Review: Reason in History

Reason in History by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really recommend this as a good introduction to Hegel's philosophy of history. I had attempted to read his larger work but was struggling through this and then found this copy of one of his lectures on the topic and devoured it in a couple days. Whether you agree with Hegel or not, you know when your reading him you are reading a great mind; and his work is incredibly influential still to this day.

Here are some quotes just skimmed off the top of this deep but short lecture:

"The sole thought which philosophy brings to the treatment of history is the simple concept of Reason: that Reason is the law of the world and that, therefore, in world history, things have come about rationally.... That this Idea or Reason is the True, the Eternal, the Absolute Power and that it and nothing but it, its glory and majesty, manifests itself in the world - this, as we said before, has been proved in philosophy and is being presupposed here as proved." (pg.11)

"it is a widespread fabrication that there was an original, primeval people taught immediately by God, endowed with perfect insight and wisdom, possessing a thorough knowledge of all natural laws and spiritual truths..." (pg.12)

"divine Providence is wisdom endowed with infinite power which realizes its own aim, that is, the absolute, rational, final purpose of the world. Reason is Thought determining itself in absolute freedom." (pg.15)

"But in mentioning at all the recognition of the plan of divine Providence I have touched on a prominent question of the day, the question, namely, whether it is possible to recognize God - or, since it has ceased to be a question, the doctrine, which has now become a prejudice, that it is impossible to know God. Following this doctrine we now contradict what the Holy Scripture commands as our highest duty, namely, not only to love but also to know God. We now categorically deny what is written, namely that it is the spirit which leads to truth, knows all things, and penetrates even the depths of divinity. Thus, in placing the Divine Being beyond our cognition and the pale of all human things, we gain the convenient license of indulging in our own fancies. We are freed from the necessity of referring our knowledge to the True and Divine. On the contrary, the vanity of knowledge and the subjectivity of sentiment now have ample justification. And pious humility, in keeping true recognition of God at arms length, knows very well what it gains for its arbitrary and vain striving." (pg.16)

"In the Christian religion God has revealed Himself, which means He has given man to understand what He is, and thus is no longer concealed and secret. With this possibility of knowing God the obligation to know Him is imposed upon us. God wishes no narrow souls and empty heads for his children; He wishes our spirit, of itself indeed poor, rich in the knowledge of Him and holding this knowledge to be of supreme value. The development of the thinking spirit only began with this revelation of divine essence. It must now advance to the intellectual comprehension of that which originally was present only to the feeling and imagining spirit." (pg.17)

"world history is the progress of the consciousness of freedom" (pg.24)

"nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion." (pg.29)

"reason governs the world" and later... "God governs the world"

"one's particular purposes contain the substandard will of the World Spirit."

"The assumption (of the noble savage) is one of those nebulous images which theory produces, an idea which necessarily flows from that theory and to which it ascribes real existence without sufficient historical justification." (pg.54)

"the idea of God thus is the general fundament of a people" (pg.64)



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Peter Berger on Constructivism

Peter Berger's "Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist", an autobiographical sketch of his sociological career, is a mix of light anecdotal stories and brief reflections on important topics such as the sociology of religion, secularization, race relations in the U.S. and the cultural movement of the 60's among other things. I personally enjoyed his 1-2 page comments on the Postmodern movement associated intellectually with Derrida and Foucault and popularly with the mantras of "relativism and tolerance". His important work with Thomas Luckman, "the Social Construction of Reality", is viewed as some to be influential in this postmodernist/constructivist school; and so he spends some time addressing misconception of his work on the sociology of knowledge as a green light for absolute relativism and absence of facts. Below is quotes from pg.94-95 of his book where he defines the constructivist/postmodernist philosophy and gives his criticism of it and describes where he is in relation to it. The basic jist of what he has to say is "yes everything is interpretation, but not all interpretation are equal".

"The [constructivist] argument goes something like this: Since all reality is socially constructed, there is no objective truth or at least none that can be accessed. Indeed, there are no facts, only 'narratives.' There is no objective way to make epistemological judgments as between the 'narratives.' But what one can do is to 'deconstruct' them - that is, to unmask the interests that they invariably express. These interests are always expressions of the will to power - of class, or race, or gender. And here, of course, postmodernism links up with various ideologies of the Left - Marxism, 'post-colonialism', 'Third Worldism,' and all the various strands of identity politics (notably radical feminism and 'queer theory').

