Problems of the History of Philosophy

by Theodore Oizerman

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

Chapter One

THE LOVE OF WISDOM. ORIGIN OF THE NOTION OF "PHILOSOPHY"

            1. Secularisation of "Divine" Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18

            2. Deification of Human Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36

            3. A New Age and a New Ideal of Philosophical Knowledge . . . . . . . . .  42

            4. Problem of Wisdom as a Real Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Chapter Two

MEANING OF THE QUESTION "WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?"

            1. Philosophy as a Problem for Itself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

            2. How Philosophy Delimits, Cognises and Determines Itself . . . . . . . . .  76

            3. First Historical Form of Theoretical Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

            4. Philosophy as an Alienated Form of Social Consciousness . . . . . . . . . . 88

            5. Social Consciousness or Science? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   97

            6. Criticism of the Existentialist Interpretation of the Question
               "What is Philosophy?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  107

Chapter Three

PHILOSOPHY AS A SPECIFIC FORM OF COGNITION

            1. Qualitative Diversity of Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  115

            2. Speculation, Logic, Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

            3. Intuition, Truth, Creative Imagination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  136

            4. Interpretation as a Mode of Philosophical Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

            5. Theoretical Synthesis of Diverse Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  166

Chapter Four

DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY AS A PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM

            1. Difficulties of Defining Philosophy Due to the
                Peculiar Nature of Its Historical Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

            2. Diversity of Definitions of Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  191

            3. Philosophy as a Specific World View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Chapter Five

NATURE OF PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS

             1. Questions That Cannot Be Left Unanswered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

             2. Problems, Old and New, Eternal and Transient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Chapter Six

THE SUBJECT‑MATTER OF PHILOSOPHY

             1. The Subject‑Matter of Philosophy as a Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  287

             2. Fundamental Philosophical Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

             3. The Subject‑Matter of Dialectical and Historical Materialism . . . . . . . 333

Chapter Seven

PHILOSOPHY AS THE SELF‑CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE HISTORICAL EPOCH

             1. Role of the Personality in the Development of Philosophy . . . . . . . . .  344

             2. Epochs in Philosophy and Socio‑Economic Epochs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

             3. Ideological Functions of Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  386

Chapter Eight

ON THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE

             1. Inevitability of Scientific Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  409

             2. Ideological Sources of Philosophical Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

             3. Theoretical Roots of Philosophical Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  436

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  457

Oizerman, Theodore [Oizerman, Teodor IlŽich]; translated from the Russian by Robert Daglish. Problems of the History of Philosophy. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1973.

Review by Ralph Dumain

Salvaging Soviet Philosophy (1)

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