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Absolute idealism is an ontologically monistic philosophy attributed to G.W.F. Hegel. In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part Monism is the metaphysical and Theological view that all is one that all reality is subsumed under the most fundamental category of being or existence It is Hegel's account of how being is ultimately comprehensible as an all-inclusive whole. Disambiguation For the Wigwam album see Being (album, for spiritual or religious beingness, see Ego (spirituality Hegel asserted that in order for the thinking subject (human reason or consciousness) to be able to know its object (the world) at all, there must be in some sense an identity of thought and being. The self is a key construct in several schools of Psychology, broadly referring to the cognitive representation of one's identity For other uses of Object see Object. In Philosophy, an object is a thing an Entity, or a Being. In Philosophy, identity (also called sameness) is whatever makes an entity definable and recognizable in terms of possessing a set of qualities or characteristics Otherwise, the subject would never have access to the object and we would have no certainty about any of our knowledge of the world. To account for the differences between thought and being, however, as well as the richness and diversity of each, the unity of thought and being cannot be expressed as the abstract identity "A=A". Absolute idealism is the attempt to demonstrate this unity using a new "speculative" philosophical method, which requires new concepts and rules of logic. According to Hegel, the absolute ground of being is essentially a dynamic, historical process of necessity that unfolds by itself in the form of increasingly complex forms of being and of consciousness, ultimately giving rise to all the diversity in the world and in the concepts with which we think and make sense of the world. The term "concept" is traced back to 1554–60 ( l conceptum - something conceived but what is today termed "the classical theory of concepts" is the theory of Aristotle

Contents

Teachings

For Hegel, the interaction of opposites generates in dialectical fashion all concepts we use in order to understand the world. In classical Philosophy, dialectic (διαλεκτική is controversy the exchange of arguments and counter-arguments respectively advocating Propositions Moreover, this development occurs not only in the individual mind, but also through history. In the Phenomenology of Spirit, for example, Hegel presents a history of human consciousness as a journey through stages of explanations of the world. Each successive explanation created problems and oppositions within itself, leading to tensions which could only be overcome by adopting a view that could accommodate these oppositions in a higher unity. At the base of spirit lies a rational development. This means that the absolute itself is exactly that rational development. The assertion that "All reality is spirit" means that all of reality rationally orders itself and while doing so creates the oppositions we find in it. Even nature is not different from the spirit since it itself is ordered by the determinations given to us by spirit. Nature, in the broadest sense is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. Nature, as that which is not spirit is so determined by spirit, therefore it follows that nature is not absolutely other, but understood as other and therefore not essentially alien.

The aim of Hegel was to show that we do not relate to the world as if it is other from us, but that we continue to find ourselves back into that world. With the realisation that both my mind and the world are ordered according to the same rational principles, our access to the world has been made secure, a security which was lost after Kant proclaimed the 'Ding an sich' to be ultimately inaccessible.

The Absolute Idealist position should be distinguished from Berkeleyan Idealism (Berkeley), Transcendental Idealism (Kant), subjective idealism (Fichte), and Objective idealism (Schelling). George Berkeley (ˈbɑrkli (12 March 1685 14 January 1753 also known as Bishop Berkeley, was a Philosopher. Transcendental idealism is a doctrine founded by German philosopher Immanuel Kant in the eighteenth century. Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg Subjective idealism is a theory in the Philosophy of perception. Johann Gottlieb Fichte ( May 19, 1762 – January 27, 1814) was a German philosopher Objective idealism is an idealistic Metaphysics that postulates that there is in an important sense only one perceiver and that this perceiver is one with that Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling ( January 27, 1775 – August 20, 1854) later von Schelling, was a German Philosopher

