Modern Idealistic Worldviews

When Eduard von Hartmann published his “Philosophy of the Unconscious” in 1868, he had in mind not so much a worldview that took into account the findings of modern natural science, but rather one that elevated the ideas of the idealistic systems of the first half of the century, which he considered inadequate in many respects, to a higher level, cleansing them of contradictions and developing them in all respects. He believed that the ideas of Hegel, Schelling, and Schopenhauer contained seeds of truth that only needed to be brought to maturity. Human beings cannot be content with observing facts if they want to understand the things and processes of the world. They must progress from facts to ideas. These ideas cannot be something that is arbitrarily added to the facts by thinking. There must be something in things and events that corresponds to them. This correspondence cannot be conscious ideas, for such ideas come about only through the material processes of the human brain. Without the brain, there is no consciousness. One must therefore imagine that the conscious ideas of the human mind correspond to an unconscious ideal in reality. Like Hegel, Hartmann also regards the idea as the reality in things that exists in them beyond what is merely perceptible, accessible to sensory observation. However, the mere content of ideas in things could never bring about a real event in them. The idea of a sphere cannot push the idea of another sphere. The idea of a table cannot make an impression on the human eye either. A real event requires a real force. To gain an understanding of such a force, Hartmann draws on Schopenhauer. Human beings find in their own souls a force through which they give reality to their own thoughts and decisions: the will. Just as the will expresses itself in the human soul, it presupposes the existence of the human organism. Through the organism, the will is a conscious one. If we want to conceive of a force in things, we can only imagine it as similar to the will, the only force immediately known to us. But again, we must disregard consciousness. Outside of us, therefore, there is an unconscious will in things, which gives ideas the possibility of becoming reality. The ideas and will of the world, when combined, form the unconscious basis of the world. Even though the world has a thoroughly logical structure due to its ideas, it owes its real existence to illogical, irrational will. Its content is rational; the fact that this content is a reality is due to irrationality. The reign of the irrational is expressed in the existence of pain, which torments all beings. Pain predominates in the world over pleasure. Eduard von Hartmann seeks to substantiate this fact, which can be explained philosophically by the illogical element of will in existence, through careful observations of the relationship between pleasure and displeasure in the world. Anyone who does not succumb to any illusions, but rather objectively observes the evils of the world, can come to no other conclusion than that displeasure is present to a far greater extent than pleasure. From this, however, it follows that non-existence is preferable to existence. But non-existence can only be achieved if the logical-rational idea destroys the will, existence. Hartmann therefore sees the world process as a gradual destruction of the irrational will by the rational world of ideas. The highest moral task of human beings must be to participate in the overcoming of the will. All cultural progress must ultimately lead to the final achievement of this overcoming. Human beings are therefore morally good when they participate in cultural progress, when they demand nothing for themselves but devote themselves selflessly to the great work of liberation from existence. They will undoubtedly do so when they realize that displeasure must always be greater than pleasure, and that happiness is therefore impossible. Only those who believe it to be possible can selfishly desire happiness. The pessimistic view that pain outweighs pleasure is the best remedy for selfishness. Only by losing themselves in the world process can individuals find salvation. True pessimists are led to act unselfishly. However, what humans consciously accomplish is only the unconscious that has been raised to consciousness. Conscious human cooperation in cultural progress corresponds to an unconscious overall process, which consists in the progressive liberation of the primordial being of the world from the will. The beginning of the world must also have been subservient to this goal. The primordial being had to create the world in order to gradually free itself with the help of the idea of the will. “Real existence is the incarnation of the deity, the world process is the passion story of the incarnate God, and at the same time the path to the redemption of the crucified in the flesh; morality, however, is the cooperation in shortening this path of suffering and redemption.” (Hartmann, “Phenomenology of Moral Consciousness,” 1879, p. 871) Hartmann developed his worldview in a series of comprehensive works and in a large number of monographs and essays. These writings contain intellectual treasures of outstanding importance. This is particularly the case because Hartmann knows how to refrain from his basic ideas when dealing with individual questions of science and life and to devote himself to an unbiased consideration of things. This is especially true of his “Phenomenology of Moral Consciousness,” in which he presents the various types of human moral teachings in a logical structure. He has thus provided a kind of natural history of the various moral standpoints, from the selfish pursuit of happiness to selfless devotion to the general world process through which the divine primordial being frees itself from the misery of existence. Since Hartmann places the idea of purpose at the center of his worldview, it is understandable that he regards the scientific way of thinking based on Darwinism as erroneous. Just as the idea as a whole works toward the goal of non-existence in the world, so too is the ideal content in the individual a purposeful one. Hartmann sees a purpose being realized in the development of the organism, and the struggle for existence with natural selection are only the handmaidens of purposeful ideas. (“Philosophy of the Unconscious,” 10th ed., vol. III, p. 403)