Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Defining a context for Otto Friedrich Gruppe's ‘revolution’ in nineteenth-century philosophy

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 14; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09608780600792182

1469-3526

Herbert De Vriese, Guido Vanheeswijck,

German Social Sciences and History

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1The comparison between the political revolutions in France and the philosophical revolutions from Kant to Hegel became famous through Heinrich Heine's Concerning the History of Religion and Philosophy in Germany. In fact, however, the French revolutions of 1789 and 1830 did have a substantial impact on the self-definition and self-understanding of German philosophy. Cf. Stathis Kouvelakis, Philosophy and Revolution. From Kant to Marx (London/New York: Verso, 2003); 1830–1848. The End of Metaphysics as a Transformation of Culture, edited by K. Verrycken et al. (Leuven: Peeters, 2003). 2Cf. Hermann J. Cloeren, Language and Thought. German Approaches to Analytic Philosophy in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1988) 78–9; (hereafter, 'Cloeren, Language and Thought'). 3 Antäus, Gruppe's first philosophical work of 1831, includes a treatise with a similar title, which expresses that he was a 'non-believer' with regard to the preceding 'turning points' in the history of German Idealism: Wendepunkte der neuern Philosophie, dargestellt von einem Ungläubigen (Turning points of recent philosophy, presented by a non-believer). Otto Friedrich Gruppe, Antäus: Ein Briefwechsel über speculative Philosophie in ihrem Conflict mit Wissenschaft und Sprache (Berlin: Nauck, 1831, 467 pp.) 184; (hereafter, 'Antäus'). See also Otto Friedrich Gruppe, Wendepunkt der Philosophie im neunzehnten Jahrhundert (Berlin: G. Reimer, 1834, 472 pp.) 22–7 (hereafter, 'Wendepunkt'). 4Karl Friedrich Bachmann, Ueber Hegel's System und die Nothwendigkeit, einer nochmaligen Umgestaltung der Philosophie (Leipzig, 1833). 5Cf. Rüdiger Safranski, Schopenhauer und die wilden Jahre der Philosophie (Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag, 1987); Horst Althaus, Hegel und die heroischen Jahre der Philosophie (München/Wien: Hanser, 1992). 6For an overview of the twentieth-century Gruppe studies until 1967, see Hermann J. Cloeren, O. F. Gruppe und die sprachanalytische Philosophie (Münster i.W.: Phil. Diss., 1967) 43–51; (hereafter, 'Cloeren, O. F. Gruppe'). During the latter part of the twentieth century, these studies were continued mainly by Hermann Cloeren himself. See Footnotefootnotes 2, Footnote7, Footnote10 and Footnote29. 7Cf. Hermann J. Cloeren, 'The neglected analytical heritage', Journal of the History of Ideas, 36 (1975): 513–29. 8F. Mauthner, introduction to: O. F. Gruppe, Philosophische Werke I. Antäus, edited by Fritz Mauthner (München: Georg Müller, 1914) vii. 9It is only in the most recent literature that this approach has come to be questioned. In spite of a more accurate interpretation, however, a twentieth-century entry to Gruppe's writings still predominates. See, for instance, Katherine Arens, 'Antäus and the Critique of Language: Fritz Mauthner's Gruppe', and Volker Peckhaus, 'Otto Friedrich Gruppe und die Logische Frage', both in Otto Friedrich Gruppe 1804–1876. Philosoph, Dichter, Philologe, edited by Ludwig Bernays (Freiburg i.Br.: Rombach Verlag, 2004). 10Ch. 9: 'Analytic empiricism versus metaphysics: Otto Friedrich Gruppe (1804–1876)' in Cloeren, Language and Thought, 78–109. 11More than once, Cloeren literally declares that Gruppe is a twentieth-century rather than a nineteenth-century philosopher. See, for instance, his preliminary remarks in Philosophie als Sprachkritik im 19. Jahrhundert. Textauswahl I, edited by Hermann J. Cloeren (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1971) 19. 