orldview must be an internally consistent metanarrative that tells a coherent story about ultimate reality based on the interconnections between one’s positions in the various philosophical subdisciplines. Kant’s rigorously worked out metaphysical worldview is clo
We argued in class that there was a degeneration of intellectual culture in Germany from Kant (d. 1804) to Schopenhauer (d. 1860) to Nietzsche (d. 1900). This thesis of intellectual degeneration is based on the waning of the rigorous practice of metaphysics during this period. Metaphysics is possibly the most challenging and rewarding of the philosophical subdisciplines and, possibly, one of the most challenging exercises of the human mind (theoretical Physics may be another such challenging discipline). Metaphysics is challenging because to arrive at a metaphysical worldview one must first arrive at a position within various philosophical subdisciplines such as Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, Moral Philosophy, and Philosophy of Religion. One’s metaphysical worldview must be an internally consistent metanarrative that tells a coherent story about ultimate reality based on the interconnections between one’s positions in the various philosophical subdisciplines.
Kant’s rigorously worked out metaphysical worldview is close to Christianity. Kant believes in the existence of God based on an argument from morality, namely, that only the existence of God could explain the existence of rational beings governed by moral maxims (i.e., human beings). The natural world does not contain rational morality, for example, a cat cannot consider the consequences of its actions for all other cats. Human beings, however, CAN consider the consequences of their actions for all human beings, all animals, and all living things. As a result, Kant argued that when human beings choose to be rational (and follow the moral law), they transcend the natural world. By contrast, Schopenhauer’s metaphysical worldview does not allow for a rationally-infused Will (such as God’s) or even a guiding force of the universe (such as Tao or Brahman). He posits instead a blind, mindless Will. The critical question is whether Schopenhauer has good metaphysical arguments for positing a mindless Will. For example, in case he does not offer an adequate response to Kant’s argument from morality, his metaphysics is not rigorous, and this could be taken as an indication of intellectual decline in German philosophy.
In contrast to Kant and Schopenhauer, Nietzsche wants to do away with metaphysics altogether, his stated reason being that it is not relevant to our lives on Earth. He has two obvious PSYCHOLOGICAL motivations for sidelining metaphysics. First, he is not trained as a metaphysician (or a mathematician or a scientist in contrast to Kant who was an instructor of mathematics and science and published mathematically astute scientific works). Second, his failing health made it impossible for him to establish a healthy routine in life that would have allowed him to engage in patient metaphysical thought (unlike both Kant and Schopenhauer). Moreover, beyond considerations of his psychological motivations for adopting a post-metaphysical attitude (i.e., for sidelining metaphysics), it is also problematic to give a positive PHILOSOPHICAL assessment of Nietzsche’s post-metaphysical attitude. After all, the human imagination is fired up by the aspiration to tell a story about all of reality (especially including metaphysical reality). And if one does not have a story about the ultimate point of our existence then how is it at all possible to resist the powerful instinctual drives that Schopenhauer draws our attention to (for Schopenhauer, the mindless Will is at the foundation of our instinctual drives). In stark contrast to Schopenhauer, Nietzsche invites us to give expression to such psychic (Freudian) drives such as sex and aggression (“let [the animal inside you] run about freely�). But if one does not have a metaphysical worldview about the ultimate purpose of our lives, how can one possibly resist the addictive (habit-forming) power of such drives? Think about the thesis that 19th century German culture suffered an intellectual and moral degeneration. Discuss (600 word limit).
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