Windelband Wilhelm: brief biography, date and place of birth, founder of the Baden school of neo-Kantianism, his philosophical works and writings

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

The historical views of Windelband, his understanding of the processes taking place in society, the laws of development and, conversely, regress are relevant today, although they were set out a century ago.

Unfortunately, in our time, the "superficial encyclopedia" of knowledge and its fragmentation is a frequent occurrence. That is, people learn something and, remembering individual phrases, terms, names and surnames, use them in their own speech, shining with erudition. This is due to the abundance of information around and congestion of thought processes. And although it is impossible to know everything in the world, before appealing to philosophical dogmas in conversations, that is, “crying out” to them, using them as arguments, one should imagine their meaning and the history of their appearance.

What is philosophy?

Philosophy is one of the most ancient sciences. When and where exactly it originated is a subject for discussion, only one thing is certain: in the ancient world, this science already flourished and was held in high esteem.

The word itself is Greek. Literally translated, it means "love of wisdom." Philosophy is a special way of knowing and understanding the world, absolutely everything that happens around, visible and audible to man. That is, the subject of study in philosophy is literally everything. Moreover, this is the only science, the subject of which can be other disciplines, social processes along with natural phenomena. That is, philosophy can study the construction of heavenly bodies, the behavior of helminths, human thoughts, history or literature, religion, and so on. The list is endless. For example, if a person turns around himself, he will not see anything that could not become the subject of study in philosophy.

That is, philosophy is both a way of knowing and a scientific discipline.

How do people perceive science?

In the last century, at its beginning, when the life of people in our country was changing very quickly, for example, mass literacy, electricity and gas appeared, there was an interesting understanding of philosophy among the people. Its essence boiled down to the fact that the simple inhabitants, workers or peasants in the pre-war USSR unanimously answered the question of what philosophy is: verbiage. The attitude towards young people, students of philosophy, among the common people was mockingly patronizing.

Probably, such a perception of science arose not so much because of its misunderstanding, but because of the impossibility of practical use. Inquisitive and very cunning economic mindsetthe majority of ordinary people do not see the benefit of studying philosophy even today.

What sections are there in this science?

The division of philosophy is, of course, a rhetorical question. But still there is some clarity, science includes two main sections:

• subjects of study;
• types, ways of knowing.

The first is what is learned, and the second is how something is learned.

This means that various currents, directions, schools, concepts of philosophy - this is what constitutes its second large section.

What directions are there in this science?

There are a lot of trends in philosophy. They are subdivided by time periods, by regions, by the content of the main thoughts and by other principles. For example, when choosing directions in accordance with the division by region, one may encounter Western and Eastern philosophy, Chinese and Greek. If we take time as the initial, determining criterion, then medieval philosophy, ancient, of the last century stands out.

The most interesting and informative is the selection of directions in accordance with the principles professed, the main thoughts and ideas. For example, Marxism or utopia belongs to this direction of philosophy, realism is also a direction in philosophy, as well as nihilism, and many others. Each of the directions has its own schools. The head of one of these schools was Wilhelm Windelband.

What is Neo-Kantianism?

Neo-Kantianism isa philosophical trend that arose in Western Europe at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Its essence is clear from the name:

• "neo" - new;
• "Kantianism" - following the theories of a famous scientist.

Of course, the famous scientist-philosopher in this case is Kant. The direction was extremely common in Europe. Scientists working within its framework, including Windelband, divided the values of this world into nature and culture.

The followers of this trend positioned their worldview in accordance with the then popular slogan - "Back to Kant!". However, scientists did not simply repeat Kant's ideas or develop them, but preferred the epistemological component of his teaching.

What did the Neo-Kantians do?

Wilhelm Windelband, like other philosophers who share the values of neo-Kantianism, did quite a lot. For example, their activity became the basis, figuratively speaking, prepared ground for the emergence at the beginning of the last century of such a branch of philosophy as phenomenology.

This is not surprising, because scientists like Windelband were primarily interested in the history of philosophy and its direct development, prospects, the place of this science in a world that rushed to the material component to the detriment of the spiritual. The ideas voiced by the neo-Kantians largely influenced the socialists. They became the basis, the basis for the formation of the concept of ethical socialism.

