1. Precursors of Continental Philosophy
From Descartes to Nietzsche
©2002, G. J. Mattey

2. René Descartes French 1596-1650 Meditations on First Philosophy (1641)
Principles of Philosophy (1644)
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3. Descartes
Project: To establish foundations for the new science consistent with Catholicism
Threats: Skepticism and materialism
Solution: Discover all resources of knowledge of things other than one’s self in “innate ideas,” implanted by God in one’s own immaterial mind
Problem of subjectivism: Do the contents of my mind correspond to “external” reality?
Mind-body problem: How is my immaterial mind related to material objects, including my body?

4. Immanuel Kant German 1724-1804 Critique of Pure Reason (1781, 1787)
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5. Kant
Project: To establish foundations for the new science in the face of the failure of metaphysics
Threats: Skepticism, materialism
Solution: Discover the basis of necessity in faculties of the human mind
Problem of the relativity of knowledge: Knowledge extends only to things as they are represented by the human mind

6. G. W. F. Hegel
German
Phenomenology of Spirit (1807)
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7. Hegel
Project: To account for all knowledge and reality within a single comprehensive system
Threat: Kantian relativism
Solution: All reality is the outcome of the “dialectical” progression of a universal “spirit”
Problem of conservatism: The alleged structure of reality merely reflects existing values
Problem of subordination: The only value of the individual human is in relation to the whole

8. Karl Marx German 1818-1883 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)
Capital (1867)
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9. Marx
Project: To show the basis of human oppression and how to overcome it
Threat: Hegelian conservatism
Solution: Human development is based on material conditions and will result in revolution
Problem of subordination : as with Hegel
Problem of reduction: All human behavior can be explained in economic terms

10. Søren Kierkegaard Danish 1813-1855 The Concept of Anxiety (1844)
Concluding Unscientific Postscript (1846)
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11. Kierkegaard Project: To understand the human relationship to God
Threat: Hegelian subordination
Solution: The significance of life is established by “existential” choices which may be based on irrational emotions
Problem of inexplicability: There is ultimately no way to comprehend our most fundamental choices

12. Friedrich Nietzsche German 1844-1900 Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
On the Genealogy of Morals (1887)
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13. Nietzsche Project: To understand human behavior in historical terms
Threat: Rationalism, conservatism
Solution: The structure of reality is not “rational,” but rather a flux of power-relations
Problem of objectivity: Conflicting perspectives on reality have equal claim to validity