But in that era, it can be said that discussions on artistic and religious issues were only the concern of a small number of elites, not the concern of the general public or the general public. Therefore, Xie Lin's topic did not really enter that era. So, although Schelling left behind two major volumes of art philosophy, his interpretation of art did not truly become the mainstream of that era, and his discussion of faith basically maintained the traditional Christian theological concepts.
So, he was not accepted by the people at that time either. So, Xie Lin's misfortune cannot be entirely blamed on the era, but also on himself. It's because it didn't really capture the common concerns of that era.
So, we can draw a conclusion from this that if we want our philosophy to be accepted and understood by this society, or at least to be noticed and understood by this society. One thing is that your topic, the theme of your research, and the object of your research must be the common concern of everyone in this society, which is what we usually call the main theme.
If you don't enter this discourse, don't enter this context, then you will always be an inappropriate person.
But you would say, isn't a philosopher supposed to be an untimely person? Yes. As your personal choice, you can be an untimely person, and no one has the right to stop you from being an untimely person.
However, if you want your thoughts to have an impact in the era you live in, and you can even say that you want your thoughts to continue to play a role in the era behind you, then the first thing you need to focus on is the issues of this era.
It is a common concern of this era, or in other words, it is used to solve the common concerns of this era. Only in this way can your philosophy have true vitality.
So, the reason why Schelling's philosophy produced a result that he later did not want to see was because no philosopher wanted to see such a result, saying that his own philosophy was completely abandoned by Hegelian philosophy and lived in the shadow of Hegelian philosophy, which was not the result he wanted to see. However, he had to accept this fact.
Fichte died while participating in hot social activities because he was infected with an infectious disease at that time. It was because of the war between France and Germany, which left many wounded in the city of Berlin, and the wounded were not well treated, leading to the outbreak of an infectious disease.
Fichte was infected with an infectious disease while taking care of these wounded, so it can be said that he passed away while immersing himself in the hot social life of the time.
And Schelling passed away in a state of melancholy. He hated Hegel, just as he hated Fichte back then. He wanted to part ways with Fichte and did not agree with his ideas, even though they had a very good relationship. And he harbored a deep hatred towards Hegel.
This resentment is not a personal grudge, but a mental setback. So, for Xie Lin, no matter how tragic, he has provided us with his own theory. No matter how unfortunate, he has left a strong mark on history, at least stronger than our generation.
I don't know who the Chinese philosophers from 100 years ago were in China, but we may only remember the names of Feng Youlan, Xiong Shili, and Mou Zongshan. No one remembers the names of people like Zhang Shiying, Zhang Dainian, Huang Dansheng, and Wang Zisong anymore. Of course, no one knows of the existence of another person.
How to enable future generations to continue studying your ideas and have an impact on them. The only point is to propose your creative ideas, write your specialized research works, and make your works immortal. A person cannot leave a lasting impression, only works can make you leave a lasting impression.
However, our environment today is too good and the conditions are too favorable, and we don't know how to cherish it. In fact, today's philosophers are no exception. After the environment is too good, we philosophers have no motivation to generate creative ideas. We are all satisfied with the topic, satisfied with a certain established proposition composition, and dare not propose ideas that are completely different from the current popular trend. We dare not use our independent opinions to form our own theoretical system. Therefore, this is also the sadness of philosophers in our era.
So, in 100 years, I really cannot say for sure what contribution our era has made to the development history of Chinese philosophy. Perhaps this period of history, in the eyes of later philosophers or historians of philosophy, is a blank slate.
Of course, there have been too many times in history when such gaps exist. In fact, in the development history of human thought, it has been over 2500 years since the emergence of philosophy.
In these over 2500 years, the truly glorious era is only a few points that can be counted, but the philosophers we have encountered cannot be counted. So, we have nothing to regret either. Perhaps this 100 year gap has left a good place for the next 100 years of history, to write a more glorious history for them. We have left a blank sheet of paper for the next 100 years to write on.
Although Xie Lin is unfortunate, he is still lucky because he left us with such philosophy, that is, his works, which allow us to constantly study it today. Although often targeted for criticism, this indicates that his ideas still have areas worth criticizing.
Xie Lin's philosophy mainly consists of three aspects, or stages, which are also the three stages of his ideological development, namely his so-called transcendental philosophy stage, the same philosophy stage, and the revelation philosophy stage.
Transcendental philosophy is usually manifested in the early period from 1795 to 1798, while the same philosophical stage is mainly from 1800 to 1807. The philosophy of revelation mainly appeared between 1827 and 1854, with some sections on natural philosophy and historical philosophy interspersed in between.
These sections are mainly aimed at his historical stage at that time, and some of the works he wrote are divided into stages.
Of course, periodization is not important. In fact, the philosophy he left us in the history of philosophy mainly consists of three forms: transcendental philosophy, the same philosophy, and the philosophy of revelation.
Xie Lin initially praised or admired Fichte. So, at the beginning, he strongly agreed with Fichte's ideas, because Fichte first broke through Kant's binary thinking mode, no longer distinguishing between the discussion of nature and the discussion of freedom, nor did he completely accept the concept of the thing in itself. He even gave up the understanding of the thing in itself and directly made the discussion of the self the premise of all discussions.
This approach indeed breaks a Kantian way of thinking. Kant's way of thinking has a major characteristic, which is that it statically arranges all the patterns of human cognitive activity one by one. It lists them out, saying that human rational activity is to move from sensibility to intellect, and then find reason. 123 states this.
Then he told you that within the realm of human capital, there are two concepts: time and space. Then the pattern of human intellectual activity includes ten categories, all of which are mutually opposed. I've sorted them out for you one by one, just like opening a traditional Chinese medicine shop.
Every cabinet in the traditional Chinese medicine shop is filled with various drug names, and the job of a pharmacist is to learn how to dispense them. The job of a pharmacist is not to know the names or functions of these medicines, but to learn how to prepare them. He needs to know which medicine to use and how much to use, and then I can combine it into a good medicine.
But Kant didn't do the work of a pharmacy, he just did the work of building a pharmacy. He had already built the pharmacy and told you where it was located. His rational ability was in that location, in the third to last grid. You couldn't move it to the first grid. If you had to move it to the first grid, you would have a paradoxical situation.
So, you can only stay there, you can't move. Or it can be said that the first line, first row, and first grid of positive numbers, the concept of sensibility can only be placed in that space, and you cannot move it away. If you move it away, you will make a mistake. He worked as an architect.
So, let's talk about Kant as an architect of ideas. He built the framework for us, erected a lot of scaffolding, and then built the house for you. But there are no people living in this house. It's a temple without a god. After he sets up the framework for you, he doesn't care anymore. He said my task is completed, and it's none of my business to do whatever others like. This is Kant.
Later, when Fichte walked into the pharmacy, he said that there was something wrong with the way your medicine was placed. He said that behind your intuition, there should be something. As soon as he opened the drawer, there was a pile of things in your intuition. He asked how you put so many things in your intuition and took them out.
Then he said no, you should be in the middle of all the emotional rationality, and there should be a cabinet in front of you, which is called the self. You have to put this self in front, you can't put his self behind emotions and rationality.
And then what is inside this self? The self is both emotional and rational, and everything is piled up inside the self. Then if you need something, you take it from yourself. For example, if I need some material, you look for it from within yourself. If it's emotional material, you go get it yourself. Then you rationally say no, I need concepts. You should have them in your own cabinet. You go to my cabinet to find them. If you find them, it means you're smart; if you can't find them, it means you're stupid. Everything is already contained in your own cabinet.
