An Incomplete Education

by Judy Jones

  Personal Gossip: An ambitious hypocrite who kept his best work secret and published whatever would make him popular with his employers. Admired and was influenced by Spinoza, whom he denounced as soon as it seemed expedient.

  Current Standing: Considered by many to be one of the greatest logicians of all time. Although nearly all of his conclusions are either totally implausible or hopelessly obsolete, his methods for arriving at them are models of clearheadedness. DAVID HUME (1711-1776)

  Best-Known Works: A Treatise of Human Nature, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (a simplified version of the first book of the Treatise).

  Readability: Lucid, compact, direct; refreshing, though not, as Hume had hoped, riveting.

  Qualities of Mind: Rigorous, no-nonsense, consistent, honest.

  Catchphrases: The science of man. Also, Kant’s famous remark that reading Hume “awakened me from my dogmatic slumbers.”

  Influence: The Scottish skeptic who took Locke’s empirical arguments to their logical conclusion (which Locke had neglected to do) and wound up doubting our ability to know anything at all. That the sun will rise tomorrow morning, according to Hume, is not something we know, but something we believe, simply because it has risen every other morning. Effectively deflated metaphysical pretensions, made philosophers very nervous about their assumptions, and made it clear that the Age of Reason had arrived at a dead end.

  Personal Gossip: A cheerful, easygoing sort, despite his skepticism; one of the few men capable of maintaining a friendship with Rousseau (although Rousseau did turn on him in the end). Always wanted to be a famous writer.

  Current Standing: A watershed and a warning signal; has forced all subsequent philosophers to look before they leap. No self-respecting philosopher can wholly accept his conclusions (i.e., that we can’t know anything), but none has entirely succeeded in refuting his arguments, either. IMMANUEL KANT (1724-1804)

  Best-Known Works: Critique of Pure Reason, Critique of Practical Reason, Critique of Judgment.

  Readability: Confirms your worst fears. Kant wrote exclusively for his learned colleagues and succeeded in making even their eyes glaze over. Will Durant compared him to Jehovah, saying, “He speaks through clouds, but without the illumination of the lightning flash.”

  Qualities of Mind: Scholarly, complex, profound, moralistic, systematic, earnest.

  Catchphrases: The categorical imperative, transcendental logic, “thing-in-itself” (Ding-an-sich).

  Influence: Put Germany on the map as an intellectual power (and lent it the pedantic tone for which it soon became notorious); made sweeping revisions in nearly all branches of philosophy, thereby inspiring other philosophers to stop bickering among themselves and get serious about thinking again. Effected what he called a “second Copernican revolution”: The origin of the world as we know it, he insisted, is the human mind itself, which, far from being tabula rasa, has an inherent structure through which we filter all experience and which imposes its own order on the world of phenomena (though not on the real/ideal world of “things-in-themselves,” which is unknowable). Likewise, humans have an innate awareness of moral law, in the form of the categorical (i.e., unconditional) imperative (i.e., command), a sort of bottom-line ethical “ought.” In attempting to make the world safe for both God and science, Kant managed to restore some dignity to the idea of the human mind; also to destroy the credibility of traditional metaphysics (since we can’t “know” any external reality that isn’t colored by our own “knowing”), to make modern philosophy more subjective than objective (and to prefigure such radically man-centered movements as existentialism), and to widen the rift between philosophy and the physical sciences.

  Personal Gossip: The archetypal academic philosopher; a retiring, studious little man who didn’t travel, never married, and lived a life of such extreme regularity that, according to legend, the citizens of his hometown used to set their clocks by his daily walks.

  Current Standing: One of philosophy’s all-stars, with Plato, Aristotle, and, if the judges are in a generous mood, Hegel. Often called “the founder of modern philosophy,” which is not to say that anyone totally accepts—or ever accepted—his theories, but that every subsequent philosopher has teethed on them. Also, that his complex theories foreshadowed such hip twentieth-century systems as structuralism. GEORG FRIEDRICH WILHELM HEGEL

  (1770-1831)

  Best-Known Works: Phenomenology of Spirit, The Philosophy of Right, Lectures on the Philosophy of History (compiled and published posthumously).

  Readability: The nadir of German prose; pompous, pedantic, obscurantist; every statement is qualified, as is every qualifying statement, and Hegel doesn’t stop short of inventing his own words. Not only do you not have to read him, you should feel free to snigger when anyone suggests it.

  Qualities of Mind: Abstruse, academic, methodical, with mystical leanings.

  Catchphrases: The dialectic (thesis vs. antithesis leads to synthesis), Absolute Spirit.

  Influence: Took Kant’s mind-ordered world from the human level to the cosmic one, creating a totally awesome system into which all past, present, and future experience and thought fit together rationally in an encompassing dialectic that is constantly evolving toward supreme self-consciousness, or Absolute Spirit. At which point we’ll know everything and see God. Plenty of energy and ambition here, not to mention enormous clout: By the end of the nineteenth century, most academic philosophers of any stature were Hegelians, which is to say they embraced, theoretically, the notion of Change, accepted Strife as essential to Progress, saw things as Parts of a Whole and themselves as characters in the Unfolding of History, argued dialectically, and tended to think in capital letters. They probably would have continued to run amok with the notion of Absolute Spirit if Marx and Engels hadn’t come along and sold the world on Absolute Economics instead.

