Spirit and Mind: Hartmann’s Das Problem des geistigen Seins.

Abstract

Hartmann has been considered a mere Schulphilosoph, a writer of textbooks with little originality and little to give to the history of philosophy. This paper examines Hartmann’s Das Problem des geistigen Seins to consider its fundamental insights into the nature of Geist and its function in aesthetics, ethics and human history. We note the overlap with the English concept of mind as a way of focusing on what is specific to Geist. The core function of the latter term is its ability to elevate thought above what temporarily holds sway in the objective spirit of a community. Problems defying rational inquiry are identified as metaphysical and unsolvable or as aporias and left to the thinkers of later generations. But all turning-backward to the phenomena themselves has a Rückwirkung—a reciprocal effect upon the self-consciousness of its audience, enabling it to turn to the future with new questions that can be posed in the light of an exemplary presentation of what is already present in its spirit. Quite contrary to the charge of being a Schulphilosoph, Hartmann’s creative openness to unexplored problems and possibilities looks ahead to possible new solutions to the perennial problems of philosophy.