History of Western philosophy
Pre-Socratic · Ancient Medieval · Renaissance 17th · 18th · 19th · 20th century Postmodern · Contemporary
See also Eastern philosophy (Babylonian · Indian · Iranian Chinese · Korean) Religious philosophy (Christian · Islamic · Jewish)
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In the 18th century the philosophies of The Enlightenment began to have a dramatic effect, the landmark works of philosophers such as Immanuel Kant and Jean-Jacques Rousseau influencing a new generation of thinkers. In the late 18th century a movement known as Romanticism sought to combine the formal rationality of the past, with a greater and more immediate emotional and organic sense of the world. Key ideas that sparked this change were evolution, as postulated by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Erasmus Darwin, and Charles Darwin and what might now be called emergent order, such as the free market of Adam Smith. Pressures for egalitarianism, and more rapid change culminated in a period of revolution and turbulence that would see philosophy change as well. Image File history File links Cropped version of [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For the book by Bertrand Russell, see History of Western Philosophy (Russell) Philosophy has a long history conventionally divided into three large eras: the Ancient, Medieval and Modern. ... The Pre-Socratic philosophers were active before Socrates or contemporaneously, but expounding knowledge developed earlier. ... This page lists some links to ancient philosophy, although for Western thinkers prior to Socrates, see Pre-Socratic philosophy. ... Philosophy seated between the seven liberal arts – Picture from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad von Landsberg (12th century) Medieval philosophy is the philosophy of Europe and the Middle East in the era now known as medieval or the Middle Ages, the period roughly extending from the fall of the Roman... Renaissance philosophy is the period of the history of philosophy in Europe that falls roughly during the between the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment. ... 17th-century Western philosophy is conventionally seen as being dominated by the coming of symbolic mathematics and rationalism to philosophy, many of the most noted philosophers were also mathematicians. ... The Age of Enlightenment (French: ; Italian: ; German: ; Spanish: ; Swedish: ; Polish: ; Portuguese: ) was an eighteenth-century movement in Western philosophy. ... The 20th century brought with it upheavals that produced a series of conflicting developments within philosophy over the basis of knowledge and the validity of various absolutes. ... Postmodern philosophy is an eclectic and elusive movement characterized by its criticism of Western philosophy. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Eastern philosophy refers very broadly to the various philosophies of Asia, including Indian philosophy, Chinese philosophy, Persian philosophy, Japanese philosophy, and Korean philosophy. ... The Babylonians were an ancient culture located in what is now Iraq. ... Philosophy of religion is the rational study of the meaning and justification ( or rebuttal) of fundamental religious claims, particularly about the nature and existence of God (or gods, or the divine). ... It is proposed that this article be deleted, because of the following concern: Filled with OR and completely unsourced. ... Islamic philosophy (الفلسفة الإسلامية) is a branch of Islamic studies, and is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between philosophy (reason) and the religious teachings of Islam (faith). ... Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... ... Kant redirects here. ... Rousseau redirects here. ... Romantics redirects here. ... This article is about evolution in biology. ... Goethe redirects here. ... This article is about Erasmus Darwin who lived 1731–1802; for his descendants with the same name see Erasmus Darwin (disambiguation). ... For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ... ... A free market is an idealized market, where all economic decisions and actions by individuals regarding transfer of money, goods, and services are voluntary, and are therefore devoid of coercion and theft (some definitions of coercion are inclusive of theft). Colloquially and loosely, a free market economy is an economy...

Brief historical outline

With the tumultuous years of 1789-1815, European culture was transformed by revolution, war and disruption. By ending many of the social and cultural props of the previous century, the stage was set for dramatic economic and political change. European philosophy participated in, and drove, many of these changes.

Influences from the late Enlightenment

The last third of the 18th century produced a host of ideas and works which would both systematize previous philosophy, and present a deep challenge to the basis of how philosophy had been systematized. Immanuel Kant is a name that most would mention as being among the most important of influences, as is Jean-Jacques Rousseau. While both of these philosophers were products of the 18th century and its assumptions, they pressed at the boundaries. In trying to explain the nature of the state and government, Rousseau would challenge the basis of government with his declaration that "Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains". Kant, while attempting to preserve axiomic skepticism, was forced to argue that we do not see true reality, nor do we speak of it. All we know of reality is appearances. Since all we can see of reality is appearances, Kant postulates the idea of an unknowable. Hegel's distinction between the unknowable and the circumstantially unknown can be seen as the beginnings of Hegel's rational system of the universe. A fairly simple refutation in that for Kant to conceive that there is an unknowable operating behind the appearances is to demonstrate some knowledge of it's existence. Quite simple, to know that it exists is to know it. Kant redirects here. ... Rousseau redirects here. ...

Philosophical schools and tendencies

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all 19th-century philosophy.

German idealism

Main article: German idealism

One of the first philosophers to attempt to grapple with Kant's philosophy was Johann Gottlieb Fichte, whose development of Kantian metaphysics became a source of inspiration for the Romantics. In Wissenschaftslehre, Fichte argues that the self posits itself and is a self-producing and changing process. German idealism was a philosophical movement in Germany in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. ... Johann Gottlieb Fichte (May 19, 1762 – January 27, 1814) was a German philosopher. ... Romantics redirects here. ...

