Philosophy as a Way of Life, the System, and the Advent of the Research University: Contributions Toward an Unwritten Chapter of the History of PWL
Journal article
Sharpe, Matthew. (2024). Philosophy as a Way of Life, the System, and the Advent of the Research University: Contributions Toward an Unwritten Chapter of the History of PWL. Eidos : A journal for philosophy of culture. 8(3), pp. 42-68. https://doi.org/10.14394/eidos.jpc.2024.0015
Authors | Sharpe, Matthew |
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Abstract | This paper forms as it were a draft for an as-yet-unwritten, decisive chapter on the history of philosophy as a way of life (PWL). It closely examines the texts by Schleiermacher, Fichte, Humboldt, and Schelling on the foundation of the modern research university, and the place of philosophy within it, written in the years surrounding the formation of the University of Berlin. Part 1 contends that these texts represent studies of great significance for the history of PWL, the paper suggests, insofar as they are philosophical reflections on the university, its necessity and its purpose, as well as metaphilosophical reflections more specifically on philosophy, its nature and role, within the universities. In part 2, we will show how Hadot’s claim that these texts inaugurate a subordination of philosophy to the state, even in its qualified form, needs to be revised. What stands out is rather the attempt, sketched already in Kant (1794), of trying to grant philosophy a new autonomy within the modern university, as the sole faculty ideally governed by reason alone, not by external authorities. In part 3, we will argue both against and with Hadot concerning his linking of the advent of the modern research university with the construction of philosophy as a system. Our argument contra Hadot is that the classical idealistic texts on the university also each envisage philosophy as implicating a form of pedagogy and Bildung. Our argument with Hadot, is that this Bildung is nevertheless subordinated to the pursuit of systematic, pure, or absolute knowledge in ways which pave the way to today’s expectations around what serious philosophy must be (that is, theoretical, written, publishable in peer reviewed formats, to be read only by other experts or tertiary students). |
Keywords | Hadot; philosophy as a way of life; modern research university; Humboldt; Schleiermacher; Schelling; professionalization |
Year | 01 Jan 2024 |
Journal | Eidos : A journal for philosophy of culture |
Journal citation | 8 (3), pp. 42-68 |
Publisher | Instytut Filozofii, Uniwersytet Warszawski |
ISSN | 2544-302X |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.14394/eidos.jpc.2024.0015 |
Web address (URL) | https://eidos.uw.edu.pl/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life-the-system-and-the-advent-of-the-research-university/ |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Research or scholarly | Research |
Page range | 42-68 |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
31 Oct 2024 | |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | Oct 2024 |
Deposited | 17 Feb 2025 |
Additional information | © 2024 Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture. |
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/3.0/ | |
Place of publication | Poland |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/91598/philosophy-as-a-way-of-life-the-system-and-the-advent-of-the-research-university-contributions-toward-an-unwritten-chapter-of-the-history-of-pwl
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Publisher's version
OA_Sharpe_2024_Philosophy_as_a_way_of_life.pdf | |
License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 | |
File access level: Open |
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