Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy: Volume 1 (of 3) — John Shaqi
Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy: Volume 1 (of 3)Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Philosophy
Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy: Volume 1 (of 3)
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Philosophy -- History
To the impartial man, the Truth has always been a heart-stirring word
and one of great import. As to the assertion that the Truth cannot be
known, we shall consider it more closely in the history of Philosophy
itself where it appears. The only thing to be here remarked is that
if this assumption be allowed, as was the case with Tennemann, it is
beyond conception why anyone should still trouble about Philosophy,
since each opinion asserts falsely in its turn that it has found
the truth. This immediately recalls to me the old belief that Truth
consists in knowledge, but that an individual only knows the Truth in
so far as he reflects and not as he walks and stands: and that the
Truth cannot be known in immediate apprehension and perception, whether
it be external and sensuous, or whether it be intellectual perception
(for every perception as a perception is sensuous) but only through the
labour of thought.
b. _Proof of the futility of Philosophical Knowledge obtained through
the History of Philosophy itself._
From another point of view another consequence ensues from the above
conception of the history of Philosophy which may at will be looked
at as an evil or a benefit. In view of such manifold opinions and
philosophical systems so numerous, one is perplexed to know which
one ought to be accepted. In regard to the great matters to which
man is attracted and a knowledge of which Philosophy would bestow,
it is evident that the greatest minds have erred, because they have
been contradicted by others. “Since this has been so with minds so
great, how then can _ego homuncio_ attempt to form a judgment?” This
consequence, which ensues from the diversity in philosophical systems,
is, as may be supposed, the evil in the matter, while at the same time
it is a subjective good. For this diversity is the usual plea urged by
those who, with an air of knowledge, wish to make a show of interest
in Philosophy, to explain the fact that they, with this pretence of
good-will, and, indeed, with added motive for working at the science,
do in fact utterly neglect it. But this diversity in philosophical
systems is far from being merely an evasive plea. It has far more
weight as a genuine serious ground of argument against the zeal
which Philosophy requires. It justifies its neglect and demonstrates
conclusively the powerlessness of the endeavour to attain to
philosophic knowledge of the truth. When it is admitted that Philosophy
ought to be a real science, and one Philosophy must certainly be the
true, the question arises as to which Philosophy it is, and when it can
be known. Each one asserts its genuineness, each even gives different
signs and tokens by which the Truth can be discovered; sober reflective
thought must therefore hesitate to give its judgment.
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