Kuno Fischer
Encyclopedia
Kuno Fischer, born Ernst Kuno Berthold Fischer, (July 23, 1824 in Sandewalde near Guhrau – July 5, 1907 in Heidelberg
) was a German
philosopher, a historian of philosophy and a critic.
and Halle,
became a privatdocent at Heidelberg in 1850. The Baden
government in 1853 laid an embargo on his teaching owing to his liberal ideas, but the effect of this was to rouse considerable sympathy for his views, and in 1856 he obtained a professorship at Jena, where he soon acquired great influence by the dignity of his personal character. In 1872, on Eduard Zeller
's move to Berlin, Fischer succeeded him as professor of philosophy and the history of modern German literature
at Heidelberg.
He was a brilliant lecturer and possessed a remarkable gift for clear exposition. His fame rests primarily on his work as a historian and commentator of philosophy. As far as his philosophical views were concerned, he was, generally speaking, a follower of the Hegelian school
. His writings in this direction, especially his interpretation of Kant
, involved him in a quarrel with F. A. Trendelenburg
, professor of philosophy at the University of Berlin
, and his followers. In 1860, Fischer's Kants Leben und die Grundlagen seiner Lehre (Kant's life and the foundations of his doctrine) lent the first real impulse to the so-called “return to Kant.”
In honor of his 80th birthday, celebrated in 1904, O. Liebmann, W. Wundt, T. Lipps and others published Die Philosophie im Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts. Festschrift für Kuno Fischer (Heidelberg, 1907).
/rationalism
distinction in categorising philosophers, particularly those of the 17th and 18th century. These include John Locke
, George Berkeley
and David Hume
in the empiricist category and René Descartes
, Baruch Spinoza
and Gottfried Leibniz
in the rationalist category. Empiricism, it is said, claims that human knowledge is derived from sensation, i.e. experience, while rationalism claims that certain knowledge can be acquired before experience through pure principles. Although influential, in more recent times this distinction has been questioned as anachronistic in its failure to represent precisely the exact claims and methodologies of the philosophers it categorises.
Other translations of his works are:
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
philosopher, a historian of philosophy and a critic.
Biography
After studying philosophy at LeipzigUniversity of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
and Halle,
became a privatdocent at Heidelberg in 1850. The Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
government in 1853 laid an embargo on his teaching owing to his liberal ideas, but the effect of this was to rouse considerable sympathy for his views, and in 1856 he obtained a professorship at Jena, where he soon acquired great influence by the dignity of his personal character. In 1872, on Eduard Zeller
Eduard Zeller
Eduard Gottlob Zeller , was a German philosopher and theologian of the Tübingen School of theology.- Life :Eduard Zeller was born at Kleinbottwar in Württemberg, and educated at the University of Tübingen and under the influence of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel...
's move to Berlin, Fischer succeeded him as professor of philosophy and the history of modern German literature
German literature
German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German part of Switzerland, and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there...
at Heidelberg.
He was a brilliant lecturer and possessed a remarkable gift for clear exposition. His fame rests primarily on his work as a historian and commentator of philosophy. As far as his philosophical views were concerned, he was, generally speaking, a follower of the Hegelian school
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
. His writings in this direction, especially his interpretation of Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
, involved him in a quarrel with F. A. Trendelenburg
Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg
Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg was a German philosopher and philologist.-Early life:He was born at Eutin, near Lübeck. He was educated at the universities of Kiel, Leipzig, and Berlin...
, professor of philosophy at the University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
, and his followers. In 1860, Fischer's Kants Leben und die Grundlagen seiner Lehre (Kant's life and the foundations of his doctrine) lent the first real impulse to the so-called “return to Kant.”
In honor of his 80th birthday, celebrated in 1904, O. Liebmann, W. Wundt, T. Lipps and others published Die Philosophie im Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts. Festschrift für Kuno Fischer (Heidelberg, 1907).
Contributions
One of Fischer's most significant and lasting contributions to philosophy was the use of the empiricismEmpiricism
Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence,...
/rationalism
Rationalism
In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
distinction in categorising philosophers, particularly those of the 17th and 18th century. These include John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, George Berkeley
George Berkeley
George Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...
and David Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
in the empiricist category and René Descartes
René Descartes
René Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
, Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza
Baruch de Spinoza and later Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death...
and Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
in the rationalist category. Empiricism, it is said, claims that human knowledge is derived from sensation, i.e. experience, while rationalism claims that certain knowledge can be acquired before experience through pure principles. Although influential, in more recent times this distinction has been questioned as anachronistic in its failure to represent precisely the exact claims and methodologies of the philosophers it categorises.
Works
- Diotima. Die Idee des Schönen (Diotima, the idea of the beautiful; Pforzheim, 1849)
- System der Logik und Metaphysik oder Wissenschaftslehre (System of logic and metaphysics, or doctrine of knowledge; Stuttgart, 1852)
- Die Interdict meiner Vorlesungen (The prohibition of my lectures; Mannheim, 1854)
- Die Apologies meines Lebens (Mannheim, 1854)
- Geschichte der neueren Philosophie (History of modern philosophy; 6 vols., Stuttgart-Mannheim-Heidelberg, 1854–77; new edition, Heidelberg, 1897–1901) This is considered by some to be his greatest work. It is written in the form of monographs on Descartes, Kant, Fichte, Schelling and other great philosophers down to Schopenhauer.
- Franz Baco von Verona (Leipzig, 1875; translated into English by J. Oxenford, London, 1857)
- SchillerFriedrich SchillerJohann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
als Philosoph (Frankfurt am Main, 1858; 2nd ed. 1891-92) - Kants Leben und die Grundlagen seiner Lehre (Mannheim, 1860)
- Akademische Reden: J. G. FichteJohann Gottlieb FichteJohann Gottlieb Fichte was a German philosopher. He was one of the founding figures of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, a movement that developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kant...
; Die beiden Kantischen Schulen in Jena (The two schools of Kant in Jena; Stuttgart, 1862) - LessingGotthold Ephraim LessingGotthold Ephraim Lessing was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist, and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature...
s “Nathan der WeiseNathan der WeiseNathan the Wise is a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, published in 1779. It is a fervent plea for religious tolerance...
” (Stuttgart, 1864; translated into English by Ellen FrothinghamEllen FrothinghamEllen Frothingham worked in the United States as a translator of German-language works into English.-Biography:She was born in Boston, the daughter of Nathaniel Frothingham...
, New York, 1868) - Baruch SpinozaBaruch SpinozaBaruch de Spinoza and later Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death...
s Leben und Charakter (Heidelberg, 1865; translated into English by F. Schmidt, Edinburg, 1882) - System der reinen Vernunft auf Grund der Vernunftkritik (1866)
- Shakespeares Charakterentwickelung Richards III (Character development of Shakespeare's Richard III; Heidelberg, 1868)
- Über die Entstehung und die Entwickelungsformen des Witzes (The origins and modes of development of wit; Heidelberg, 1871)
- Kritik der Kantischen Philosophie (Munich, 1883; translated into English by W. S. Hough, London 1888)
- Goethe-Schriften (8 vols., Heidelberg, 1888–96)
- Kleine Schriften (Heidelberg, 1888–98)
- Schiller-Schriften (2 vols., Heidelberg, 1891)
- Philosophische Schriften (3 parts, Heidelberg, 1891–92)
- Hegels Leben und Werke (Heidelberg, 1911)
Other translations of his works are:
- A Commentary of Kant's “Critic of Pure Reason” (trans. by J. P. Mahaffy, London-Dublin, 1866)
- Descartes and his School (trans. by J. P. Gordy, New York, 1887)