Irrationalism

Irrationalism is the philosophical current that diminishes the value of rational capacity as a means of knowing reality . This philosophical school was a response to the exaltation of self-reason by thinkers as influential as Descartes. From an epistemological point of view, this form of knowledge defends the irrational pre-eminence of reality.

Opposition to rationalism

One of the most important thinkers and exponent of Irrationalism was Schopenhauer. He viewed the world as a non-rational manifestation of impulses that could not be fully understood through the power of reason. The point of view of a rational world starts from a perspective of the world as a disorderly environment and the presence of chaos. While rationalism is the only human capacity that allows us to know reality in its logical perspective, on the contrary, irrationalism is the opposite current. Irrationalism

Irrationalism believes that reason is nothing more than an illusion that produces the false hope of being able to embrace the world through this form of knowledge. The irrationalists consider that the complexity of reality cannot encompass a conceptual language , but a transcendental one.

From this perspective, reality transcends the capacity of human understanding in many respects, it goes beyond its own rational limits. Ontological irrationalism, for example, describes the reality of things as a force marked by elements that are unpredictable, such as bad luck or luck. From this point of view, ontology is fueled by the illogic of everything that exists.

Rationalism defends the importance of other forms of knowledge such as intuition to understand reality, while rational knowledge defends the importance of scientific knowledge .

Representatives of Irrationalism

Arthur Schopenhauer

German philosopher, famous for his doctrine of pessimism. In his main work, The World as Will and Representation ( 1819 ), he proposed the dominant ethical and metaphysical elements in his atheistic and pessimistic philosophy.

Disagreeing with the school of idealism, he harshly opposed the ideas of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel , who believed in the spiritual nature of all reality. Instead, he accepted, with some reservations, Immanuel Kant ‘s theory that phenomena exist only to the extent that the mind perceives them as representations. However, he did not agree with the latter that the thing-in-itself (Ding an sich), or ultimate reality, exists beyond experience. He, for his part, identified it with the experienced will.

However, will is not limited to predictable voluntary action, but all activity experienced by the social relationships are very important for the development of the adult personality because every human being learns and improves in direct contact with others. In fact, the personality is will, including unconscious physiological functions. This will is the innate nature that each being experiences and adopts in time and space as the appearance of the body, which is thus its representation. Starting from the principle that the will is the innate nature of his own body as an appearance in time and space, he concluded that the innate reality of all material appearances is the will, and that the ultimate reality is a universal will.

The tragedy of life arises from the nature of the will, which urges the individual incessantly towards the attainment of successive goals, none of which can provide permanent satisfaction to the infinite activity of the life force, or will. Thus, the will leads the person to pain, a remedy for suffering and death; to an endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth, and the activity of the will can only be brought to an end through an attitude of renunciation, in which reason governs the will to the point that it ceases to strive.

He had this conception of the origin of life in the will thanks to an approach that started from the conception of the nature of consciousness as a driver. He showed a strong Buddhist influence in his metaphysics and an accomplished syncretism of Buddhist and Christian ideas in his ethical reflections. From the epistemological point of view, Schopenhauer’s ideas belong to the school of phenomenology.

Famous for his misogyny, he applied his ideas when considering the principles that constitute the foundation of human sexual activity, defending that individuals are united, not by the sensations of sentimental love, but by the irrational impulses of the will.

Friedrich Nietzsche

German philosopher, poet and philologist, whose thought is considered one of the most radical, rich and suggestive of the 20th century .

In addition to Hellenic culture (particularly by the respective philosophies of Socrates , Plato and Aristotle ) ​​Nietzsche was deeply influenced by the thought of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, by the theory of evolution and by his friendship with the German composer Richard Wagner .

One of the fundamental arguments was that traditional values ​​(represented in essence by Christianity) had lost their power in people’s lives, what he called passive nihilism. He expressed it in his blunt proclamation that God is dead . He was convinced that traditional values ​​represented a “slave morality,” a morality created by weak and resentful people who encouraged behaviors such as submission and conformity because the values ​​implicit in such behaviors served their interests. He affirmed the ethical imperative to create new values ​​that were to replace traditional ones, and his discussion of this possibility evolved into shaping his portrait of the man to come, the superman (Übermensch).

According to his theories, the masses (which he called flock , herd or crowd ) adapt to tradition, while his utopian superman is secure, independent and very individualistic. The superman feels intensely, but his passions are restrained and repressed by reason. By focusing on the real world, rather than the future-world rewards promised by religions in general, Superman affirms life, including the suffering and pain that comes with human existence. His superman is a creator of values, an active example of master ethics that reflects the strength and independence of someone who is emancipated from the bonds of the debased human.for Christian docility, except for those that he judges vital.

He maintained that every human act or project is motivated by the will to power . This is not just power over others, but power over oneself, something that is necessary for creativity. Such capacity is manifested in the autonomy of the superman, in his creativity and his courage. Although he stated on many occasions that no superman had yet existed, he cited some historical figures who could serve as models: Socrates , Jesus Christ , Leonardo da Vinci , Michelangelo , William Shakespeare , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Julius Caesar and Napoleon I Bonaparte. .

The concept of superman was often accused of being the fruit of an intellectual who developed in a society of masters and slaves, and has been identified with authoritarian philosophies.

He was one of the promoters of fascist conceptions, which is why his conception is very reactionary.

Reason as an irrationalism form

Around the many theses about irrationalism, Husserl affirms the existence of a deep personal and intersubjective commitment to the reality of life. This means that the individual must immerse themselves as much as possible in real facts, so that they can then interact, create and discover the meaning of life. This is a type of reason, in which it is not based on that pure reason, on that reason of the exact sciences, but rather, it tries to make the being seek the construction of a more authentic humanity based on its criticisms.