This amalgam of theoretical trends has become enormously influential in American academia over the last few decades, and in many places it has become an oppressive orthodoxy. But these trends have been popularized far beyond academia. They have a pronounced affinity with a widespread relativism... It is a widely diffused worldview, in which the only real virtue is 'tolerance' and the only real vice is 'being judgmental."

The disastrous intellectual and indeed political implications of this type of nihilism cannot be followed up here. But it should be clear why Luckmann and I have felt constrained to say repeatedly, 'We are not constructivists' (perhaps imitating marx's statement 'I am not a Marxist'). Our concept of the social construction of reality in no way implies that there are no facts. Of course there are physical facts to be determined empirically, from the fact that a particular massacre took place to the fact that someone stole my car.... Reality indeed is always socially interpreted, and power interests are sometimes involved in some interpretation. But not all interpretations are equal. If they were, any scientific enterprise, not to mention any medical diagnosis or police investigation, would be impossible. As to the most radical formulation of this 'postmodernism' - that nothing really exists but the various 'narratives' - this corresponds very neatly with a definition of schizophrenia, when one can no longer distinguish between reality and one's fantasies. 

Luchamn and I would place ourselves in a tradition of sociology rooted in the Enlightenment project of seeking to understand the world by exercises of reason. Many 'postmodernists' have proudly described their purpose as the end of the Enlightenment project. We understand our sociology as a defense of that project."  

 

 

 

Great Video Resource for Philosophy (Wi-Phi)

I recently found this great website, http://www.wi-phi.com/,  that has short videos explaining important concepts in philosophy similar to the way "the khan academy" teaches all their subjects. Wi-Phi and Khan Academy are actually partnering together to bring some of WiPhi's videos onto Khan academy.

The subject list of Wi-Phi is impressive and the videos are fun and packed full of good info.

Probably one of the best things about Wi-Phi is their page of resources that brings together some of the best free and basic resources for philosophy on the web. I copy and pasted it below and had a fun time checking out some of these links.

Philosophy:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP): The SEP is an excellent free online encyclopedia of philosophy with each entry created by experts in the field.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) : The IEP is a non-profit organization that provides open access to detailed, scholarly information on key topics and philosophers in all areas of philosophy.

Philosophy Talk: Ken Taylor and John Perry create incredible podcasts on a wide range of philosophical questions.  It's a perfect resource for a beginner in philosophy.      

Philosophy Bites: A set of podcasts where hosts interview top philosophers on bite sized topics.

Open Yale Courses in Philosophy: A free resource of classes at Yale University in philosophy.

History of Philosophy (without any gaps): Peter Adamson, Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at King's College London, takes listeners through the history of Western philosophy, "without any gaps." Beginning with the earliest ancient thinkers, the series will look at the ideas and lives of the major philosophers (eventually covering in detail such giants as Plato, Aristotle, Avicenna, Aquinas, Descartes, and Kant) as well as the lesser-known figures of the tradition.

Philosopher's Zone: A radio program that works through issues in ethics, metaphysics, and logic.

Philosophy Now: Philosophy Now is a newsstand magazine for everyone interested in ideas. It aims to corrupt innocent citizens by convincing them that philosophy can be exciting, worthwhile and comprehensible, and also to provide some light and enjoyable reading matter for those already ensnared by the muse, such as philosophy students and academics.

Philosophy for Children: Philosophy for Children's primary purpose is to introduce philosophy into the lives of young people. One of their principal activities are the "Philosophers in the Schools" program, which brings people trained in philosophy into K-12 classrooms to do philosophy sessions with students, our teacher-education workshops, and our parent-education project. Be sure to check out their excellent blog as well. 

Online Learning:

Khan Academy: Khan Academy offers a constantly growing library of free videos that covers K-12 math, science topics such as biology, chemistry, and physics and even a few videos on history.

Smart History: Smart History at Khan Academy is the leading open educational resource for art history. They make high-quality introductory art history content freely available to anyone, anywhere.

EdX: EdX is a non-profit created by founding partners Harvard and MIT. EdX offers MOOCs and interactive online classes in subjects including law, history, science, engineering, business, social sciences, computer science, public health, and artificial intelligence (AI). 

Open Culture: Open Culture brings together high-quality cultural & educational media for the worldwide lifelong learning community.

