures in special disciplines a priori or a posteriori?

3. Fix in the glossary the key terms of German classical philosophy.

4. Define dialectics.

(1775-1854), Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach(1804-1872) and expressed the ideological views of the progressive bourgeoisie of the era of breaking down feudal relations. German classical philosophy is a kind of generalization of the experience of bourgeois revolutions.

Hence - compromise tendencies and the desire to limit the solution of many life problems to the area of ​​either spiritual - theoretical, or abstract - sensual. Each of the representatives of this stage created his own philosophical system, distinguished by a wealth of ideas and concepts. At the same time, German classical philosophy represents a single spiritual formation, which is characterized by general features. The sources of German classical philosophy, which it synthesized and surpassed, making this synthesis the basis for its world-building, were the philosophy of the New Age, the philosophy of the Enlightenment and romanticism.

The characteristic features of German classical philosophy are the following:

1. A peculiar understanding the role of philosophy in the history of mankind, in the development of world culture. Classical German philosophers believed that philosophy was called upon to be the critical conscience of culture, the “confronting consciousness” that “sneers at reality,” the “soul” of culture.

2.Not only were they studied human history, but also human essence. Kant views man as a moral being. Fichte emphasizes the activity, effectiveness of human consciousness and self-awareness, and examines the structure of human life according to the requirements of reason. Schelling sets the task of showing the relationship between the objective and the subjective. Hegel expands the boundaries of the activity of self-consciousness and individual consciousness: for him, the individual’s self-consciousness correlates not only with external objects, but also with other self-consciousnesses, from which various social forms arise.

He explores deeply various shapes public consciousness. Feuerbach creates a new form of materialism - anthropological materialism, at the center of which is reality existing person, which is a subject for oneself and an object for another person. For Feuerbach the only real things are nature and man as part of nature.

3. All representatives classical German philosophy treated philosophy as a special system of philosophical disciplines, categories, ideas. I. Kant, for example, identifies, first of all, epistemology and ethics as philosophical disciplines. Schelling - natural philosophy, ontology. Fichte, considering philosophy to be a “teaching of science,” saw in it such sections as ontological, epistemological, and socio-political.

Hegel created a broad system of philosophical knowledge, which included the philosophy of nature, logic, philosophy of history, history of philosophy, philosophy of law, moral philosophy, philosophy of religion, philosophy of the state, philosophy of the development of individual consciousness, etc. Feuerbach considered ontological, epistemological and ethical problems, and also philosophical problems of history and religion.

4. develops a holistic concept of dialectics. Kantian dialectics is the dialectics of the boundaries and possibilities of human knowledge: feelings, reason and human reason.

Fichte's dialectics comes down to the study of the creative activity of the Self, to the interaction of the Self and the non-Self as opposites, on the basis of the struggle of which human self-awareness develops. Schelling transfers the principles of dialectical development developed by Fichte to nature. His nature is a becoming, developing spirit. The great dialectician is Hegel, who presented a detailed, comprehensive theory of idealistic dialectics. He was the first to present the entire natural, historical and spiritual world in the form of a process, i.e. explored it in continuous movement, change, transformation and development, contradictions, quantitative-qualitative and qualitative-quantitative changes, interruptions of gradualness, the struggle of the new with the old, directed movement.

In logic, philosophy of nature, history of philosophy, aesthetics, etc. - in each of these areas Hegel sought to find a thread of development. All classical German philosophy breathes dialectics. Special mention must be made of Feuerbach. Until recently, in Soviet philosophy this F. Engels the assessment of Feuerbach's attitude to Hegel's dialectics was interpreted as Feuerbach's denial of any dialectics in general. However, this question should be divided into two parts: first, Feuerbach’s attitude not only to dialectics, but to Hegel’s philosophy in general; second, Feuerbach really, by criticizing the Hegelian system of objective idealism, “threw out the baby with the bathwater,” i.e. did not understand Hegel's dialectic, its cognitive significance and historical role.

However, Feuerbach himself does not avoid dialectics in his philosophical studies. He examines the connections of phenomena, their interactions and changes, the unity of opposites in the development of phenomena (spirit and body, human consciousness and material nature). He attempted to find the relationship between the individual and the social. Another thing is that anthropological materialism did not let him out of its “embraces,” although the dialectical approach when considering phenomena was not completely alien to it.

5. Classical German philosophy emphasized the role of philosophy in developing the problems of humanism and made attempts to comprehend human life. This understanding took place in different forms and in different ways, but the problem was posed by all representatives this direction philosophical thought.

Socially significant include: Kant’s study of the entire life activity of man as a subject of moral consciousness, his civil freedom, the ideal state of society and the real society with incessant antagonism between people, etc.; Fichte’s ideas about the primacy of the people over the state, consideration of the role of moral consciousness in human life, social world as a world of private property protected by the state; Hegel's doctrine of civil society, the rule of law, private property; Schelling's reliance on reason as a means of realizing a moral goal; Feuerbach's desire to create a religion of love and humanistic ethics. This is the unique unity of the humanistic aspirations of representatives of classical German philosophy.