  Personal Gossip: None, really, except that for a man whose philosophy could so easily be read as revolutionary at the outset, Hegel had become notoriously conservative by middle age. A classic example of what money, fame, and a few favors from the King of Prussia can do.

  Current Standing: There had to be a backlash; by the early twentieth century Hegel’s complexity and that crazily incomprehensible prose had made him a laughingstock among many philosophers. Nowadays, he’s been more or less restored to a top-shelf position in the Philosophers’ Hall of Fame, although his thinking is still mistrusted as leading to a glorification of the state over the individual and an end-justifies-the-means immorality. ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)

  Best-Known Works: The World as Will and Idea, Essays.

  Readability: No problem: surefooted, vigorous prose, with plenty of examples, analogies, and, at moments, wit; often quotable.

  Qualities of Mind: Cultured, pessimistic, arrogant, embittered, individualistic.

  Catchphrase: The world is my idea.

  Influence: The first to come right out and insist that there was something more important than knowledge or intellect: namely, will, and specifically, the will to live (Nietzsche and Freud were both to be influenced by this concept). Believing that will was inherently evil, he argued that the best one could strive for was renunciation of desire, a temporary absence of pain through the contemplation of high art (which made him very popular among artists), and, with any luck, the eventual extinction of the species. His rejection of the action-minded, essentially bourgeois confidence of the nineteenth century presaged the individualistic despair of the twentieth.

  Personal Gossip: Spent twenty-five years without speaking to his mother, a literary lady who’d disliked him (although she continued to foot the bills) ever since she heard that two geniuses could not exist in the same family. Had a reputation for meanness and spent most of his life alone, save for the company of his dog (the authorities disagree here; it may have been a cat), whom he named Atma, or “World-Soul.”

  Current Standing: His system is generally regarded as a mishmash of oversimplifications and inconsi
stencies, peppered with a few brilliant insights; still, thanks to those insights and his skill in presenting them, he’s been designated a historical landmark and, as one of the few pessimists in the history of philosophy, is considered something of a curiosity. SØREN KIERKEGAARD (1813-1855)

  Best-Known Works: Either/Or (more dramatic than theoretical), Fear and Trembling, Sickness unto Death.

  Readability: A bit gristly (you try chewing on reflections like “Dread is a sympathetic antipathy and antipathetic sympathy”), but it has its moments.

  Qualities of Mind: Melancholy, unorthodox, God-oriented, imaginative.

  Catchphrase: The leap into absurdity.

  Influence: No one paid much attention at the time; the idea that there were no reliable guidelines for human action, that one could only hope for enlightenment by committing oneself to a God who might very well never give one the time of day, just seemed like one man’s personal problem. But once twentieth-century alienation had set in and people had begun wondering why they should get out of bed in the morning, Kierkegaard, with his Scandinavian gloom, started to make sense. In the hands of Sartre and Camus, his belief in God was replaced by a belief in the Void, the whole philosophy was given a leftist twist, and before you knew it, everyone in Paris was carrying on like a character out of Last Year at Marienbad.

  Personal Gossip: Poor Søren; but what could you expect with that “Fall of the House of Usher” childhood and those spindly legs? Even so, people shouldn’t have made fun of him the way they did, especially about his painful broken engagement. (On the other hand, he did ditch her.)

  Current Standing: Acknowledged as the “founder” of existentialism (although existentialism is less a philosophical system than a bad mood), and a brilliant thinker whose neurosis was prophetic. WILLIAM JAMES (1842-1910)

  Best-Known Works: Principles of Psychology, The Will to Believe and Other Essays, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Pragmatism.

  Readability: Chatty, colloquial, and direct; like an entertaining dinner guest.

  Qualities of Mind: Cultured, commonsensical, optimistic, moralistic (New England Puritan style).

  Catchphrases: The will to believe, the cash-value of ideas (also, in a more literary vein, stream of consciousness, the bitch-goddess success).

  Influence: Almost put America on the map as an intellectual presence. Pioneer of pragmatism, our first indigenous school of thought. Attempted to make philosophy relevant by abandoning the search for absolutes in favor of a will-it-cut-down-trees approach to ideas. Theorized that reality is whatever we make it, that truth is tantamount to effectiveness, ditto goodness (thus, if believing in God makes you a better person, then God exists), and that philosophy should stick to answering questions that have a “cash-value,” i.e., that will make a significant difference in people’s lives. Set the tone for much subsequent twentieth-century philosophy.

  Personal Gossip: Older brother of Henry James. Was a famous psychologist before switching to philosophy. Center of a clique of brilliant Harvard intellectuals. Attempted suicide in adolescence (more proof that bad things happen to good people).

