Philosophy of the Unconscious

1869 book by Eduard von Hartmann

Philosophy of the Unconscious

Author| Eduard von Hartmann
Original title| Philosophie des Unbewussten
Translator| W. C. Coupland
Language| German
Subject| Unconscious mind
Published|

* 1869 (Duncker, in German)
* 1884 (in English)

Publication place| Germany
Media type| Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
ISBN| 978-1440050282

Philosophy of the Unconscious: Speculative Results According to the Induction Method of the Physical Sciences (‹See Tfd›German: Philosophie des Unbewussten) is an 1869 book by the philosopher Eduard von Hartmann.[1] The culmination of the speculations and findings of German Romantic philosophy in the first two-thirds of the 19th century, Philosophy of the Unconscious became famous.[2] By 1882, it had appeared in nine editions.[3] A three-volume English translation appeared in 1884.[4] The English translation is more than 1100 pages long.[5] The work influenced Sigmund Freud's and Carl Jung's theories of the unconscious.[4][6]

## Reception

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Philosophy of the Unconscious was translated from German into French and English, and went through many editions in all three languages, exerting a great influence on European culture and helping to make the idea of the unconscious familiar and accepted by the close of the 19th century.[7] The work was widely read.[8] Philosophy of the Unconscious received a critical discussion in the philosopher Franz Brentano's Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint (1874); Brentano commented that Hartmann's definition of consciousness perhaps referred to "something purely imaginary" and certainly did not agree with his definition of consciousness.[9]

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche described Hartmann's book as a "philosophy of unconscious irony", in his On the Use and Abuse of History for Life, one of the essays included in Untimely Meditations (1876). In Nietzsche's words: "Take a balance and put Hartmann's 'Unconscious' in one of the scales, and his 'World-process' in the other. There are some who believe they weigh equally; for in each scale there is an evil word—and a good joke."[10]

Hartmann's work has been seen as preparing the way for Freud's later theory of the unconscious.[4] Freud consulted Philosophy of the Unconscious while writing The Interpretation of Dreams (1899),[6] in which he called Hartmann the firmest opponent of the theory that dreams are wish fulfillments.[11] The philosopher Hans Vaihinger was influenced by Philosophy of the Unconscious, relating in his The Philosophy of 'As if' (1911) how it led him to Schopenhauer.[12] The psychiatrist Henri Ellenberger writes in The Discovery of the Unconscious (1970) that the main interest of Hartmann's work is not its philosophical theories, but its wealth of supporting material.[2]

The psychologist Hans Eysenck writes in Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire (1985) that Hartmann's version of the unconscious is very similar to Freud's.[5] The philosopher Roger Scruton described Philosophy of the Unconscious as the "first major treatise" about the unconscious in Sexual Desire (1986). He credited Hartmann with offering a "canny and vigorous" description of sexual desire, but nevertheless considered him unsuccessful in explaining its intentionality.[13] John Kerr writes that Hartmann's ideas about "destruction and transformation" parallel those of psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein.[14] The Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli was influenced by Philosophy of the Unconscious in his poetics program, "Il fanciullino" ("The child", 1897).[15]

## English translation

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The first English translation by W. C. Coupland[16] was published in 1884, with the title Philosophy of the Unconscious, a literal translation of the German title. It is currently available as a reprint with the same title.[17]

## See also

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* Freud, Biologist of the Mind