German Idealism

Main article: German idealism


References


British idealism

British idealism does not refer to all idealist philosophers who happened to be British (e. German idealism was a philosophical movement in Germany in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries g. Berkeley), but rather to a philosophical movement that was influential in Britain from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The leading figures in the movement were T.H. Green (1836-1882), F.H. Bradley (1846-1924), and Bernard Bosanquet (1848-1923). For the actor Thomas Hill see Thomas Hill. Thomas Hill Green ( April 7, 1836 – March 26, 1882) Francis Herbert Bradley ( 30 January, 1846 &ndash 18 September, 1924) was a British idealist Philosopher. Bernard Bosanquet ( July 14, 1848, Rock Hall, Alnwick, Northumberland, &ndash February 8, 1923, London They were succeeded by the second generation of J. M. E. McTaggart, H. H. Joachim, J. H. Muirhead, and G. John McTaggart Ellis McTaggart ( September 3, 1866 – January 18, 1925) was an Idealist metaphysicist. This page is not about the American art critic of the same name Harold Henry Joachim ( May 28, 1868 - July 30, 1938 John Henry Muirhead ( April 28, 1855 - May 24, 1940) was a British Philosopher best known for having initiated the R. G. Mure. The doctrines of British idealism so provoked the young Cambridge philosophers G. E. Moore and Bertrand Russell that they gave birth to analytic philosophy. "GE Moore" redirects here For the cofounder of Intel see Gordon Moore. Bertrand Arthur William Russell 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970 was a British Philosopher, Historian Analytic philosophy (sometimes analytical philosophy) is a generic term for a style of Philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century

Though much more variegated than some commentaries would seem to suggest, British idealism was generally marked by several broad tendencies: a belief in an Absolute (a single all-encompassing reality that in some sense formed a coherent and all-inclusive system); the assignment of a high place to reason as both the faculty by which the Absolute's structure is grasped and as that structure itself; and a fundamental unwillingness to accept a dichotomy between thought and object, reality consisting of thought-and-object together in a strongly coherent unity. The Absolute is the concept of an absolute unconditional reality which transcends limited conditional everyday existence Reason involves the ability to think understand and draw Conclusions in an Abstract way as in Human thinking

British idealism largely developed from the German Idealist movement -- particularly such philosophers as Immanuel Kant and G.W.F. Hegel, who were characterised by Green, among others, as the salvation of British philosophy after the alleged demise of empiricism. German idealism was a philosophical movement in Germany in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg In Philosophy, empiricism is a theory of Knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from Experience. The movement was certainly a reaction against the thinking of John Locke, David Hume, John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick, and other empiricists and utilitarians. John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704 was an English Philosopher. David Hume (26 April 1711 25 August 1776 Scottish Philosopher, Economist, and Historian is an important figure in Western philosophy John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 &ndash 8 May 1873 British Philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential Henry Sidgwick ( May 31, 1838 – August 28, 1900) was an English Utilitarian Philosopher. Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall Utility, that is its contribution to happiness Some of those involved would have denied any specific influence, particularly in respect of Hegel. Nevertheless, James Hutchison Stirling's book The Secret of Hegel is believed to have won significant converts in Britain. James Hutchison Stirling ( January 22, 1820 &ndash March 19, 1909) Philosopher, born in Glasgow, and educated there and The Secret of Hegel Being the Hegelian System in Origin Principle Form and Matter is a Philosophy book by James Hutchison Stirling. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located

British idealism was influenced by Hegel at least in broad outline, and undeniably adopted some of Hegel's terminology and doctrines. Examples include not only the aforementioned Absolute, but also a doctrine of internal relations, a coherence theory of truth, and a concept of a concrete universal. The doctrine of internal relations is the philosophical doctrine that all relations are internal to their bearers in the sense that they are essential to them and the bearers would not There are two distinct types of coherentism. One refers to the Coherence theory of truth. Some commentators have also pointed to a sort of dialectical structure in e. g. some of the writings of Bradley. But none of the British idealists adopted Hegel's philosophy wholesale, and his most significant writings on logic seem to have found no purchase whatsoever in their thought (nor in British thought generally). Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference.