Neo-Kantianswas derived, or rather, nurtured such a philosophical science as axiology. This is their main brainchild and achievement. Axiology is a theory of values. She studies everything related to this concept - from the very nature of values to their development, meaning and place in the world.

Is there a division in neo-Kantianism?

Scientists like Windelband, for whom philosophy was a vocation, a state of mind, and not just a professional occupation, could not adhere to unified views on subjects of study. The difference in approaches and priorities among scientists working within the framework of neo-Kantianism led to the emergence of two independent philosophical schools:

• Marburg;
• Baden.

Each of them had talented followers in all corners of the world, including Russia.

What was the difference?

The difference in the activities of these philosophical schools was in the understanding of priority issues, that is, in the direct occupation of scientists.

Followers of the Marburg school preferred the study of problems in the logical and methodological field of natural sciences. But the scientists who joined the Baden school, which included the Southwestern and Freiburg schools, gave priority to the humanities and the problems of the value system.

Who founded the Baden School?

This school has two founders. These are Windelband Wilhelm and Rickert Heinrich. These scientists have a lot in common not only in their views and ideas, in their approach to understanding and understanding the world, but also inbiographies and characters.

Both were born in Prussia in middle-class families. Both attended high school. Both were idealists and tended towards pacifism. Both were distinguished by curiosity and were not too lazy to travel to other cities for the sake of interesting lectures. Both taught and published scientific papers themselves.

Based on all this, we can assume that the founders of the Baden School were friends or pals. However, this is not at all the case. In this case, the formation of a philosophical school was the result of the cooperation of a teacher and a student, and not a pair of comrades. Rickert studied philosophy at the department in Strasbourg in 1885, and his leader was Wilhelm Windelband, whose hermeneutics and historicism in his lectures made an indelible impression on the future co-founder of the Baden School.

How did the founder of the philosophical school live?

The founder of the Baden school and one of the founders of the ideas of neo-Kantianism was born in the family of a civil servant, that is, an official. It happened in Prussia, in the town of Potsdam, on May 11, 1848. What is curious, especially after many years since the death of the philosopher, is the horoscope of the date of birth. In addition to such meanings as constellations, elements and eastern symbols, the birth of people is also accompanied by numbers. The number of the birth date of the German philosopher is one. It symbolizes awareness of the importance of one's own person, fame and power, action and ambition, ambition, leadership and success. All these qualities were inherent in Windelband throughout his life.

He studied at two universities:

• in Jena, atProfessor Kuno Fischer;
• in Heidelberg, attending a lecture course by Rudolf Hermann Lotze.

In 1870 he defended a dissertation that did not make an impression in scientific circles. It was called "The Doctrine of Chance". In the same year, the scientist went as a volunteer to the front. It's about the Franco-Prussian military conflict.

1870 was a busy year for Windelband. In addition to participating in hostilities and defending his dissertation, he also begins teaching at the Department of Philosophy in Leipzig.

Six years later, Windelband becomes a professor. This is a negligible time to reach such a stage in a scientific career. Of course, the scientist does not stop teaching:

• 1876 – Zurich;
• 1877-1882 – Freiburg;
• 1882-1903 - Strasbourg;
• since 1903 – Heidelberg.

After 1903, the philosopher did not change the city. In 1910 he became a full member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, and in October 1915 he died at the age of 67.

What legacy did the philosopher leave?

Windelband Wilhelm wrote few books. His main legacy was his students, among whom were Heinrich Rickert, Maximilian Carl Emil Weber, Ernst Troeltsch, Albert Schweitzer, Robert Park - the real stars of philosophy. As for the books, there are only four of them, and two are the most famous.

The first one is called The History of Ancient Philosophy. She saw the light in 1888, was translated into Russian in 1893 and immediately became incredibly popular. Thanks to this work, the Baden School of Philosophy gained many followers.in Russia.

The second one is called "History of New Philosophy". It did not receive such a wide resonance during the life of the author, as the first one, perhaps due to the peculiarities of that time. The book was published in two parts in 1878-1880. It was published in Russia in 1902-1905.

In addition, during the lifetime of the philosopher, "History and Science of Nature" and "On Free Will" were published. This book was published in 1905, but was reprinted with numerous revisions in 1923. The German title of the fourth book is Über Willensfreiheit. Its content touches upon issues that are not entirely characteristic of the direction of philosophy in which the scientist was engaged.