The Contemporary Philosophy is the one developed from the late eighteenth century, which is marked by the French Revolution in 1789. It covers, therefore, the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Note that the so-called “postmodern philosophy”, although for some thinkers it is autonomous, it was incorporated into contemporary philosophy, bringing together thinkers from the last few decades.
Historical context
This period is marked by the consolidation of capitalism generated by the English Industrial Revolution, which began in the middle of the 18th century.
With that, the exploitation of human work becomes visible, at the same time as the technological and scientific advancement is seen.
At that time, several discoveries are made. Noteworthy are electricity, the use of oil and coal, the invention of the locomotive, the automobile, the plane, the telephone, the telegraph, photography, cinema, radio, etc.
Machines replace human strength and the idea of progress is widespread in all societies in the world.
Consequently, the 19th century reflects the consolidation of these processes and the beliefs anchored in technoscientific progress.
In the 20th century, the panorama started to change, reflected in an era of uncertainty, contradictions and doubts generated by the unexpected results.
Events of that century were essential to formulate this new vision of the human being. Noteworthy are the world wars, Nazism, the atomic bomb, the cold war, the arms race, the increase in social inequalities and the degradation of the environment.
Thus, contemporary philosophy reflects on many issues, the most relevant of which is the “crisis of contemporary man”.
It is based on several events. The Copernican revolution, the Darwinian revolution (the origin of species), the Freudian evolution (the foundation of psychoanalysis) and the theory of relativity proposed by Einstein stand out.
In this case, the uncertainties and contradictions become the motives of this new era: the contemporary era.
Frankfurt School
Founded in the 20th century, more precisely in 1920, the Frankfurt School was formed by thinkers from the “Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt”.
Based on Marxist and Freudian ideas, this current of thought formulated an interdisciplinary critical social theory. She delved into various themes of social life in the areas of anthropology, psychology, history, economics, politics, etc.
Philosophers deserve to be highlighted among their thinkers: Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin and Jurgen Habermas.
Cultural Industry
The Cultural Industry was a term coined by the Frankfurt School philosophers Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer. The aim was to analyze the mass industry broadcast and reinforced by the media.
According to them, this “entertainment industry” would massify society, while homogenizing human behavior.
Main features
The main characteristics and philosophical currents of contemporary philosophy are:
- Marxism
- Positivism
- Rationalism
- Utilitarianism
- Pragmatism
- Scientificism
- Nihilism
- Idealism
- Freedom
- Existentialism
- Phenomenology
- Subjectivity
- Hegelian System
- Dialectical materialism
Main Contemporary Philosophers
Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)
German philosopher, Hegel was one of the greatest exponents of German cultural idealism, and his theory became known as “Hegelian”.
He based his studies on dialectics, knowledge, conscience, spirit, philosophy and history. These themes are gathered in his main works: Phenomenology of the Spirit, Lessons on the History of Philosophy and Principles of Philosophy of Law.
He divided the spirit (idea, reason) into three instances: subjective, objective and absolute spirit.
Dialectics, according to him, would be the real movement of reality that would have to be applied in thought.
Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872)
German materialist philosopher, Feuerbach was a disciple of Hegel, although he later took a contrary stance from his master.
In addition to criticizing Hegel’s theory in his work “Critique of Hegelian Philosophy” (1839), the philosopher criticized religion and the concept of God. According to him, the concept of God is expressed by religious alienation.
His philosophical atheism influenced several thinkers including Karl Marx.
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
German philosopher and critic of Hegelian thought, Schopenhauer presents his philosophical theory based on Kant’s theory. In it, the essence of the world would be the result of everyone’s will to live.
For him, the world would be full of representations created by the subjects. From there, the essences of things would be found through what he called ” intuitive insight ” (enlightenment).
His theory was also marked by the themes of suffering and boredom.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard was one of the precursors of the philosophical current of existentialism.
In this way, his theory was based on the questions of human existence, highlighting the relationship of men with the world and also with God.
In this relationship, human life, according to the philosopher, would be marked by the anguish of living, by various concerns and despairs.
This could only be overcome with the presence of God. However, it is marked by a paradox between faith and reason and, therefore, cannot be explained.
Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
In the “Law of the Three States” the French philosopher points to the historical and cultural evolution of humanity.
It is divided into three different historical states: theological and fictitious state, metaphysical or abstract state and scientific or positive state.
Positivism, based on empiricism, was a philosophical doctrine inspired by the confidence of scientific progress and its motto was “to see to foresee ”.
This theory was opposed to the precepts of metaphysics cited in the work “Discourse on the Positive Spirit”.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
German philosopher and critic of Hegelian idealism, Marx is one of the main thinkers of contemporary philosophy.
His theory is called “Marxist”. It encompasses several concepts such as historical and dialectical materialism, class struggle , modes of production, capital, labor and alienation.
Together with the revolutionary theorist, Friedrich Engels , they published the “Communist Manifesto” in 1948. According to Marx, the way of material production of life conditions the social, political and spiritual life of men, analyzed in his most emblematic work “O Capital” .
