Category: Text

‘Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction’ by Simon Critchley is an introduction to continental philosophy. In this book, Critchley introduces some values and issues of some movements of the Continental philosophers, instead a usual chronologically account of the Continental philosophy.

Digests of each chapters are below.
Chapter 1 – Philosophy is the love of wisdom. The wisdom concerns what it might mean to lead a good life. In the ancient world philosophers integrated wisdom and knowledge. But, in a science-dominated world, scientific conception of the world does not close the gap between knowledge and wisdom, they are split apart. Author thinks the Continental philosophy attempts to unify knowledge and wisdom.
Chapter 2 – In this caphter, author comments the historical distinction of Continental and analytic philosophy. There are two way of beginning of Continental philosophy, one is Edmund Husserl, another is Immanuel Kant. The contemporary division between analytic and Continental philosophy was caused by a division of interpretations on Gottlob Frege’s philosophy of logic and language between Husserl and Bertrand Russell to Ludwig Wittgenstein. The another origin of Continental philosophy is Kant’s critical philosophy. Neo-Kantianism dominated German and French between 1890 to the late 1920’s. German Idealism of Fichte, Schelling and Hegel followed Kant’s thought of judgement the mediator of nature and freedom.
Chapter 3 – Author consider some problem with the distinction between Continental and analytic philosophy. The Continental philosophy is a professional self-description, organize their own intellectual allegiances. And the Continental philosophy regard meaning of truth as important, just the opposite Benthamite concern with empirical truth. It’s a cultural feature. There are two cultures in philosophy, ‘scientists and literary intellectuals’.
Chapter 4 – The essence of the Continental tradition of philosophy is a practice as the historical nature of philosophy and the historical nature of philosopher who engages in this practice. Human creation demand for a transformative practice of philosophy and thought. They inscribe, criticize and redeem the present. Heidegger’s concept of ‘Destruktion’ is the production of a tradition as something made a process of reputation or retrieval, what he calls ‘Wiederholung’. By an act of critical and historical reflection, this relation of thought and tradition is achieved through an act of retrieval and repetition. Author illustrates the Continental philosophy is repetitions of from Critique though Praxis to Emancipation.
Chapter 5 – Nihilism of Nietzsche is not only a negation of the Christian-Moral interpretation of the world but also a consequence of it. Nihilism is a psychological state which is realized by our awareness that the universe are meaningless. It is the consequence of moral valuation by Kantian critique, and is a revaluation of values. Then nihilism leads Continental philosophy to attempt non-philosophical discourses and practices that respond to the crisis of modern society.
Chapter 6 – Author introduces the dispute of misunderstanding about ontological beings and the scientific conception of the world between a metaphysical enquiry on being by Heidegger and the logical positivism by Carnap and the Vienna Circle. Both theories has flaws, but Wittgenstein’s ‘language game’ theory would be the key to mediate the conflict.
Chapter 7 – Author take up the problem of scientism of analytic philosophy versus obscurantism of the Continental philosophy. Anti-scientism criticize the model of natural science should not provide a philosophical model, and the natural sciences contribute human being to experiences of real world. Such opinion has been expressed by from Henri Bergson, Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger and the Frankfurt School onwards. On the other hand the risk of obscurantism is pointed out by analytic philosophers. Merleau-Ponty thinks phenomenology seeks ‘unveiling the pre-theoretical layer’ of human experience. Phenomenology tries to uncover the layer and to find a mode of appropriate description for experience on the pre-theoretical layer with its rigour and validity. And phenomenology criticize a practical view of the world from the view point of scientism is already coloured by our cognitive, ethical and aesthetic values. It’s not the value-neutral objective world. Heidegger’s productive logic is a way to pre-scientific disclosure of the life-world that lays the ground for the science. Hilary Putnam points out scientism in philosophy causes a gap between knowledge and wisdom. Putnam says in Aristotle it matches his ethics and science theories.
Chapter 8 – Present sate of philosophy is the exhaustion of a whole series of theoretical paradigms. Both Continental and analytic philosophy are great sectarian self-descriptions by the the professionalization of disciplines, the weakening go critical and practical function, and marginalization of philosophy in the life. Author thinks ‘philsoophy must be clearly argued conceptual creation in critical relation to given traditions of thinking, and not a melancholic mourning for missed opportunities or a mere technique for sharpening one’s common sense.’ Then he hopes we should overcome any lingering sectarianism and face up to the issues of today’s philosophy such as the gap between knowledge and wisdom.

This guide book is not a standard straightforward chronological account on the Continental philosophy. The characteristic of this book is seeking of roots, values and problems of some historical movements of the Continental philosophy with criticisms by analytic philosophers from a view point of English researcher. (In this book, the particular Continental philosophy was begin with Kant) Critchley treat the Continental philosophy as an object of study. Therefore this is also a comparative study the gap between the Anglo-American and the European Continent in philosophy.
He mainly argues the problems of way of thinking, methodology and intellectual self-description system of the Continental philosophy, introducing contrast some movements of the Continental philosophy with Anglo-American empiricism, analytic philosophy and philosophy of science. The Continental philosophers ‘metaphysical questions’, philosophers of analytic philosophy search theorize ‘practical scientific truth’. Both tend to be far from our ordinary life and meaningless. Even so author emphasize the worth and reason d’être of the Continental philosophy. In his opinion, the Continental philosophy is more practical and progressive than analytic philosophy.
This book is not easy but also it is only an introduction. He briefly introduces theory of phenomenology and hermeneutics and so on. Although the significances of this book are the author aroused readers’ interests in Kantian philosophy, German Idealism, nihilism of Nietzsche, phenomenology of Husserl, existentialism of Heidegger and critical theory of the Frankfurt School, and a proposal to critical reading to the Continental philosophy which also includes a critical reading to analytic philosophy and philosophy of science. Author concludes the present situation of philosophy in the world and its problems, but he doesn’t bring up how we settle the problems. Settlements to solve gaps between knowledge and wisdom, practice and theory, philosophy and life, the Continental philosophy and Anglo-American analytic philosophy would be sought by ourselves.
I wouldn’t recommend this book as a primer, recommend people who want to know a whole sketch of situation of the present entire situation of philosophy. This book will help you to critically, valuable and productive read the masterpieces of the Continental philosophy.

Continental Philosophy (Very Short Introductions)
Simon Critchley
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 22 Feb. 2001
168 pages, £7.99, $11.95
ISBN: 978-0192853592
Contents:
List of illustrations
Preface
1. The Gap between Knowledge and Wisdom
2. Origins of Continental Philosophy: How to Get from Kant to German Idealism
3. Spectacles and Eyes to See With: Two Cultures in Philosophy
4. Can Philosophy Change the World? Critique, Praxis, Emancipation
5. What is to be Done? How to Respond to Nihilism
6. A Case Study in Misunderstanding: Heidegger and Carnap
7. Scientism Versus Obscurantism: Avoiding the Traditional Predicament in Philosophy
8. Sapere Ande: The Exhaustion of Theory and the Promise of Philosophy
Appendix: System-Programme

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