On its political side, the British idealists were largely concerned to refute what they regarded as a brittle and "atomistic" form of individualism, as espoused by e. g. Herbert Spencer. Herbert Spencer ( April 27, 1820 – December 8, 1903) was an English Philosopher; prominent classical liberal In their view, humans are fundamentally social beings in a manner and to a degree not adequately recognized by Spencer and his followers. The British Idealists did not, however, reify the State in the manner that Hegel apparently did; Green in particular spoke of the individual as the sole locus of value and contended that the State's existence was justified only insofar as it contributed to the realization of value in the lives of individual persons.

The hold of British idealism in the UK weakened when Bertrand Russell and G.E. Moore, who were educated in the British idealist tradition, turned against it. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Bertrand Arthur William Russell 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970 was a British Philosopher, Historian "GE Moore" redirects here For the cofounder of Intel see Gordon Moore. Moore in particular delivered what quickly came to be accepted as conclusive arguments against Idealism. At that point British philosophy in general revolted once more against metaphysics in general. Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science The later work of R.G. Collingwood was a relatively isolated exception. Robin George Collingwood ( February 22, 1889 – January 9, 1943) was a British philosopher and historian

British idealism's influence in the United States was somewhat limited. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The early thought of Josiah Royce had something of a neo-Hegelian cast, as did that of a handful of his less famous contemporaries. Josiah Royce ( November 20, 1855, Grass Valley California. &ndash September 14, 1916, Cambridge Massachusetts) was an The American rationalist Brand Blanshard was so strongly influenced by Bradley, Bosanquet, and Green (and other British philosophers) that he could almost be classified as a British philosopher himself. Percy Brand Blanshard ( August 27, 1892 &ndash November 19, 1987) was an American philosopher known primarily for his defense of Reason Even this limited influence, though, did not last out the twentieth century. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on

References

Neo-Hegelianism

Neo-Hegelianism is a school (or schools) of thought associated and inspired by the works of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a German idealist philosopher who was active around the year 1800. William Ritchie Sorley ( 4 November 1855 - 28 July 1935) was a British philosopher German idealism was a philosophical movement in Germany in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language

It refers mainly to the doctrines of an idealist school of philosophers that were prominent in Great Britain and in the United States between 1870 and 1920. The name is also sometimes applied to cover other philosophies of the period that were Hegelian in inspiration—for instance, those of Benedetto Croce and of Giovanni Gentile.

Hegelianism after Hegel

Although Hegel died in 1831, his philosophy lived on. In politics, there was a developing schism, even before his death, between right Hegelians and left Hegelians. The Right Hegelians, Old Hegelians, or the Hegelian Right, were the followers of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel who took his Young Hegelians, or Left Hegelians, were a group of Prussian intellectuals writing in the decade or so after the death of Georg Wilhelm Hegel in 1833 and responding

In the philosophy of religion, Hegel's influence soon became very powerful in the English-speaking world. Philosophy of religion is a branch of Philosophy that is concerned with the philosophical study of religion including arguments over the nature and existence of God religious The British school, called British idealism and partly Hegelian in inspiration, included Thomas Hill Green, William Wallace, F.H. Bradley and Edward Caird. Absolute idealism is an ontologically Monistic philosophy attributed to G For the actor Thomas Hill see Thomas Hill. Thomas Hill Green ( April 7, 1836 – March 26, 1882) William Wallace (May 11 1843 - February 18 1897 was a Scottish Philosopher. Francis Herbert Bradley ( 30 January, 1846 &ndash 18 September, 1924) was a British idealist Philosopher. Edward Caird ( March 23, 1835 – November 1, 1908) was a Philosopher and younger brother of the theologian John Caird. It was primarily directed towards political philosophy. Political philosophy is the study of questions about the City, Government, Politics, Liberty, Justice, Property, Rights

America saw the development of a school of Hegelian thought move toward pragmatism. Pragmatism generally considered to have originated in the late nineteenth century with Charles Peirce, who first stated the Pragmatic maxim.