12Karl Biedermann, Die deutsche Philosophie von Kant bis auf unsre Zeit, ihre wissenschaftliche Entwicklung und ihre Stellung zu den politischen und socialen Verhältnissen der Gegenwart, Vol. 2 (Leipzig: Mayer und Wigand, 1842) 460. 13Cf. Cloeren, O. F. Gruppe, 8–10. 14Quoted in Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, The Holy Family in: Marx and Engels collected Works, Vol. 4 (New York: International Publishers, 1975) 147–8. 15Cf. Cloeren, O. F. Gruppe, 7, 10. 16Cloeren, Language and Thought, 132. 17Cf. Cloeren, O. F. Gruppe, 7–8. 18Hans Vaihinger, Die Philosophie des Als Ob. System der theoretischen, praktischen und religiösen Fiktionen der Menschheit (Leipzig: Felix Meiner, 1922, first edn. 1911) 388–98. 19Ibid., 388. 20Hans Vaihinger, 'Gruppes Erweckung', Die Zukunft (1913) 14–16. 21Mauthner, introduction to: O. F. Gruppe, Philosophische Werke I. Antäus, vii. 22Mauthner only published Antäus, together with a thirty-page introduction. 23Although a more historical approach to Gruppe has been developed in Olaf Briese, 'Philosophische Zweckbündnisse. Das Beispiel Otto Friedrich Gruppes und der Junghegelianer', in Philosophie, Literatur und Politik vor den Revolutionen von 1848, edited by L. Lambrecht (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1996) and in Léo Freuler, La crise de la philosophie au XIXe siècle (Paris: J. Vrin, 1997), the issue of the historic relevance of Gruppe's revolution has not yet been addressed. 24Mauthner discovered Gruppe while rewriting and revising the third volume of his Critique of Language for the second edition of 1913. He was able to include Gruppe in the index, but the indicated page number only refers to a footnote to a passage on 'Antaios'. Surprisingly enough, this passage was already literally included in the first edition of 1902 (only the spelling 'Antäos' (sic) was changed in 'Antaios'). Cf. Fritz Mauthner, Beiträge zu einer Kritik der Sprache. Dritter Band. Zur Grammatik und Logik (Stuttgart/Berlin: J. G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1902) 384–5. In the second edition, the following footnote has been added: 'Antäus heißt das bedeutende, fast sprachkritische Buch gegen Hegel (1831) von O. F. Gruppe; ich hoffe, bald einen Neudruck veranstalten zu können'. Fritz Mauthner, Id. (Leipzig: Felix Meiner, 1923) 377. 25It is an intriguing hypothesis that Wittgenstein had read Mauthner's republication of Antäus before he wrote the Tractatus. Up until now, however, no tangible proof has been offered. Cloeren, for his part, is not very supportive of such an hypothesis. Cf. Cloeren, O. F. Gruppe, 49. 26Ibid., 48. 27Cloeren found an unpublished manuscript entitled Gegen Hegels Phil. from 1826 or 1827 in the archives of the Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR, in former East Berlin. Cf. Cloeren, Language and Thought, 79. 28Hegel seems to have taken it badly, for he could use the 'comforting advice' of a friend. Cf. Karl Rosenkranz, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegels Leben (Berlin, 1844) 383. 29[Otto Friedrich Gruppe], Die Winde oder ganz absolute Konstruktion der neuern Weltgeschichte durch Oberons Horn gedichtet von Absolutulus von Hegelingen (Leipzig: Nauck, s.d., 129pp.). See also Hermann J. Cloeren, 'Problems in Dating O.F. Gruppe's Satirical Attack on Hegel', International Studies in Philosophy, 13 (1981): 73–80. 30Otto Friedrich Gruppe, Wendepunkt der Philosophie im neunzehnten Jahrhundert (Berlin: G. Reimer, 1834, 472pp.) 6–7 (hereafter, 'Wendepunkt'). 31 Wendepunkt, 11. 32Ibid., 12. (No single work of Gruppe so far has been translated in English. If English translations of fragments are available in Cloeren's article, these are taken over, albeit sometimes slightly modified. If not, the translations are ours). 