MIT+K12: An amazing resource that aims to promote STEM education where MIT students create videos that teach basic scientific and engineering concepts to primary school students in an entertaining fashion.

LearnOutLoud: LearnOutLoud is an organization that offers high-quality podcasts and radio shows on a wide variety of subjects, including philosophy, psychology, economics, and history. 

Other Interesting Links:

Open University 60-Second Adventures in Thought: These fast-paced animations explain six famous thought experiments, from the ancient Greeks to Albert Einstein, that have changed the way we see the world.

Brila Youth Projects: Brila is a Philosophy for Children charity that supports youth through educational programming that challenges their assumptions about art, ethics, and human connectivity.

Squire Family Foundation: The Squire Family Foundation supports various efforts that are trying to make philosophy more accessible.  The site has an excellent set of resources on pre-college philosophy.

PLATO (Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization): PLATO advocates and supports introducing philosophy to K-12 students through programs, resource-sharing and the development of a national network of those working in pre-college philosophy. They have gathered an excellent set of resources on teaching philosophy at K-12 level.

SAPERE (Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education): SAPERE advocates ‘the advancement of education for the public benefit, in particular amongst those young persons up to the age of 16 years, by the promotion of the development of their skills in logical thinking and other philosophical techniques so that their personal and social lives are enriched.

Ask Philosopher: You ask. Philosophers answer.

Teaching Children Philosophy: this organization helps adults conduct philosophical discussion with and among elementary school children.

The Information Philosopher (I-Phi): I-Phi is a new philosophical method grounded in science, especially modern physics, biology, neuroscience, and the science of information. It offers novel solutions to classical problems in philosophy, notably freedom of the will, the objective foundation of values, and the problem of knowledge (epistemology).

Mel Thompson: Philosophy and Ethics: Mel writes introductory and popular books on philosophy, ethics and religion and believes that everything should be explored with an open mind.

Talk by MIT Chemist on the integration of science and faith (two thumbs up)

Intro to Modernism and Postmodernism

john Stackhouse : Postmodernism: A Bad Thing? A Good Thing? Or Just a Thing? from CSPS on Vimeo.



An informative and entertaining presentation of the last few hundred years of western philosophy and society from "modernism to post-modernism".

Interesting new thoughts for me was calling postmodernism a "ptsd" movement...a reaction to the war, disappointment and failure of the enlightenment process. I like and agree with his consensus of Postmodernism as not a good thing, a bad thing but just a thing

Reformed Philosophy

Interested in "reformed philosophy"....who isn't right?!

The reformed church has quite a history of formidable philosophers that is currently being carried on by philosophers like Alvin Plantiga and Nicholas Wolterstorff and James K.A. Smith. Here is a great website named philosphia reformita, at the top of the page it lists some of the big names in reformed philosophy, giving a brief biography of the philosopher as well as a listing of all the written works by the author and the online works that are available by that particular author. It also has a link to the philosphia reformita journal which has a few (but not many) of it's articles available for free.

Also here is a great website that lists the majority of Alvin Plantiga's articles and gives links of the ones that are available to read online.

James K.A. Smith on Scholarship as a Way of Life

Blog post from James K.A. Smith a while back....

Scholarship as a Way of Life

James K.A Smith

[On April 14 I was asked to give a brief opening address to the West Michigan Honors Conference hosted by our own Honors Program here at Calvin College.  The conference was an opportunity for students from several colleges and universities to share the fruits of undergraduate research. These are my notes for the talk which might be of interest to others. (The talk was more conversational, so these points were more developed in the oral version.) I hope this might also address the misguided but persistent impression that somehow my recent work is "anti-intellectual."]

It's a Saturday morning, late in the semester, and you're here for a scholarly conference?  I love you guys!   Welcome to the club of freaks and geeks who pursue scholarship as a way of life.  

I hope that's a club you want to join (granted, there are Woody Allenish worries in the ballpark here).  I hope you're here contributing to the conversation because curiosity gives you an adrenalin rush, because generating new knowledge makes your heart sing.  Because the life of scholarship is not something that should be instrumentalized for other ends; nor should it be reduced to a particular profession; scholarship is a way of life--one I hope you'll pursue in your years ahead even if you never go to grad school or entertain becoming a professor or professional "scholar." 