German twentieth-century neo-Hegelians

In Germany there was a neo-Hegelianism (neohegelianismus) of the early twentieth century, partly developing out of the Neo-Kantians. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Neo-Kantianism means a revived or modified type of Philosophy along the lines of that laid down by Immanuel Kant in the Eighteenth century or (sometimes Richard Kroner wrote one of its leading works, a history of German idealism from a Hegelian point of view. Richard Kroner (1884 - 1974 was a German Neo-Hegelian philosopher, known for his Von Kant bis Hegel (1921/4 a classic history of German idealism German idealism was a philosophical movement in Germany in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries

Other notable neo-Hegelians

Criticisms

Exponents of analytic philosophy, which has been the dominant form of Anglo-American philosophy for most of the last century, have criticised Hegel's work as hopelessly obscure. Analytic philosophy (sometimes analytical philosophy) is a generic term for a style of Philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century Existentialists also criticise Hegel for ultimately choosing an essentialistic whole over the particularity of existence. Existentialism is a philosophical doctrine which posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives and that this essence follows from their existence Epistemologically, one of the main problems plaguing Hegel's system is how these thought determinations have bearing on reality as such. Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge A perennial problem of his metaphysics seems to be the question of how spirit externalises itself and how the concepts it generates can say anything true about nature. At the same time, they will have to, because otherwise Hegel's system concepts would say nothing about something that is not itself a concept and the system would come down to being only an intricate game involving vacuous concepts.

Schopenhauer

Schopenhauer noted that Hegel created his absolute idealism after Kant had discredited all proofs of God's existence. Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. The Absolute is a non-personal substitute for the concept of God. It is the one subject that perceives the universe as one object. The Universe is defined as everything that Physically Exists: the entirety of Space and Time, all forms of Matter, Energy Individuals share in parts of this perception. In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. Since the universe exists as an idea in the mind of the Absolute, it copies Spinoza's panentheism in which everything is in God or Nature. The Universe is defined as everything that Physically Exists: the entirety of Space and Time, all forms of Matter, Energy An idea is a form (such as a Thought) formed by Consciousness (including Mind) through the Process of ideation. MIND ( Moving In New Directions) (est 1975 is an alternative education high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza (ברוך שפינוזה Bento de Espinosa Benedictus de Spinoza ( November 24, 1632 – February 21, Panentheism (from Greek (pân "all" (en "in" and (Theós "God" "all-in-God" is a belief system Nature, in the broadest sense is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe.

Moore and Russell

Famously, G. E. Moore’s rebellion against absolutism found expression in his defense of common sense against the radically counter-intuitive conclusions of absolutism (e. g. time is unreal, change is unreal, separateness is unreal, imperfection is unreal, etc. ). G. E. Moore also pioneered the use of logical analysis against the absolutists, which Bertrand Russell promulgated and began the entire tradition of analytic philosophy with its use against the philosophies of his direct predecessors. In recounting his own mental development Russell reports, "For some years after throwing over [absolutism] I had an optimistic riot of opposite beliefs. I thought that whatever Hegel had denied must be true. " (Russell in Barrett and Adkins 1962, p. 477) Also:

G. E. Moore took the lead in the rebellion, and I followed, with a sense of emancipation. [Absolutism] argued that everything common sense believes in is mere appearance. We reverted to the opposite extreme, and thought that everything is real that common sense, uninfluenced by philosophy or theology, supposes real.