Georg Lukács (1885-1971)
Hungarian philosopher, Lukács based his studies on the theme of ideologies. According to him, they have the operational purpose of guiding the practical life of men, who in turn, have great importance in solving the problems developed by societies.
His ideas were influenced by the Marxist current and also by Kantian and Hegelian thinking.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
German philosopher, Nietzsche’s nihilism is expressed in his works in the form of aphorisms (short sentences that express a concept).
His thought went through several themes from religion, arts, sciences and morals, strongly criticizing Western civilization.
The most important concept presented by Nietzsche was that of “the will to power”, a transcendental impulse that would lead to existential plenitude.
In addition, he analyzed the concepts of “Apollonian and Dionysian” based on the Greek gods of order (Apollo) and disorder (Dionysus).
Edmund Husserl (1859-1938)
German philosopher who proposed the philosophical current of phenomenology (or science of phenomena) in the early 20th century. this theory is based on the observation and detailed description of the phenomena.
According to him, for reality to be glimpsed, the relationship between subject and object should be purified. Thus, consciousness is manifested in intentionality, that is, it is the subject’s intention that would reveal everything.
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)
Heidegger was a German philosopher and a disciple of Husserl. His philosophical contributions were supported by the ideas of the existentialist current. In it, human existence and ontology are its main sources of study, from the adventure and the drama of existing.
For him, the great philosophical question would be focused on the existence of beings and things, thus defining the concepts of being (existence) and being (essence).
Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980)
French existentialist and Marxist philosopher and writer, Sartre focused on the problems related to “existing”.
His most emblematic work is “Being and Nothingness”, published in 1943. In it, “nothingness”, a human characteristic, would be an open space, however, based on the idea of the negation of being (non-being).
The “nothing” proposed by Sartre refers to a human characteristic associated with movement and changes in being. In short, the “emptiness of being” reveals freedom and awareness of the human condition.
Bertrand Russel (1872-1970)
Bertrand Russel was a British philosopher and mathematician. In view of the logical analysis of language, he sought in the studies of linguistics the precision of the speeches, the meaning of words and expressions.
This aspect became known as “Analytical Philosophy” developed by logical positivism and the philosophy of language.
For Russell, philosophical problems were considered “pseudo-problems”, analyzed in the light of analytical philosophy. This is because they were no more than mistakes, inaccuracies and misunderstandings developed by the ambiguity of language.
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
Austrian philosopher, Wittgenstein collaborated with the development of Russell’s philosophy, so that he deepened his studies in logic, mathematics and linguistics.
From his analytical philosophical theory, undoubtedly, the “language games” deserve to be highlighted, from which the language would be the “game” deepened in social use.
In short, the conception of reality is determined by the use of the language whose language games are produced socially.
Theodor Adorno (1903-1969)
German philosopher and one of the main thinkers of the Frankfurt School. Together with Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) they created the concept of Cultural Industry, which is reflected in the massification of society and its homogenization.
In the “Critique of Reason”, philosophers point out that social progress, reinforced by Enlightenment ideals, resulted in the domination of the human being.
Together, they published the work “Dialética do Esclarecimento”, in 1947. In it, they denounced the death of critical reason that led to the distortion of consciences based on a dominant social system of capitalist production.
Walter Benjamin (1892-1940)
German philosopher, Benjamin demonstrates a positive attitude towards the themes developed by Adorno and Horkheimer, mainly from the Cultural Industry.
His most emblematic work is “The work of art in the age of its technical reproducibility”. In it, the philosopher points out that mass culture , disseminated by the Cultural Industry, could bring benefits and serve as an instrument of politicization. This is because it would allow the access of art to all citizens.
Jurgen Habermas (1929-)
German philosopher and sociologist, Habermas proposed a theory based on dialogical reason and communicative action. According to him, it would be a way of emancipation from contemporary society.
This dialogical reason would arise from dialogues and argumentative processes in certain situations.
In this sense, the concept of truth presented by the philosopher is the result of dialogical relations and, therefore, is called intersubjective truth (between subjects).
Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
French philosopher, Foucault sought to analyze social institutions, culture, sexuality and power.
According to him, modern and contemporary societies are disciplinary. Thus, they present a new organization of power, which, in turn, was fragmented into “micropowers”, veiled structures of power.
For the philosopher, power today encompasses the diverse spheres of social life and not only the power concentrated in the State. This theory was clarified in his work “Microphysics of Power”.
Jacques Derrida (1930-2004)
French philosopher born in Algeria, Derrida was a critic of rationalism, proposing the deconstruction of the concept of “logos” (reason).
Thus, he coined the concept of “logocentrism” based on the idea of center and which includes several philosophical notions such as man, truth and God.
Based on this logic of oppositions, Derrida presents his philosophical theory destroying the “logos”, which, in turn, helped in the construction of indisputable “truths”.
Karl Popper (1902-1994)
Austrian philosopher, naturalized British, dedicated his thought to critical rationalism. Critical of the inductive principle of the scientific method, Propper formulated the Deductive Hypothetical Method.
In this method, the research process considers the principle of Falsifiability to be the essence of scientific nature. The Open Society and its Enemies and The Logic of Scientific Research are his best known works.