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Draft:Irrationalism

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This about a philosophy and should not be confused with irrationality, which is an act of defying rational behavior and/or thinking.
Thinking hardly
or hardly thinking?

Philosophy
Icon philosophy.svg
Major trains of thought
The good, the bad,
and the brain fart
Come to think of it

Irrationalism is a umbrella term that designates specific philosophical currents that explicitly reject rationality and human reason (Latin ratio), usually in favor of a "non-rational" worldview. The use of the term "irrationalism" is bit contentious as philosophical category, since it can used as a reductive snarl word to disqualify anything as either unreasonable or unscientific.

The generally agreed definition of a irrationalist ideology is one that takes a stance in opposing rationalismWikipedia[note 1] and positivismWikipedia[note 2]. As such irrationalist thinkers propose that rationality and logic are erroneous in both theoretical and practical sense, and instead should be approached with other ways of knowing - such as intuition, will, and/or faith.

As alluded prior, irrationalism is an umbrella term and there is no single definitive school of Irrationalism. But depending on the area in which theses of irrationalism are advocated, one can distinguish between epistemological and ontological (alternatively dubbed metaphysical) positions of irrationalism; with the former arguing for inadequacies of human cognitive capacity, and the latter arguing the irrational structure of reality itself, which make it impossible to comprehend the world by rationalist means.

History[edit]

Early stages[edit]

Historical precedent for “philosophical” irrationalism can be found in classical antiquity, with pre-Socratic philosophers such as Empedocles and Pythagoras, as well as poets like Pindar. Irrationalist elements in ancient Greek Philosophy can also be found in philosophies of Platonism (and Neoplatonism), (philosophical) skepticism and sophism.[1]

The irrationalist ideologies proper started to formalize in the late 18th century and early 19th century, as a counter-movements to rationalism (or rather classical rationalism) and positivism, that starting gaining prominence during the Age of Enlightenment.[1] These positions were mainly presented by the Sturm und Drang movement[note 3], along with the interconnected ideologies of Jena Romantics[note 4] and German idealists [note 5]. Of German Idealists, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling in particular tends to be identified as one of the definitive irrationalists the ideology has ever had. One of his earliest critics to accuse such was none other than Friedrich Engels, who stated that Schelling and his philosophy was the "first attempt to smuggle belief in authority, emotional mysticism, and gnostic fantasy into the free science of thought."

The mid-19th century brought a new wave of irrationalists, with Soren Kierkegaard and Arthur Schopenhauer regarded as the era's most impactful contributors. Around the same time, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution changed everything, and this too had an impact on irrationalist thinkers, who started to create systems either defying it or using it to justify their own irrationalism.

1890s[edit]

Then came Friedrich Nietzsche, who is considered the one who made "irrationalism cool". Although when his works were first published during the 1870s and 1880s, he did not achieve true fame during that time. Only in the 1890s - after he lost his mental faculties - did his work start getting attention. Indeed, the environment and cultural zeitgeist of 1890s made it ripe for irrationalism to enter mainstream as "vogue" philosophy. This was primarily due to the spirit of the Fin de siècle, during which the counter-culture rebelled against materialism, rationalism, positivism, bourgeois society, and liberal democracy. This counter-culture saw the civilization being in crisis that required a kind of "reset", with ideas of emotionalism, irrationalism, subjectivism, and vitalism being seen as good instead.

Besides Nietzsche, Other major irrationalists ideologies and thinkers also began to surface in the 1890s. In Germany, the most important ones includes Wilhelm Dilthey (Epistemological hermeneutics and Historicism), Georg Simmel (Neo-Kantianism and anti-positivism) and Rudolf Eucken (Practical idealism/Ethical activism). Meanwhile in France, French Spiritualism became the big thing in irrationalism, with it presented by Émile Boutroux, Jules Lachelier and Félix Ravaisson-Mollien. However, they would all be overshadowed by Henri Bergson. Meanwhile in the USA, the philosophy of pragmatism became the go-to form of philosophical irrationalism and was presented mainly by William James and John Dewey - although the matter if pragmatism qualifies as irrationalism still remains controversial.

