The positive outcome of philosophyDietzgen, Joseph
Philosophy
The positive outcome of philosophy
Dietzgen, Joseph
Knowledge, Theory of; Logic; Philosophy
It is not necessary to state that I do not mean to question the great
importance of our reason by the foregoing remarks. Even though reason
cannot independently, or absolutely, discern the objects of the
speculative introspection, such as the objects of the moral world, the
true, the beautiful, the right, the bad, the reasonable, etc., it
nevertheless is well fitted to distinguish relatively, by means of
concrete sense perceptions, between general and concrete things, between
the object and its manifestation, between fundamental needs and fanciful
appetites. Although we may dispense with the belief in absolute reason
and consequently realize that there can be no absolute peace, still we
may call war an unmitigated evil when comparing it with the peaceful
interests of our time or of our class. Not until we abandon our
fruitless exploring trip after absolute truth, shall we learn to find
that which is true in space and time. It is precisely the consciousness
of the relative applicability of our knowledge which is the strongest
lever of progress. The believers in absolute truth have adopted the
monotonous diagram of "good" men and "rational" institutions as a basis
for their views of life. For this reason they oppose all human and
historical institutions which do not fit into their pattern, but which
reality nevertheless produces without regard to their brains. Absolute
truth is the arch foundation of intolerance. On the other hand tolerance
proceeds from the consciousness of the relative applicability of
"eternal truths." The understanding of pure reason leads to the
realization that the consciousness of the universal interdependence of
reason is the true road toward practical reason.
+(b) Morality and Right.+
The nature of our task limits us to the demonstration that pure reason
is a nonentity, that reason is the sum of all acts of individual
understanding, that it deals only seemingly with pure and general, but
in reality with practical, or concrete, perceptions. We have been
discussing that philosophy which pretends to be the science of pure or
absolute understanding. We found its aim to be idle, inasmuch as the
development of speculative philosophy represents a succession of
disappointments, because its unconditional or absolute systems proved to
be limited in space and time. Our presentation of the matter has
revealed the relative character of so-called eternal truths. We
perceived that reason was dependent on sense perceptions, we found that
any truth required definite limits for its determination. As regards
more especially life's wisdom, we saw that the acquired knowledge of
"pure" reason manifested itself in practice by the dependence of the
wise or the rational upon concrete sense perceptions. If we now apply
this theory to morality as such, we must be able to establish harmony
also in this field, where there is some doubt as to what is right and
wrong, by means of the scientific method.
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