## References

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1. ^ Full title "Philosophie des Unbewussten: Speculative Resultate nach inductiv-naturwissenschaftlicher Methode (speculative results according to the inductive method of physical science) (original sub-title in 1st edn 1869: Versuch einer Weltanschauung): cited by Sebastian Gardner, "Eduard von Hartmann's Philosophy of the Unconscious, chapter 7 of "Thinking the Unconscious, Nineteenth-Century German Thought", ed. Nicholls and Liebscher, Cambridge University Press, 2010.[1]
2. ^ a b Ellenberger, Henri F. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious: The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry. New York: Basic Books. pp. 209–210. ISBN 0-465-01672-3.
3. ^ Dufresne, Todd (2000). Tales from the Freudian Crypt: The Death Drive in Text and Context. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 88\. ISBN 0-8047-3885-8.
4. ^ a b c Stack, George J. (1999). Audi, Robert (ed.). The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 363\. ISBN 0-521-63722-8.
5. ^ a b Eysenck, Hans (1986). Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 33\. ISBN 0-14-022562-5.
6. ^ a b Sulloway, Frank (1979). Freud, Biologist of the Mind: Beyond the Psychoanalytic Legend. London: Burnett Books. p. 253\. ISBN 0-233-97177-7.
7. ^ Stevens, Anthony (1991). On Jung. London: Penguin Books. p. 12. ISBN 0-14-012494-2.
8. ^ Smith, Roger (1997). The Norton History of the Human Sciences. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 401. ISBN 0-393-31733-1.
9. ^ Brentano, Franz (1995). Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint. London: Routledge. p. 104\. ISBN 0-415-10661-3.
10. ^ Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Use and Abuse of History for Life, trans. (revised edition 2010) by Ian Johnston.[2]
11. ^ Freud, Sigmund; Robertson, Ritchie (1999). The Interpretation of Dreams. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 106. ISBN 0-19-210049-1.
12. ^ Vaihinger, Hans (1968). The Philosophy of 'As If'. Fakenham: Cox & Wyman. p. xxviii.
13. ^ Scruton, Roger (1994). Sexual Desire. London: Phoenix. pp. 194–195. ISBN 1-85799-100-1.
14. ^ Kerr, John (2012). A Dangerous Method. London: Atlantic Books. p. 590\. ISBN 978-0-85789-178-5.
15. ^ Elio Gioanola, Giovanni Pascoli: sentimenti filiali di un parricida, Jaca Book, 2000, p.18.
16. ^ Author of The elements of mental and moral science as applied to teaching, by W. C. Coupland, published London, 1889 [3]
17. ^ Such as published by Routledge, 2010, ISBN 9780415613866, and by Nabu Press, 2010, ISBN 1146864655

## External links

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* Full text of Philosophy of the Unconscious, Speculative Results, according to the Inductive Method of Physical Science. Authorised Translation by William C. Coupland. M.A., with author's preface, London, 1884.
* Text of Nietzsche's "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life" (Wikisource)

* v
* t
* e

Philosophical pessimism

Philosophers|

* Hegesias of Cyrene
* Giacomo Leopardi
* Arthur Schopenhauer
* Julius Bahnsen
* Olga Plümacher
* Philipp Mainländer
* Eduard von Hartmann
* Agnes Taubert
* Peter Wessel Zapffe
* Emil Cioran
* Julio Cabrera
* David Benatar

Concepts|

* Antinatalism
* Duḥkha
* Misanthropy
* Radical evil

Works|

| Primary|

* The World as Will and Representation (Arthur Schopenhauer)
* Small Moral Works (Giacomo Leopardi)
* The Tragical as World Law and Humour as Aesthetic Shape of the Metaphysical (Julius Bahnsen)
* Philosophy of the Unconscious (Eduard von Hartmann)
* The Philosophy of Redemption (Philipp Mainländer)
* The Last Messiah (Peter Wessel Zapffe)
* A Short History of Decay (Emil Cioran)
* The Human Predicament (David Benatar)
* Discomfort and Moral Impediment (Julio Cabrera)
* Works by philosophical pessimists

|

Secondary|

* Pessimism: A History and a Criticism (James Sully)
* The Philosophy of Disenchantement (Edgar Saltus)
* The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror (Thomas Ligotti)
* Anti-Natalism: Rejectionist Philosophy from Buddhism to Benatar, (Ken Coates)
* Weltschmerz: Pessimism in German Philosophy, 1860–1900 (Frederick C. Beiser)
* Depressive Realism: Interdisciplinary perspectives (Colin Feltham)
* Dark Matters: Pessimism and the Problem of Suffering (Mara van der Lugt)

Related articles|

* Antinatalism
* Depressive realism
* History of philosophical pessimism
* Misanthropy
* Pessimism controversy
* Philosophical pessimism
* Problem of evil
* Benatar's asymmetry argument
* Weltschmerz
* Wild animal suffering

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