German philosophy made crystal clear

German philosophy is the backbone of modern Western philosophy, and Kant the single most important philosopher since Aristotle.

At the same time, Leibniz, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche were grounded first and foremost in Latin and Greek, and steeped in the classics, which informed and inspired many of their greatest ideas.

And they were ‘Greek’ in other ways too—and can readily be contrasted to the ‘Anti-Greeks’ of British, or Anglo-American, empiricism.

The German Greeks, therefore, sets out to do three things:

• Outline the life and thought of the five most fertile German philosophers;
• Unravel their many influences, including over one another; and
• Situate them within the Western tradition inaugurated by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—showing how they are, in fact, their heirs.

Editorial reviews

A fascinating, thought-provoking book. Neel Burton’s approach is similar to Will Durant’s, particularly in how he blends storytelling with philosophical insight. —Carol Thompson, writing lecturer, editor, and investigative journalist with over 50 reporting awards

About the author

Dr Neel Burton is a philosopher and psychiatrist who lives and teaches in Oxford, England. His other books include: The Gang of Three: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle; Stoic Stories: Stoicism by Its Best Stories; and Indian Mythology and Philosophy. “As I wrote The German Greeks, I fell under the spell of each philosopher in turn, and I hope you will too.”

A biographical, historical approach

The German Greeks makes German philosophy memorable and graspable by adopting a biographical, chronological approach to Leibniz, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. Embedding their works and ideas within their lived context enables the reader to discover them ‘at the same time’ as they themselves did, and for the same reasons.

Alongside the mind-blowing, life-changing, paradigm-shifting philosophy, find out:

• What happened when Leibniz sailed to Holland on a royal yacht to meet the dying lens grinder Spinoza.
• Whether Voltaire was right to pillory Leibniz.
• How the young Kant supported himself by skilful gambling.
• How Kant disregarded his own Categorical Imperative to obtain his dream job.
• How Hegel was influenced by his roommates Hölderlin and Shelling, and what came of these friendships.
• How Hegel’s illegitimate son died in Batavia.
• Why Schopenhauer had such a low opinion of women, and Hegel.
• Why Schopenhauer lent his large double opera glasses to an Austrian officer.
• How Nietzsche became a university professor at the age of 24, before even completing his doctorate—and how it went.
• How Nietzsche ended up in a ménage-à-trois with Paul Rée and Lou Andreas-Salomé.
• How Nietzsche’s Nazi sister exploited her invalid brother and distorted his legacy.
• And much, much more.

◆ Grab your copy now and follow the fascinating journey from the mathematics and metaphysics of a pre-ordained universe to the irrational depths of the human psyche and birth of psychoanalysis.

Preface

Where is the lightning to lick you with its tongue? Where is the madness by which you might be cleansed? Behold, I show you the Superman. He is this lightning, he is this madness. —Nietzsche

I first read Schopenhauer and Nietzsche as a teenager, though they were, of course, not on the curriculum (nothing truly important ever is). Had I not read them, my life would have been very different. 

To my teenage self, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche were a lot more accessible than the rigorously systematic Leibniz, Kant, and Hegel, who also lacked the rebel appeal. Although they were both avowed atheists, there was something of the prophet and saviour about them. Their philosophies felt personal and urgent, and spoke to my own problems of living. 

It was in reading Schopenhauer that Nietzsche was awoken to philosophy. But later, he repudiated Schopenhauer’s pessimism and inverted it into a proactive affirmation of life, embracing struggle and the creation of one’s own values—and, in losing his sanity, paying the ultimate price. 

I had at least three motives for writing this book. First, I wanted to study everything that Schopenhauer and Nietzsche had ever published, which I could not well do without understanding those who came before. Schopenhauer borrowed Kant’s entire superstructure. In assimilating Kant’s thing-in-itself with Will, he thought to have completed Kant’s work. Ultimately, the philosophy of Leibniz, and, therefore, German philosophy, arose from the ruins of the centuries-old Aristotelian system of the Church and universities, which had been torn asunder by the Scientific Revolution. The demise of the Aristotelian-Scholastic system left a void that needed filling, ideally by some all-encompassing metaphysical system on the scale of the old, Aristotelian one. The three seventeenth century philosophers who rose to this challenge were Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz—which is why, in the Introduction, before even touching upon Leibniz, I discuss the Scientific Revolution, Descartes, and Spinoza. 

Second, in writing the Ancient Wisdom series, I often found myself referring to the German philosophers. Leibniz, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche were grounded first and foremost in Latin and Greek, and steeped in the classics, which informed and inspired many of their greatest ideas. Hegel’s dialectic method is rooted in the Socratic and Platonic method of dialogue and contradiction. His Spirit [Geist] is rooted in the Aristotelian notion of Mind [Nous]. And so on. Moreover, Leibniz had for his primary aim to rescue Aristotle, and, in so doing, rescue God, the soul, and the primacy of man. Kant can be read as essentially continuing this project. In sum, German philosophy is a kind of continuation of Greek philosophy. Like Greek philosophy, it is extremely rich in ideas, which could be of use to us, for instance, in understanding and addressing our mental health crisis. At the same time, German philosophy is not reactionary or insular, but thoroughly modern and European. Leibniz wrote in French and Latin, and would, if he could, have remained in Paris all his life. Kant had only one picture in his house, which hung above his bureau. This picture was of Jean-Jacques Rousseau—to whom I have devoted an entire chapter. Nietzsche, who was officially stateless, spent most of his time in Switzerland, Italy, and France, and would rather have been Polish than German. Schopenhauer’s daily walk landed him at Frankfurt’s Senckenberg library, where he would catch up with The Times of London. We might well ask whether there is even such a thing as German philosophy—a question that I’ll be returning to at the end of the book. 

Third, German philosophy can be so impenetrable as to seem quasi mystical. Yet, it is the backbone of modern Western philosophy, with Kant the single most important philosopher since Plato and Aristotle. I wanted to render a humble service by making German philosophy more accessible. Why was Kant such a revolutionary? Is there more to Nietzsche than a few clichés? Was Leibniz completely off his head? To make these thinkers more accessible, I did a couple of things. First, I adopted a story-telling approach. Embedding their works and ideas within their lived context enables the reader to discover them ‘at the same time’ as they themselves did, and for the same reasons. Second, I followed Kant’s advice to keep it concise, so that the reader can better distinguish the form of their thought—see, as it were, the wood for the trees. Still, let’s not pretend that a book on German philosophy is going to be easy. In my first days studying philosophy, a lecturer advised us to read slowly, and, if necessary, to re-read: “This is not pulp fiction, it’s philosophy. After a few pages, you might feel tired. You might feel exhausted. And that’s to be expected. It’s your mind working.” 

But stick with me, and let me do for you what the German Greeks did for me.