1900s-1945s[edit]

The early 1900s was when irrationalism starting to birth fascist thinkers. Before World War I, writers like Georges Sorel (Marxist reformism and Nietzschean vitalism) and Gabriele D'Annunzio (D'Annunzio movement; individualism, existentialism and decadence) had a decisive role in shaping what would become known as Italian Fascism. Then, the World War I and it's aftermath in particular lead to a very consequential explosion of irrationalist thinkers, many who would lay down the groundwork for the interwar period fascism. In Germany, the political Conservative Revolution and the philosophical co-current of “bastard” Lebensphilosophie movement - presented by Spengler, Heidegger, Klages - would serve as one of the key parts in shaping Nazism. Per Georg Lukács; the Baeumler-Krieck-Rosenberg triumvirate of Nazi ideologues would have been impossible without the Lebensphilosophie (or prior irrationalist) thinkers.

Following World War II to present[edit]

TBA

Forms of Irrationalism[edit]

Ancient Greece[edit]

Platoism[edit]

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Skepticism[edit]

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Sophism[edit]

TBA

Late 18th/early 19th Romanticism and German Idealism[edit]

Sturm und Drang[edit]

TBA

Jena Romanticism[edit]

TBA

Naturphilosophie[edit]

Naturphilosophie (nature-philosophy) - aka Romantische Naturphilosophie (romantic nature-philosophy) - is a philosophical approach to the study of nature, that was characterized by an organic, vitalist and holistic vision, which seeks to overcome the mechanical philosophy and reductionism of contemporary sciences. It is a form of German Idealism and was primarily systematized by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, inspired mainly by Kant's Critique of Judgement and Fichte's idealism. Besides Schelling, its other exponents include Johann Gottfried Herder, Lorenz Oken, GWF Hegel, Johann Wilhelm Ritter and Carl Gustav Carus; as well as poets and authors like J.W. von Goethe, Friedrich Schlegel and Novalis.[2]

The "nature philosophers" (Naturphilosophen) exalted the use of intuition and the search for a symbolic meaning of phenomena, which they placed in relation to ideal principles. Thusly proposing to find a synthesis between opposite polarities, such as human being and world, empirical and metaphysical knowledge, subjectivity and objectivity, spirit and matter.

On plus side, the Naturphilosophie thinkers have been credited in forming theoretical formulations that allowed further developments in the field of natural sciences, such as homology, evolutionary progress, the study of physical and biological phenomena such as magnetism, electricity, the living cell. However, in Naturphilosophie, intuition had high priority as a method and accordingly "only the active use of intuition leads to the real determination of the original unity of matter and to the understanding of its ideal foundations." Even though Naturphilosophie would serve as influence on the philosophy of Schopenhauer and Bergson, it would fell out of favor and instead become popular with woo-peddling cranks. In particular, it found re-emergence in the esoteric movements of theosophy and anthroposophy, in which the correspondence between the thinking spirit and organic nature takes on a cosmic value.

Hegelianism[edit]

Though of GWF Hegel is considered a form of irrationalism. This view is shared by the likes of Karl Popper. Although Marxist thinkers - like Georg Lukács - are not quite as eager to criticize the precursor ideology of Marxism itself, they are instead more willing to scrutinize Neo-Hegelianism as an irrationalist philosophy instead.

Existentialism[edit]

TBA

Late 19th century[edit]

Nietzscheism[edit]

One of the clearest signs of Nietzsche's celebration of irrationalism comes in his concept of the "Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy"[note 6], in which he championed the "Dionysian man"[note 7] as the basis for his idea of Übermensch - an individual able to transcend and rise above rationalist and religious morality and instead formulate and impose his own values. TBA

French Spiritualism[edit]

TBA

Bergsonism[edit]

TBA

Early to mid-20th century[edit]

Sorelianism[edit]

TBA

D'Annunzio movement[edit]

TBA

Lebensphilosophie[edit]

Lebensphilosophie (German for Philosophy of Life or Life Philosophy) or alternatively German Vitalism, Vitalist-Irrationalism or Bastard Lebensphilosophie is a philosophical movement that gained prominence during the interwar period, particularly in Germany. On paper, Lebensphilosophie is a "biocentric" ideology that is meant to emphasize and the "meaning, value and purpose of life" as it primary focus and was not supposed to be anything malicious by intent. Yet in practice, it ended up being used as a excuse to enable all the worst human impulses, as its most famous proponents and followers ended being some of the most life hating cranks there is.