33Ibid., 18. 34 Antäus, x. 35It can be argued that the idea of a language-critical philosophy as a well-defined philosophical project has for the first time been realized in Mauthner's Critique of Language. Cf. Fritz Mauthner, Beiträge zu einer Kritik der Sprache. Erster Band, Sprache und Psychologie (Leipzig: Felix Meiner, 1923) xii. 36Thomas Rentsch, 'Metaphysikkritik I', in Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie. Band 5, edited by J. Ritter, K. Gründer (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) 1286. 37Hermann J. Cloeren, 'Metaphysikkritik II', ibid., 1293. 38The exception that proves the rule is Panajotis Kondylis's monumental work, Die neuzeitliche Metaphysikkritik, a systematic study of the history of the critique of metaphysics from medieval nominalism to the present. We will discuss his interpretation of Gruppe in the following pages. 39Karl Löwith, Von Hegel zu Nietzsche. Der revolutionäre Bruch im Denken des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts: Marx und Kierkegaard (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1941). 40Cf. ch. 10 'Analytic aspects in Marx' attitude towards religion' and ch. 11 'The linguistic turn in Kierkegaard's attack on Hegel', in Cloeren, Language and Thought, 110–24, 125–37. 41Ibid., 117–24. 42It is not without importance to emphasize that Gruppe also considered Hegel's philosophy to be the synthesis and culmination of the metaphysical tradition. According to Gruppe, however, such a grandiose apotheosis could only result in the enlargement of the errors. In that respect, Hegel's philosophy offered the ideal opportunity to recognize the errors and to eliminate them once and for all. Cf. Antäus, 19–20. 43Rudolf Carnap, 'Überwindung der Metaphysik durch logische Analyse der Sprache', Erkenntnis 2 (1931) 220: Auf dem gebiet der Metaphysik … führt die logische Analyse zu dem negativen Ergebnis, das die vorgeblichen Sätze dieses Gebietes gänzlich sinnlos sind. Damit ist eine radikale Überwindung der Metaphysik erreicht die von den früheren antimetaphysischen Standpunkten aus noch nicht möglich war. 45 Antäus, 33. 44For Gruppe's critique of Reinhold, cf. Antäus, 148–9; for his discussion of Herder, cf. infra. See also Cloeren, Language and Thought, 83 ff. 46 Wendepunkt, 293. 47Ibid., 189. 48To a large extent, the originality of Gruppe's critique does consist precisely in the encapsulation of new data and insights taken from recent evolutions in both natural sciences (especially chemistry) and linguistics (especially etymology and comparative grammar) within his philosophical approach. Cf. Antäus, 41; Wendepunkt, v–vi, 12. 49Ibid., 362, 462. 50Cf. also ch. 3 'Die neue Methode' in Cloeren, O. F. Gruppe, 104–37. 51Panajotis Kondylis, Die neuzeitliche Metaphysikkritik (Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1990), 491–3. The book title is programmatic: although it suggests that it will only deal with the critique of metaphysics of modern philosophy, the final part of the book (363–561) contains a profound survey of nineteenth- and twentieth-century criticisms of metaphysics. Yet, in Kondylis's view, this part does not exceed the boundaries suggested by the word 'neuzeitlich', as he considers them as mere reappearances of typically modern types of critique. 52Ibid., 363. 53Ibid., 491. For a detailed discussion of the originality of Gruppe's critique of metaphysics, in comparison to other nineteenth-century critics of metaphysics and with a discussion of Gruppe's profound understanding of the clash between metaphysics and the scientific spirit of the age (resulting in the transformation of the concept of science itself), see Guido Vanheeswijck and Herbert De Vriese, 'Gruppe's unique place in the history of the critique of metaphysics', in Otto Friedrich Gruppe 1804–1876: Philosoph, Dichter, Philologe, edited by Ludwig Bernays (Freiburg i.Br.: Rombach Verlag, 2004) 249–279. 