Irrationalism

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term irrationalism (from irrational = "unreasonable") denotes a doctrine or worldview that rejects the conviction that human reason ( Latin ratio ) can acquire sufficient knowledge of the world .

features

The term "irrationalism" does not designate an independent philosophical current, but is a moment and component of various philosophical currents and systems. One speaks of irrationalism in the strict sense of the word when it comes to world views which are particularly peculiar to the element of irrationality and which, in addition, place rational thinking behind in favor of alternative higher cognitive functions, often in favor of a certain form of intuition . In this regard, the term has found a more specific use for some specific philosophical positions (see below).

So-called rationalism opposes irrationalism . Since the term irrationalism is often used as a pejorative accusation to criticize other positions as unreasonable, unscientific and thus as wrong , it is a controversial epistemological category, especially in individual cases. Otherwise the term is also often used unspecifically and - like its counterpart, rationalism - in very different meanings.

Depending on the area in which theses on irrationalism are represented, a distinction can be made between epistemological and metaphysical positions of irrationalism. For the former, the inadequacies of human cognitive faculties are responsible, for the latter, the irrational structure of reality itself is responsible for the rational unknowability of the world. The rejection of rationality as the only source of meaningful knowledge has far-reaching effects on the assessment of scientific methodology. Therefore, irrationalist positions are often directed against exclusively rational scientific and social ideas of development and progress . Even traditions of philosophy are specifically assessed according to these requirements.

Forms of irrationalism

Epistemological irrationalism

Proponents of this trend declare human reason alone to be incapable of recognizing the foundations, connections and regularities of objective reality. As alternatives for descriptive and normative explanations of the world, some “higher” cognitive functions such as vision of being , belief , intuition or “direct experience” are suggested. The exclusively rational knowledge is - unlike in rationalism - no true knowledge is assigned, which must rather appeal to feelings, the spirit or the soul . These views often play a role in connection with religious , esoteric and occult , but also political views.

Metaphysical irrationalism

In a metaphysical interpretation, the irrationalist regards certain areas (such as life, psychological processes, history) as irrational, i.e. H. as not exclusively governed by rational laws and regularities. Irrationality is here declared to be the essence of reality itself, regardless of the human capacity for knowledge. The possibility of gaining scientific knowledge in these areas is thus denied.

Apart from mystical positions, this view is rejected in the majority theology of Christianity and other religions and instead a natural or divine order is adopted. A metaphysical irrationalism can thus also be seen as the opposite pole to a naturalism , although it does not imply any supernatural entities .

Irrationalism outside of philosophy

Irrationalism used tactically and strategically

If used tactically, irrational behavior can be useful in certain conflict, play and escape situations. The moves of an irrational opponent are not (or only to a very limited extent) predictable. An irrational negotiator cannot be rationally pressured.

An indirect tactic is the rational use of third party irrationalism. A concrete implementation of this tactic was and is, for example, time and again in human history, the use of suicide bombers, especially in so-called asymmetrical warfare .

Insofar as assassinations themselves emerge from irrationalism, however, they can again be used rationally, for example with the aim of making profits from conflicts. Even here, irrationalism becomes strategic. Tactical irrationalism gives a rationally fought terrorism its powerful effect. Beyond tactics, terrorism can even be understood as strategic irrationalism .

Furthermore, strategic irrationalism is an important basis for the development and exploitation of niches in the esoteric market as well as of sectarian faith communities. But even in market areas that are widely accepted by society, irrationalism is used tactically and strategically. There it is one of the most important elements of advertising .

In situations that are comparable to the prisoner's dilemma , irrational behavior in the sense of game theory sometimes has advantages. If both players play irrationally, both earn a higher profit than if both play rationally. But if only one of the two plays irrationally, he will make the highest possible loss. Rational game here means: maximizing profit regardless of the other's moves.

History and controversy

Whether the term irrationalism is suitable as a historical category and to which positions it can be assigned is controversial. Modern, irrationalist positions are often traced back to their origins in German idealism . Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi , Johann Georg Hamann and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling are particularly mentioned here . The decisive factor for the attribution is mostly that the intellectual intuition and aesthetic intuitions (which Kant prominently rejected) are given special significance.

Friedrich Engels polemicized that Schelling's book Philosophy of Revelation (1843) was the “first attempt to smuggle a belief in authority, a mysticism of feeling, and Gnostic fantasy into the free science of thought”. Older philosophical stories such as that of Wilhelm Windelband also characterize Schelling and related positions as "irrationalist metaphysics". Every now and then, romanticism was ascribed an irrationalist attitude. However, more recent studies also emphasize the educational impulses that emanated from this current.

Irrationalistic moments are often ascribed to the following thinkers:

A variety of influences on various currents emanate from these thinkers, especially in the context of German philosophy. These include:

Numerous historians also attribute important elements of the ideology of German National Socialism to irrationalist, especially romantic, origins.

Elements of irrationalism are also found from various quarters in some philosophical positions in 20th century philosophy and in contemporary philosophy . These attributions are of course controversial. They were made about for

swell

  1. ↑ Human conformity behavior - simulated on the computer, 1974, ISBN 3-7643-0712-9 .

literature

  • Christoph Asmuth , Simon Gabriel Neuffer (ed.): Irrationality. Würzburg: Königshausem & Neumann 2015, ISBN 978-3-8260-5783-0 .
  • Isaiah Berlin : The Magus in the North: JG Hamann and the origin of modern irrationalism. Edited by Henry Hardy; from the English by Jens Hagestedt. Berlin: Berlin-Verlag 1995. ISBN 3-8270-0140-4 .
  • Ewald Burger: JG Hamann. Creation and redemption in irrationalism . Goettingen 1929.
  • Georg Lukács : The Destruction of Reason: The Path of Irrationalism from Schelling to Hitler. 4th edition, Berlin a. a. 1988, ISBN 3-351-00977-1 .
  • Hans Peter Duerr (Ed.): The scientist and the irrational: contributions from ethnology and anthropology, philosophy and psychology in 4 volumes. Syndicate authors and publishing company, Frankfurt am Main 1981, ISBN 3-434-46060-8 .
  • David Pears: Motivated irrationality. St. Augustine's Press, South Bend, Ind. 1998, ISBN 1-890318-41-8 .
  • Rudolf Unger : Hamann and sensitivity. A contribution to the question of the historical structure and development of modern German irrationalism. In: Euphorion 30 (1929), pp. 154-175.
  • Larry Vaughan: The Organizing Principle of JG Hamanns Thinking: Irrationalism (Isaiah Berlin) or Intuitive Reason (James C. O'Flaherty)? In: Gajek, Acta VII, pp. 93-106.
  • Heinrich Weber: Two prophets of irrationalism. JG Hamann and S. Kierkegaard as pioneers in the theology of faith in Christ. In: Neue Kirchliche Zeitschrift 28 (1917), pp. 23–58; Pp. 77-125.
  • James Webb : The Escape from Reason. Politics, Culture and Occultism in the 19th Century. Wiesbaden: Marixverlag 2009. ISBN 978-386539-213-8 .

Web links