The scholarly life is its own reward: it is a good life--it is the sort of reflective pursuit that has been valorized by the ancients.  It is also the sort of life that is increasingly difficult to sustain in a sound-bite culture of perpetual distraction.  In the age of the Kardashians and iPhone Twitter feeds, finding joy in the slow-food of scholarly reflection is a counter-cultural pursuit.  

Let me highlight three joys of scholarship as a way of life.

Weekly Talk- Willard on knowledge and spiritual formation

Liturgical Time vs. Clock Time

Read an interesting blog by Dr. Matthew Tan on the difference between liturgical/kairos time and clock/chronos time. It was something I had never really thought about before, and for that reason I found myself intrigued. Anytime I read something that brings an idea to me I have never even thought about or heard, I am intrigued..once again realizing the depths of learning and thought that are to be explored...especially when it is a thought about such a simple and taken for granted thing as time.

Tan questions the modern and post modern idea of "empty homogenized" clock time, where all of time is measured out into single and impartial moments that can be controlled. For me i was struck by the reality that not everyone always had clocks on there wall, and for all of time...time has not been measured by the passing of measurable moments. Another way of looking at time is as "liturgical", filling time with meaning....here are some of my favorite quotes from the blog:

When time becomes defined by an endless string of moments, what becomes denied is the possibility of radical transformation, what Walter Benjamin calls a “Messianic cessation of happening”. Things are always the way they are, and things will always be the way they are. There is a despair that becomes particularly acute when you consider that in postmodernity, the essentially modern search continues for individual security. There is a hyper-emphasis on the isolated monad, which heightens the sense that social relations are, as Daniel M. Bell observes, merely relations of “combat and sheer assertion”.

 both modern and postmodern time requires stripping time of any significance. Liturgical time, by contrast, in following a liturgical calendar, actually fills the time with meaning. 

Tan's thoughts are interesting and deep, and I enjoyed reading through it. I just got onto Tan's work today, but I like what I initially see of him. Tan is a professor of theology and philosophy at the Australian Catholic University, he edits a blog called the "divine wedgie" and already I have found his doctoral thesis and another paper he wrote online: thick stuff that I am looking forward to getting into at some point. 

Whose afraid of Relativism? (Weekly Talk)

A friend of mine recommended this lecture series by James K.A. Smith entitled "Whose Afraid of Relativism". I have only listened to the first lecture which runs 38 minutes and is entitled "It Depends: Creation, Contingency and the Specter of Relativism." The 38 minutes is jam packed full of challenging, informing and transforming (the last adjective is spoken in light of James K.A. Smith's thoughts on education that he talks about in his book "desiring the kingdom") content and though it may be a bit over the heads of some people who have not read or thought much about postmodernism, philosophy or the sort of things he talks about, it is still much more valuable then 40 minutes on facebook.

Smith's thoughts on postmodern relativism will likely not be accepted by all, and they definitely should not be accepted unquestionably by anyone, however I think they are really valuable and worth listening to. Smith does not see relativism as a dangerous enemy of the church today, instead what he says as dangerous is the answer/medicine many churches throw in the face of the challenges of relativism...the certain and hasty declaration of "absolute truth". Smith says that while some forms of radical relativism can go too far by denying all truth claims, it also can be helpful in reminding us that we are finite, contingent, dependent and culturally conditioned people. Relativism attacks the "naturalism and realism" of the modern enlightenment and therefore can be an aide in the church's proclamation of a metaphysical reality beyond the scientific method. I have heard this message spoken by alot of people lately, and I think there is really something to be learned from this. Has the church given too much to modernism? Are we answering arguments from a rationalism which is already being debunked by postmodern philosophers? While some postmodernists do certainly say some things that go against the christian faith...it is so much more refreshing for me to hear people like Smith dialogue with the thinkers and ideas of current postmodernism instead of just clogging the ears and damning them to hell.

Weekly Talk: Nietzsche VS Jesus

I really enjoyed this talk by Dallas Willard titled "Nietzsche VS Jesus: Who Holds the True Path". Dallas's talk is only for about 50 minutes and then students ask questions after that...so it is not as long as it looks. He talks for the majority of time about Nietzsche and other modern philosophers, and then spends the last 10 or 15 minutes contrasting Jesus and the Judeo-Christian worldview with that of the current view of modernism. It is a great introduction into modern thought and how Jesus relates to it.