© BWAD 1998
last update: 19.09.2002 |
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| 8.11.98 |
Modern Philosophy's Morning: Hegel's
critique of Fichte Vichte was convinced that the
aim of humankind was to completely dominate nature. Hegel tried to show what the
consequences of such a philosophy is and what alternatives exist. To completely dominate
nature one must also endeavour to dominate human nature. This leads to fascist ideology
and to the justification of dictatorial, national-socialistic regimes... |
Speaker:
Christof SchauweckerHost:
Serge Garazi |
Presentation
Summary
Philisophers Biographies
Summary
of Presentation on November 8, 1998
The most atrocious slaughterers of this century and of history at all, Hitler (40 million
victims), Stalin (65 million victims) and Mao (80-100 million victims) committed their
crimes in the name and by means of a "national-socialistic" state. They all
justified their atrocities as the means to a higher goal, i.e. material wealth in the form
of absolute dominance over nature through mankind.
The German philosopher Fichte (1762-1814), to my knowledge, was the first who justified
such a national-socialistic state as the most adequate means of achieving total dominance
over nature. The German philosopher Hegel (1770-1831), in turn, recognized that Fichte's
glorification of a national-socialistic state was the logical consequence of his
presuppositions that nature is hostile to mankind and that the highest goal and duty of
mankind was the total dominance of nature through technology.
In order to criticize Fichte's philosophy, he had to thus attack these presuppositions,
i.e. to show that nature was not hostile, but friendly to mankind, and that the striving
for absolute dominance over nature was futile, counter-productive and self-destructive.
Hegel's alternatives are a technology that does not attempt to increase the dominance of
mankind over nature but to increase the already existing basic harmony between mankind and
nature, and a state in which the individuals are not sacrificed to an abstract general or
collective utopian interest but where the general and the individual interests are
carefully balanced and harmonized.
I think this is an alternative worth considering as this century, dominated by
national-socialistic "experiments," comes to an end.
Biographies
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb, 1762-1814.
Born in Rammenau, a village in Upper (Saxon) Lusatia (Germany)
Studied at: universities of Jena & Leipzig
Significantly influenced by: Kant, Rousseau
Inspired by Idealist movement seeded by Rousseau and Kant
Major work: Essay Toward a Critique of All Revelation (1792),
originally credited in error to Kant who published a retraction and
credited to Fichte.
Became a nationalist later in life believing state rights superior to
individual rights - a complete reversal of his earlier views.
Web references:
http://www.msu.edu/user/mayhopee/Lovers_of_wisdom.html
http://www.elib.com/Steiner/Bio/Fichte.html
http://ananke.advanced.org/3376/Fichte.htm
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770-1831.
Born in Stuttgart, Germany
Studied at: Stuttgart Gymnasium (preparatory school), entered
University of Tübingen in 1788
Significantly influenced by: Goethe
In 1793 became private tutor in Berne
In about 1794 began to study Kant and Johann Fichte
Major works: The Phenomenology of Mind, The Science of Logic,
The Shorter Logic & The Philosophy of Right
Web references:
http://www.msu.edu/user/mayhopee/Lovers_of_wisdom.html
http://home.mira.net/ãndy/hegelbio.htm
Biographies thanks to Philip Indlekofer
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