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, a student of Fichte, continued to develop many of the same ideas and was also assimilated by the Romantics as something of an official philosopher for their movement. But it was another of Fichte's students, and former roommate of Schelling, who would rise to become the most prominent of the post-Kantian idealists: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (January 27, 1775 – August 20, 1854), later von Schelling, was a German philosopher. ... Hegel redirects here. ...

Arthur Schopenhauer, rejecting Hegel, called for a return to Kantian idealism. Arthur Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788 – September 21, 1860) was a German philosopher best known for his work The World as Will and Representation. ...

Utilitarianism

Main article: Utilitarianism

In early 19th century Britain, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill promoted the idea that actions are right as they maximize pleasure and minimize pain. (Bentham believed actions were right as they maximized an individual's pleasure, whereas Mill believed that one's actions were right or wrong depending on whether they maximized pleasure collectively.) This article discusses utilitarian ethical theory. ... Jeremy Bentham (IPA: ) (26 February [O.S. 15 February 15] 1748) – June 6, 1832) was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. ... John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 8 May 1873), British philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential liberal thinker of the 19th century. ...

Marxism

Main article: Marxism

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Engels redirects here. ...

Kierkegaard and Nietzsche

Main article: Kierkegaard and Nietzsche comparisons

Existentialism as a philosophical movement is properly a 20th-century movement, but its major antecedents, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche wrote long before the rise of existentialism. In the 1840s, academic philosophy in Europe, following Hegel, was almost completely divorced from the concerns of individual human life, in favour of pursuing abstract metaphysical systems. Kierkegaard sought to reintroduce to philosophy, in the spirit of Socrates: subjectivity, commitment, faith, and passion, all of which are a part of the human condition. Many philosophers believe that Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) knew little of the 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855). ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement that posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives, as opposed to deities or authorities creating it for them. ... It has been suggested that Contemporary philosophy be merged into this article or section. ... Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (IPA: , but usually Anglicized as ;  ) 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a prolific 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and philologist. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... This page is about the Classical Greek philosopher. ...

Like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche saw the moral values of 19th-century Europe disintegrating into nihilism (Kierkegaard called it the levelling process). Nietzsche attempted to undermine traditional moral values by exposing its foundations. To that end, he distinguished between master and slave moralities, and claimed that man must turn from the meekness and humility of Europe's slave-morality. This article is about the philosophical position. ... Master-Slave Morality is the theme of some of Friedrich Nietzsches works, in particular the first essay of On the Genealogy of Morals. ...

Both philosophers are precursors to existentialism, among other ideas, for their importance on the "great man" against the age. Kierkegaard wrote of 19th-century Europe, "Each age has its own characteristic depravity. Ours is perhaps not pleasure or indulgence or sensuality, but rather a dissolute pantheistic contempt for the individual man."^[1]

Positivism

Main article: Positivism

Auguste Comte, the self-professed founder of modern sociology, put forward the view that the rigorous ordering of confirmable observations alone ought to constitute the realm of human knowledge. He had hoped to order the sciences in increasing degrees of complexity from mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and a new discipline called "sociology", which is the study of the "dynamics and statics of society".^[2] Positivism is a philosophy that states that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge, and that such knowledge can only come from positive affirmation of theories through strict scientific method. ... Auguste Comte (full name: Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte; January 17, 1798 - September 5, 1857) was a French thinker who coined the term sociology. ... Sociology (from Latin: socius, companion; and the suffix -ology, the study of, from Greek λόγος, lógos, knowledge [1]) is the scientific or systematic study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture[2]. Areas studied in sociology can range from the analysis of brief contacts between anonymous...

Pragmatism (Pragmaticism)

Main article: Pragmatism

The American philosophers C.S. Peirce and William James developed the pragmatist philosophy in the late 19th century. Pragmatism is a philosophic school that originated in the late nineteenth century with Charles Sanders Peirce, who first stated the pragmatic maxim. ... Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse), (September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American polymath, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

British idealism

The twilight years of the 19th-century in Britain saw the rise of British idealism, a revival of interest in the works of Kant and Hegel. British idealism was a philosophical movement that was influential in Britain during the mid to late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. ...

References

Further reading

• Baird, Forrest E. Philosophic Classics: 19th Century Philosophy. ISBN 0130485500
• Gardiner, Patrick. {ed.} 19th-century Philosophy. ISBN 9780029112205
• Shand, John. Central Works of Philosophy. Vol. 3. The Nineteenth Century. ISBN 9780773530539

See also

• List of philosophers born in the nineteenth century

Philosophers born in the nineteenth century (and others important in the history of philosophy), listed alphabetically: See also: List of philosophers List of philosophers born in the centuries BC List of philosophers born in the first through tenth centuries List of philosophers born in the eleventh through fourteenth centuries List...

External links

• Fichte from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy