Kuno Fischer Famous German historian of philosophy. Date of Birth: 23.07.1824 Country: Germany

Biography of Kuno Fischer

Kuno Fischer was a renowned German historian of philosophy. He served as a professor at the University of Jena from 1856 to 1872, and then moved to Heidelberg, where he attracted a large audience with his brilliant lectures. In 1850, he opened a course in Heidelberg, but was prohibited from giving lectures without explanation. This order sparked widespread outrage, with the exception of an anonymous article in a clerical organ in Darmstadt attempting to justify the government's actions.

Most notable among Fischer's works are "Diotima; die Idee des Schönen" (Diotima; the idea of the beautiful, 1849), which presents the fundamental principles of Hegelian aesthetics in the form of letters; "Die Logik und Metaphysik oder Wissenschaftslehre" (Logic and Metaphysics, or the doctrine of science, 2nd edition, 1865), where Fischer presents his system of logic and metaphysics closely aligned with Hegel, while also claiming original development of philosophical problems; and "Geschichte der neueren Philosophie" (History of Modern Philosophy, 3rd edition, 1898) - an outstanding work covering the history of rationalism from the 17th century (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz - first two volumes), Kant's philosophy (volumes III and IV), the teachings of Kant's immediate followers and Fichte's philosophy (volume V), Schopenhauer's philosophy (volume VI), Schelling's philosophy (volume VII), and finally Hegel's system (volumes VIII and IX).

Fischer's approach to the history of philosophy primarily focused on three tasks: understanding the spirit of a given system, elucidating the connection between a system and the personality of its creator ("Lebensauffassung"), and exploring the relationship between a given system and other systems of thought. His contributions to clarifying the significance of Kant's and Hegel's philosophical systems are particularly notable.

Alongside Celler, Fischer emphasized the need to shift from materialism to the study of critical philosophy in the early 1860s. The recently published last two volumes of his history of philosophy, dedicated to Hegel, are undoubtedly the best and most comprehensive exposition of the Hegelian system. Fischer possessed an unmatched art of entering into the spirit of the thinker under examination and interpreting it from their point of view. In such immanent criticism, he seemed to uphold the principle established by Herder: "to explain a writer from oneself is the 'honestas' owed by every honest person."

In presenting various philosophical systems, Fischer often touched on profound and interesting questions that sparked lively debates in literature. He clarified the erroneous interpretation of Spinoza's "attributes" in the context of subjective "forms of knowledge," refuted dogmatic interpretations of Kant's "transcendental aesthetics" in the dispute with Trendelenburg about the "third possibility" regarding the objective significance of space and time forms, and attempted to show, contrary to the opinions of other historians, that the philosophical worldview of Fichte's second period is not in contradiction with his initial point of view. Fischer also expressed doubts about the connection between Schopenhauer's pessimism and his fate, remarking that Schopenhauer "viewed the tragedy of world unhappiness through binoculars from a very comfortable chair, and then went home with a strong impression but completely satisfied." This view of Schopenhauer is currently disputed by Folkel (see "Arthur Schopenhauer," page 33).

Even when his views on the history of philosophy are erroneous, Fischer's ideas are interesting and thought-provoking. The first four volumes of his philosophy have been translated into Russian under the editorship of Strakhov. Currently, a new translation of volumes I, II, and IV is being prepared, as well as translations of the volumes dedicated to Fichte and Schelling. The third volume (Kant) has been recently published in Russian translation by Polilov, Zhukovsky, and Lossky, along with the eighth volume (the first of two devoted to Hegel) translated by Lossky. Soon to be released are the fourth volume (Kant) and the ninth volume (Hegel). Additionally, there are available in Russian translation the sixth volume dedicated to Schopenhauer and a separate book by Fischer titled "Bacon of Verulam and the Age of Real Philosophy," as well as a brochure on "The Freedom of Man" and a series of interesting literary sketches such as "Schiller," "Goethe's Faust," and "Lessing."

In addition to the mentioned works, Fischer wrote brochures such as "Entstehung und Entwickelungsformen des Witzes" (Origin and Development Forms of Wit, 1871) and "Shakespeares Characterentwickelung Richard III" (Shakespeare's Character Development in Richard III, 1868). For more details on Fischer's system of logic and metaphysics, see Kym's article in his "Metaphysische Untersuchungen" and Sieber's note in his book "Geschichte der neueren deutschen Philosophie seit Hegels" (1898, pages 60-62). Further information on Fischer's dispute with Trendelenburg can be found in Vaihinger's "Kommentar zu Kant's Kritik der reinen Vernunft." Fischer's response to Faiinger's objections on this and other questions regarding Kant's theory of knowledge can be found in the first of the two volumes dedicated to Kant (page 334 - "Critical Additions"). Here, a fair assessment is given of the scholastic methods of representatives of "Kantology" - those imitators of Kant's caliber.