A Brief History of Modern Philosophy. Harald Høffding

on>

       Harald Høffding

      A Brief History of Modern Philosophy

      Published by Good Press, 2021

       [email protected]

      EAN 4064066462567

Table of Contents

       Preface

       Introduction

       First Book: The Philosophy of the Renaissance

       Second Book: The Great Systems

       Third Book: English Empirical Philosophy

       Fourth Book:Philosophy of the Enlightenment in France and Germany

       Fifth Book: Immanuel Kant and the Critical Philosophy

       Sixth Book: The Philosophy of Romanticism

       Seventh Book: Positivism

       Eighth Book: New Theories of the Problem of Being upon a Realistic Basis

       Ninth Book: New Theories of the Problem of Knowledge and of Value

       Chronology of the Most Important Works

       Index

      Preface

       Table of Contents

      Professor Harold Høffding is already well known to the English-speaking world through the translations of his Psychology, Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Problems of Philosophy and his History of Modern Philosophy (2 vols.), all published by the Macmillan Company. The fact that his works are rapidly finding their way into English and other languages is the best evidence of the esteem in which his work is held and of his importance as a thinker. Born in 1843, professor of philosophy in Copenhagen since 1883, Doctor Høffding has worked over the whole field of philosophy with great thoroughness. The original (German) edition from which this translation is made appeared in 1905. It is therefore the fruit of his ripest scholarship. The book is clear, compact and comprehensive. The various schools are analyzed and critcized, and the thread of continuous development is constantly kept clearly in view. These features constitute the exceptional merit of the book as a text. The student is constantly aware that a familiar spirit is safely guiding him through the bewildering maze of philosophic problems and tentative solutions.

      As a psychologist Doctor Høffding is an empirical introspectionist. He is thoroughly modern in his antipathy towards metaphysical speculation. He discovers a native tendency in man, manifesting itself in the impulse towards well-being, the source or further meaning of which is beyond our knowledge, which furnishes the basis of ethics.

      Religion is the reaction of the human mind to the sense of value and represents the highest function of the human mind. As a critical empiricist he possesses a peculiar advantage in the interpretation of the trend of philosophic thought. We offer this book to the English student because of its merit, as an efficient guide to the understanding of modern philosophy.

      C. F. SANDERS.Gettysburg, Pa.July 20, 1912.

      Introduction

       Table of Contents

      ​

      BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY

      INTRODUCTION

      The subject matter of the history of philosophy consists of the efforts which individual thinkers have made to explain or perchance to solve the ultimate problems of knowledge and of being. Modern philosophy—i. e. the philosophy of the last three centuries—has been specially concerned with four great problems. These problems, moreover—as I have shown in my Philosophic Problems (Eng. Tr. 1905)—are intimately related to each other, and there likewise exists a most significant analogy between them, in that the antithesis of continuity and discontinuity is of fundamental importance in each of them, except that it manifests itself under different forms.

      1. The psychological problem originates from the inquiry concerning the essential attributes of psychic life. Is the soul a distinct substance, or does its essential nature consist of a peculiar activity? Is the soul composed of a variety of independent elements, or is it characterized by unity and totality? The discussion of these questions can be of value only as it is based upon a detailed investigation of psychical phenomena and functions. It will likewise appear that the solution of these questions has a very important bearing on the treatment and the solution of the remaining philosophic problems.

      Whilst psychological investigation finds its subject matter in the bare facts of psychic life, there are two ​further problems which are conditioned by the antithesis of fact and value as it appears in psychic life, the problem of knowledge, and the problem of evaluation.

      2. The problem of knowledge springs from the inquiry into the presuppositions of knowledge and the limits within which our thought processes are valid (thus including the sphere of psychological investigation). The primary origin of thought is spontaneous, a reaction produced by events which are not the result of thought. To what extent are we then justified in ascribing real meaning to the results of thought? Wherein does the truth of knowledge consist?

      3. Whilst the problem of knowledge has special reference to the intellect, the problem of evaluation grows out of the inquiry into the validity of judgments pertaining to human conduct and social institution—particularly those that rest on the processes of will and emotion. What constitutes the standard for such a judgment? Upon what foundation does the validity of the concepts of good and bad rest? And is it possible to apply these concepts with logical consistency? The scope of the problem becomes increasingly comprehensive the moment we test the validity of the judgment, not only as pertaining to human conduct and vital forms, but likewise to Being and the universe in general. We then pass from the problem of ethics to that of religion.

      4. Finally we may also inquire concerning the nature of Being, of which thinking, feeling and volitional being are but a single part. This gives rise to the problem of Being, i.e. the problem of cosmology or metaphysics. Is it possible to elaborate a general world theory according to scientific methods? And what would be the nature of such a theory? If we organize our experiences and ​infer the ultimate consequences of our knowledge, what principles will furnish an adequate explanation of the universe?

      The nature and method of the treatment of these problems will vary with the instruments of knowledge and the historical conditions