Originally, the term was essentially just another word for “life philosophy”, “way of life” or "lifestyle". But the doctrine for bastard Lebensphilosphie/vitalist-irrationalism began to be formalized by its earliest thinkers - Schopenhauer and Nietzsche - with additional influence from Historicism and Bergsonism. Then, sometime during World War I - and particularly after Germany's loss and the 1918 revolutions - the true “bastard Lebensphilosophie” started to really take form, that lead to the term being hijacked by this emerging ideology.

Polymath crank Oswald Spengler is generally agreed to be the first popular purveyor of the “bastard Lebensphilosophie”. Influenced primarily by prior irrationalist heavyweights Goethe and Nietzsche, his Decline of the West offered a morphological-philosophical view of historical developments, while rejecting rationalist principles. This work found a audience in the disenchanted German public - in offering an "alternative" anti-rationalist explanation on why Germany lost the war - and fueled irrationalist sentiment in Germany.[3]:237[4]:158[5] Another noted popularizer was Martin Heidegger, although he would better become known as an existentialist philosopher down the lane.

In Germany, Spengler and Heidegger would be followed by the likes of Ludwig Klages, Hans Driesch, and Hermann Graf Keyserling, who are considered the main representatives of Lebensphilosophie.

Post-WWII to present[edit]

Randianism[edit]

Randianism and/or objectivism - as understood as philosophy based on ideas of Ayn Rand - derive elements from Nietzschean philosophy and opposition to Kantianism.[note 8] Like handful of other irrationalists, Rand liked to proclaim to be a rationalist in her support of "ethical egoism."

Dark Enlightenment[edit]

TBA

Trumpism[edit]

Although on surface this might be in the realm of "no shit Sherlock", but research has been conducted between Trumpism and philosophical irrationalism.

Contested[edit]

The following are ideologies that have been identified as irrationalist ideologies, but remain contentious as there is no widespread agreement regarding the applicability.

Pythagoreanism[edit]

Although Pythagoras is regarded as a vital figure in the development of mathematics, and natural sciences, his religious-philosophical movement of Pythagoreanism is seen as a early form of irrationalism. However, the total assessment of this is flawed, in that surviving materials regarding Pythagoras are very incomplete, with most of the accounts of the movement coming from authors who were either Aristotelians or Neoplatonists.

Pragmatism[edit]

TBA

Philosophical Deconstruction[edit]

TBA

Notes[edit]

  1. As outlined in the works and studies of the likes of René Descartes, Gottfried Leibniz, Baruch Spinoza and Immanuel Kant
  2. See Auguste Comte
  3. Presented by Johann Georg Hamann, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Karl Philipp Moritz.
  4. Presented by Novalis, Friedrich Hölderlin, Friedrich Schlegel, August Ludwig Hülsen
  5. Presented by Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, F.W.J. Schelling, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, G.W.F. Hegel.
  6. Although this/similar concepts had been presented before Nietzsche.
  7. Dionysus being a Greek God of wine, dance and pleasure, representing passion, emotions and instincts -- as well as of irrationality and chaos.
  8. Though this is contentious on the basis that Rand rarely cared to understood anything she talked about.

References[edit]

  1. Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 Encyclopedia Britannica: Irrationalism, philosophy. Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica (retrieved March 24, 2025)
  2. Beiser, Frederick C. (2008). "4. Problems, Methods and Concepts of Naturphilosophie". German Idealism. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674020702.
  3. Vrahimis, A. (2022). Bergsonism and the History of Analytic Philosophy. Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783030807559
  4. Ashman, K., Barringer, P. (2005). After the Science Wars: Science and the Study of Science. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781134616176
  5. Protevi, John (2006). A Dictionary of Continental Philosophy. Yale University Press. p. 355. ISBN 9780300116052.