177
See also: Protagoras 42–43 ■ Aristotle 56–63 ■ René Descartes 116–23 ■
Georg Hegel 178–85 ■ Martin Heidegger 252–55 ■ Jacques Derrida 308–13T
he German historian and
poet, Friedrich Schlegel,
is generally credited with
introducing the use of aphorisms
(short, ambiguous sayings) into
later modern philosophy. In 1798
he observed that there was little
philosophizing about philosophy
(metaphilosophy), implying that we
should question both how Western
philosophy functions and its
assumption that a linear type of
argument is the best approach.
Schlegel disagrees with the
approaches of Aristotle and René
Descartes, saying they are wrong
to assume that there are solid “first
principles” that can form a starting
point. He also thinks that it is not
possible to reach any final answers,
because every conclusion of an
argument can be endlessly perfected.
Describing his own approach,
Schlegel says philosophy must
always “start in the middle... it is a
whole, and the path to recognizing
it is no straight line but a circle.”
Schlegel’s holistic view—seeing
philosophy as a whole—fits within
the broader context of his RomanticTHE AGE OF REVOLUTION
IN CONTEXT
BRANCH
Metaphilosophy
APPROACH
Reflexivity
BEFORE
C. 450 BCE Protagoras says that
there are no first principles
or absolute truths; “man is
the measure of all things.”
1641 René Descartes claims
to have found a first principle
on which to build beliefs about
existence when he states that
“I think, therefore I am.”
AFTER
1830 Georg Hegel says that
“the whole of philosophy
resembles a circle of circles.”
1920 S Martin Heidegger
argues that philosophy is a
matter of our relationship with
our own existence.
1967 Jacques Derrida claims
that philosophical analysis can
only be made at the level of
language and texts.
ABOUT NO SUBJECT
IS THERE LESS
PHILOSOPHIZING THAN
ABOUT PHILOSOPHY
FRIEDRICH SCHLEGEL (1772-1829)
Philosophy is the art of thinking, and
Schlegel points out that its methods
affect the kind of answers it can find.
Western and Eastern philosophies use
very different approaches.theories about art and life. These
value individual human emotion
above rational thought, in contrast
to most Enlightenment thinking.
While his charge against earlier
philosophy was not necessarily
correct his contemporary, Georg
Hegel, took up the cause for
reflexivity—the modern name for
applying philosophical methods to
the subject of philosophy itself. ■