  Current Standing: One for our side—an American philosopher who won’t embarrass you at black-tie dinners. Whatever his limitations as a systematic thinker, he made up for them by being well-rounded. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE (1844-1900)

  Best-Known Works: Thus Spake Zarathustra, The Will to Power (beware posthumous additions by his sister), Twilight of the Idols, Ecce Homo (his autobiography).

  Readability: Looks easy enough; used ordinary language, specialized in short spurts and aphorisms, pulled no punches (sums up Socrates, for instance, as “the patron saint of moral twaddle”), but style is overheated and dense; reads a little like Norman Mailer in his apocalyptic mode.

  Qualities of Mind: Impetuous, irreverent, individualistic, elitist, unstable.

  Catchphrases: The will to power, transvaluation of values, Übermensch, God is dead.

  Influence: One of the most flamboyant and controversial philosophers ever, vehemently opposed to virtually all established culture and morality. A prophet who announced the demise of God (and, more importantly, of all absolutes), prophesied the world wars (or something very like them), warned of democracy’s tendency to promote conformity and suppress excellence; also, favored selective breeding. A cultural historian whose perceptions about unconscious human drives paved the way for Freud’s. Insisted that the dominant force of history is the “will to power,” and advocated a “transvaluation of values” in which the traditional “feminine” virtues espoused by Christianity (submission, compassion, being nice to other people) would be joined with “masculine” virtues (courage, strength, toughness) in a morality that aimed at greatness rather than goodness. Hoped for the ascendancy of the Übermensch, or superman, in whom Dionysian instinct and dynamism would be perfectly integrated with Apollonian reason and ethics. Has been variously interpreted—and misinterpreted—as a spokesman for Fascist, Nazi, anti-Nazi, Romantic, anti-Romantic, and existentialist doctrines.

  Personal Gossip: A frail, sickly boy raised in a household of pious women. Became a classics scholar. First an ardent admirer, then bitter enemy of Wagner. Went hopelessly insane at age forty-four. His sister, who had problems of her own, later distorted some of his writings, making him sound more racist than he really was.

  Current Standing: It’s no longer fashionable to call him the Antichrist, to blame him for World War II, or even to dismiss him as a brilliant but sophomoric “literary philosopher.” These days, he’s admired as a visionary theorist of language and knowledge. On the whole, however, philosophers are still busy trying to figure out exactly what he was driving at. HENRI BERGSON (1859-1941)

  Best-Known Works: Time and Free Will, Creative Evolution, Matter and Memory (see also On Laughter, a minor but famous work).

  Readability: Smooth and seductive; Bergson was a master of visual imagery who didn’t believe in arguing a point when he could paint a watercolor of it instead. You’ll probably be wafted along in happy agreement with him, but good luck afterward trying to explain what you’ve read.

  Qualities of Mind: Suave, sophisticated, mystical, optimistic, artistic.

  Catchphrase: Élan vital.

  Influence: The chic philosopher of Europe between the wars. Combated the de-pressingly mechanistic, deterministic, shut-up-and-reproduce outlook of Darwinism with his mystical “vitalism.” Viewed human history as a contest between the inertia of matter (associated with reason, conservatism, laws, and social pressure) and the creative energy—or élan vital—of living things (associated with intuition, art, charisma, and the mysteries of life). Everyone was delighted to have some version of free will restored and to be given such a clear-cut distinction between people and rocks. His theories had a great impact on artists, political activists, and socialites: Shaw appropriated his concept of élan vital and Proust used his mystical concept of time and memory as the basis for Remembrance of Things Past. The party ended with the outbreak of World War II, however, when everybody began to prize sanity over spontaneity again.

  Personal Gossip: Proust was best man at his wedding.

  Current Standing: Developed appealing theories that, though not without merit, are taken with a grain of salt. Reason is still at a premium, after all. Moreover, it’s understandably difficult for any philosophy department to embrace a mystic, particularly one who, instead of producing a coherent system of thought, chooses to describe life as a “shell bursting into fragments which are again shells.” ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD (1861-1947)

  Best-Known Works: Principia Mathematica (with Bertrand Russell), Science and the Modern World, Adventures of Ideas.

  Readability: Perfectly accessible, provided you stick to the latter two, which were written for the layman.

  Qualities of Mind: Idealistic, mystical, religious, balanced, thorough, disciplined.

  Catchphrases: The philosophy of organism, occasions, and becomings.

  Influence: A mathematician tur
ned metaphysician; his work with Russell produced the first new system of logic since Aristotle, the Principia, which whether or not one cares about that sort of thing, is considered one of the great intellectual monuments of all time. On his own, worked out the most comprehensive metaphysical system of this century (“the philosophy of organism”), a synthesis of idealism, empiricism, mysticism, mathematics, God, Darwin, and Bergson, to name just a few. Aimed at a general theory that would, in the best metaphysical tradition, explain absolutely everything, and one that would make it OK for God to exist in the modern world. His philosophy, which revolved around theories of change and actualization of potentiality, is now called “process theology.”

  Personal Gossip: Reputed to have been a kind man whose wife was a great help to him, although they were always worrying about money.