Bertrand Russell; as quoted in Klemke 2000, p. Bertrand Arthur William Russell 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970 was a British Philosopher, Historian 28


Pragmatism

Particularly the works of William James and F.C.S. Schiller, both founding members of pragmatism, made lifelong assaults on Absolute Idealism. For other people named William James see William James (disambiguation William James (January 11 1842 – August 26 1910 was a pioneering Ferdinand Canning Scott Schiller ( August 16 1864 - August 9 1937) was a German - British pragmatist James was particularly concerned with the monism that Absolute Idealism engenders, and the consequences this has for the problem of evil, free will, and moral action. Schiller rather attacked Absolute Idealism for being too disconnected with our practical lives, and that its proponents failed to realize thought are merely tools for action rather than for making discoveries about an abstract world that fails to have any impact on us.


Relation to religion

Some form of idealism related to absolute idealism has been a consistent favorite standpoint for earlier religious thinkers and philosophers. It is present in the thinking of many important Christian theologians such as Meister Eckhart. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Meister Eckhart OP (c 1260–c 1328 is the most common formula used to refer to Eckhart von Hochheim, a German theologian It is also the basis of Advaita Hinduism and several forms of Buddhism, including Zen, Madhyamika, Yogacara, and some interpretations of Pure Land. Advaita Vedanta ( IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit अद्वैत वेदान्त əd̪vait̪ə veːd̪ɑːnt̪ə is a sub-school of the Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan. Madhyamaka ( Sanskrit: मध्यमक Madhyamaka,, Pinyin: Zhōngguānzōng; also known as Śunyavada) is a Buddhist Yogācāra (Sanskrit "yoga practice" "one whose practice is yoga" Chinese Yüjiazong "Yoga School" 瑜珈宗 is an influential school of Eastern Philosophy Pure Land Buddhism ( Jìngtǔzōng; 浄土教 Jōdokyō; Korean: ko-Hang 정토종 jeongtojong; Vietnamese: 浄土宗 vi Classifying these directions under the common denominator 'absolute idealism', though, would be incorrect, because it would blur distinctions which are necessary for comprehending these traditions in their own right.

Relation to science

Absolute idealism or Hegelianism has influenced the Humanities to a great extent. In German they are called "Geisteswissenschaften" and in Dutch "Geesteswetenschappen", a direct influence of the Hegelian notion of spirit (Geist). In sociology for instance the position of important sociologist Ralph Dahrendorf is inspired by Hegel.

Lately American historian Francis Fukuyama was inspired by an alleged thesis of Hegel, namely the End of History, to write an immensely popular book. That Hegel proclaimed the end of history though is a myth popularised by the French Hegel interpreter Aleksandr Kojeve.

In many philosophic circles it is accepted that the philosophy of nature Hegel proposes is outdated, though it was state of the art when he proposed it. A full one third of Hegel's library consisted of hand books on natural science. Currently contributors like Houlgate argue that Hegel's philosophy of nature warrants closer attention and has been unjustifiably relegated to the dust bin of philosophy.

Influence

Absolute idealism has greatly altered the philosophical landscape. Paradoxically, (though, from a Hegelian point of view, maybe not paradoxically at all) this influence is mostly felt in the strong opposition it engendered. Both logical positivism and analytic philosophy grew out of a rebellion against Hegelianism prevalent in England during the 19th century. Logical positivism (later and more accurately called logical empiricism) is a school of philosophy that combines Empiricism, the idea that observational evidence is Analytic philosophy (sometimes analytical philosophy) is a generic term for a style of Philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century Continental phenomenology, existentialism and post-modernism also seek to 'free themselves from Hegel's thought'. Existentialism is a philosophical doctrine which posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives and that this essence follows from their existence Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism Martin Heidegger, one of the leading figures of Continental philosophy in the 20th century, sought to distance himself from Hegel's work. Martin Heidegger ( September 26, 1889 &ndash May 26, 1976) (ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈhaɪ̯dɛgɐ was an influential German philosopher Continental philosophy, in contemporary usage refers to a set of traditions of 19th and 20th century philosophy from mainland Europe One of Heidegger's philosophical themes was "overcoming metaphysics".

See also

Sources


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