54Ibid., 492. 55 Wendepunkt, 61. See also 62–3. 56Ibid., 100. 57 Antäus, 198. 58Ibid., 198–9. 59Ibid., 199. 60See, for instance, Wendepunkt, 237: 'All this cogently proves that Locke is still deeply embedded in metaphysicism'. 61 Antäus, 42. See also Cloeren, Language and Thought, 101. 62Carl Fortlage, Genetische Geschichte der Philosophie seit Kant (Leipzig, 1852). Cf. Cloeren, O. F. Gruppe, 8. 63 Wendepunkt, 71. 64Ibid., 72. 65Ibid., 79. 66 Antäus, 228. 67 Wendepunkt, 74. 69 Wendepunkt, 418. See also 24. 68Ibid., 71–2. See also Antäus, 199. 70 Antäus, 266. 71Ibid., 203. 72 Wendepunkt, 35–40. 75 Wendepunkt, 444. 73Ibid., 60. 74 Antäus, 264. 76Ibid., 13. 80 Wendepunkt, 21. See also ch. 14 'Metaphysiker als Gegner der Metaphysik', 416–32. 77 Antäus, 129. 78 Wendepunkt, 444. 79 Antäus, 285–7. 81Ibid., 415. 82Ibid., 23. 83Ibid., 99. 85 Antäus, 464. 84Ibid., 410. 86Ibid., 377. 87Ibid., 454: 'The abscess became ripe, and it was time to use the knife'. 88 Wendepunkt, 3. See also 13, 26–7. 89 Antäus, 34. 90 Wendepunkt, 68. 91Moritz Schlick, 'Die Wende der Philosophie', Erkenntnis 1 (1930); Alfred J. Ayer et al., The Revolution in Philosophy (London: Macmillan & Co, 1956). 92Cloeren, Language and Thought, 79. 93Ibid., 107. 94Ibid., 104–5: 'Gruppe, likewise, tries to show what "words do and mean"'. 95Ibid., 90–91: 'Hegel was criticised by Gruppe in much the same way as Heidegger, in the twentieth century, was criticised by Carnap'. 96Ibid., 111: 'Gruppe considered this to be a radically new and revolutionary approach, long before members of the Vienna Circle and logical positivists formulated it'. 97Ibid., 92–8; 105–9. 98 Wendepunkt, 247–8. 99See also Cloeren's critique of Sluga, Language and Thought, 3 footnote. 100Hans Sluga, Gottlob Frege (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980) 186. 101Ibid., 25. 102Otto Friedrich Gruppe, Gegenwart und Zukunft der Philosophie in Deutschland (Berlin: G. Reimer, 1855, 278pp.) 270 ff.; (hereafter, 'Gegenwart und Zukunft'). 103Cf. the thirteenth letter in Antäus, 242–57. See also Guido Vanheeswijck, 'Otto Friedrich Gruppe: the end of metaphysics as a liberation of religion,' in Proceedings of Metaphysics 2003. The Second World Conference. Rome, July 2–5, 2003 (Rome: Fernando Rielo Foundation, forthcoming). 104 Antäus, 95. 105 Wendepunkt, 426–8. 106After the publication of Wendepunkt, it was as if Gruppe considered his mission as a critical philosopher accomplished, for in the following years he confined himself to the scholarly study of classical philology. It was more than twenty years later that he returned to the issues of contemporary and future philosophy: in Gegenwart und Zukunft der Philosophie in Deutschland he repeats his earlier insights in a more condensed way. In the meantime – the book was published in 1855 – the cultural climate had so drastically evolved that the proclamation of the disappearance of metaphyiscs had become a commonplace. Hence, in order to throw into relief Gruppe's originality, we have concentrated on his two earlier books. 107 Gegenwart und Zukunft, 261. 108Cloeren, Language and Thought, 8. 109Peter Hylton, 'Hegel and analytic philosophy', in The Cambridge Companion to Hegel, edited by F. C. Beiser (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993) 462. 110Ibid., 471. 111Although both Berlin and Taylor recognized their indebtedness to Hamann, Herder and other members of the early German analytic tradition, it is a pity that the name of Otto Friedrich Gruppe, who played such an original and important role in that tradition, never occurs in their work. 112 Antäus, 467. 113Alan Janik, Stephen Toulmin, Wittgenstein's Vienna (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973) 259 ff. 114 Gegenwart und Zukunft, 262.