Weltgeist | Why Schopenhauer Hated Hegel @WeltgeistYT | Uploaded December 2022 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
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Schopenhauer and Hegel on Napoleon Bonaparte
▶ youtu.be/PYikGlrN7Co
Schopenhauer on History versus Philosophy
▶ youtu.be/6DEUHYj8nhY
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Where does the hate come from?
04:05: The story of the horse
06:50 Hegel’s “science”
13:00 Hegel’s writing style
16:42 Hegel’s philosophy
23:05 Conclusion
SCHOPENHAUER'S WORKS:
Parerga and Paralipomena vol. 1: amzn.to/3pK6xCj
Parerga and Paralipomena vol. 2: amzn.to/3jJa2p0
The World as Will and Representation vol. 1: amzn.to/3FPGkIj
The World as Will and Representation vol. 2: amzn.to/3FT0nFC
Schopenhauer’s work is notoriously for constantly and repeatedly dunking on Hegel.
He said Hegel’s philosophy stupefied an entire generation, maintained that posterity would look down on Hegel as a “monument to German stupidity”, providing later generations with endless laughter. His “school of dulness”, “center of ignorance” was the greatest example of the corruption of academic philosophy.
Where does this hatred come from? Generally, it’s agreed that Schopenhauer hates Hegel for personal reasons, but also for philosophical reasons.
The two men had a bit of an altercation when Schopenhauer had to pass an exam in order to teach at the University of Berlin. Hegel asked him a question on “animal functions” but used the term wrongly. Schopenhauer corrected him, and the professor of medicine and biology concurred. This little incident proved to Schopenhauer that Hegel was a charlatan, unable to use a philosophical term in the correct manner.
Another possible source of hatred was Schopenhauer’s envy: we know he deeply desired fame but was largely ignored up until the very end of his life. Contrast this with Hegel, who was a philosophical superstar and world-famous almost immediately.
But philosophically, there are disagreements too. Hegel’s philosophy hinges too much upon history. For Schopenhauer, history was the polar opposite of philosophy: it focuses on the particular instead of on the general. For Schopenhauer, all of history is simply a manifestation through time of one underlying Will, with the Will itself being unchanging. Philosophy is the study of this Will. History is the study of the appearance, or manifestation. In this framework, Hegel makes an unforgivable category-error: he thinks he’s doing philosophy, but he’s actually a historian.
He also disagreed with Hegel’s general outlook. That history is the progressive realization of a fundamentally good ideal; history being the march of the Geist as it unfolds itself and comes to know itself, ultimately resulting in total human freedom. Schopenhauer disagreed that the world is going in a particular direction (being only a manifestation of something unchanging) but also he disagreed with the implied optimism of this philosophy of history. We’re not marching towards some ideal, we’re just here to suffer, forever and ever. Existence has no goal beyond this, let alone some rational Geist permeating everything.
This video was sponsored by Brilliant.
Keep exploring at brilliant.org/Weltgeist/. Get started for free, and hurry—the first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription.
SUPPORT US ON PATREON:
▶ patreon.com/WeltgeistYT
Schopenhauer and Hegel on Napoleon Bonaparte
▶ youtu.be/PYikGlrN7Co
Schopenhauer on History versus Philosophy
▶ youtu.be/6DEUHYj8nhY
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Where does the hate come from?
04:05: The story of the horse
06:50 Hegel’s “science”
13:00 Hegel’s writing style
16:42 Hegel’s philosophy
23:05 Conclusion
SCHOPENHAUER'S WORKS:
Parerga and Paralipomena vol. 1: amzn.to/3pK6xCj
Parerga and Paralipomena vol. 2: amzn.to/3jJa2p0
The World as Will and Representation vol. 1: amzn.to/3FPGkIj
The World as Will and Representation vol. 2: amzn.to/3FT0nFC
Schopenhauer’s work is notoriously for constantly and repeatedly dunking on Hegel.
He said Hegel’s philosophy stupefied an entire generation, maintained that posterity would look down on Hegel as a “monument to German stupidity”, providing later generations with endless laughter. His “school of dulness”, “center of ignorance” was the greatest example of the corruption of academic philosophy.
Where does this hatred come from? Generally, it’s agreed that Schopenhauer hates Hegel for personal reasons, but also for philosophical reasons.
The two men had a bit of an altercation when Schopenhauer had to pass an exam in order to teach at the University of Berlin. Hegel asked him a question on “animal functions” but used the term wrongly. Schopenhauer corrected him, and the professor of medicine and biology concurred. This little incident proved to Schopenhauer that Hegel was a charlatan, unable to use a philosophical term in the correct manner.
Another possible source of hatred was Schopenhauer’s envy: we know he deeply desired fame but was largely ignored up until the very end of his life. Contrast this with Hegel, who was a philosophical superstar and world-famous almost immediately.
But philosophically, there are disagreements too. Hegel’s philosophy hinges too much upon history. For Schopenhauer, history was the polar opposite of philosophy: it focuses on the particular instead of on the general. For Schopenhauer, all of history is simply a manifestation through time of one underlying Will, with the Will itself being unchanging. Philosophy is the study of this Will. History is the study of the appearance, or manifestation. In this framework, Hegel makes an unforgivable category-error: he thinks he’s doing philosophy, but he’s actually a historian.
He also disagreed with Hegel’s general outlook. That history is the progressive realization of a fundamentally good ideal; history being the march of the Geist as it unfolds itself and comes to know itself, ultimately resulting in total human freedom. Schopenhauer disagreed that the world is going in a particular direction (being only a manifestation of something unchanging) but also he disagreed with the implied optimism of this philosophy of history. We’re not marching towards some ideal, we’re just here to suffer, forever and ever. Existence has no goal beyond this, let alone some rational Geist permeating everything.
This video was sponsored by Brilliant.
