Hartmann, Edward Von

The son of General Robert Hartmann. He studied at the artillery school; in 1860-1865 he was in military service, which he left due to illness. In 1867, he received his doctorate from Rostock University .

The main work is “The Philosophy of the Unconscious” ( 1869 , Russian translation, 1902 , reprinted by the URSS Publishing House in 2010), in which he attempted to combine into a coherent theory and analyze various ideas about the phenomenon of the unconscious.

Repeatedly published in the French journal " Philosophical Review " (" Revue philosophique ") edited by Academician Theodule Ribot .

The starting point for the philosophy of the unconscious is Arthur Schopenhauer's view of the will as the true essence of all being and the metaphysical basis of the whole universe. Schopenhauer, in the title of his main work combining the will with the performance (Welt als Wille und Vorstellung), in fact considered only the will (the real-practical element of life) as an independent and initial entity, while the representation (the intellectual element) recognized only the subordinate and secondary product of the will, understanding it, on the one hand, idealistically (in the sense of Kant ) as a subjective phenomenon, caused by a priori forms of space, time and causality, and on the other hand, materialistically, as conditioned by physiologists bodily functions, or as a “brain phenomenon” (Gehirnphänomen).

Against such a “primacy of the will,” Hartmann thoroughly points to the equally primary significance of the concept. “In every desire,” he says, “I want to — in fact, the transition of a certain present state to another. The present state is given each time, whether it is just peace; but in this present state alone, desire could never be contained if at least the ideal possibility of something else did not exist. Even such a desire that seeks to continue the present state is possible only through the idea of ​​the termination of this state, therefore, through double negation. Undoubtedly, in this way, that for desire, first of all, two conditions are necessary, of which one is the present state as a starting point; the other, as the goal of desire, cannot be a real state, but there is some future whose presence is desired. But since this future state, as such, cannot really be in the present act of desire, but meanwhile it must somehow be in it, because without this also desire itself is impossible, it must be contained in it ideally, i.e. as a representation. But in the same way, the present state can become the starting point of desire, only because it enters into the concept (as being distinguishable from the future). Therefore, there is no will without an idea, as Aristotle already says: όρεκτικόν δε ούκ άνευ φαντασίας. ” In reality, only representative will exists.

But does it exist as a universal principle or metaphysical entity? Directly, will and representation are given only as phenomena of the individual consciousness of individual beings, manifold due to their organization and environmental influences. Nevertheless, in the field of scientific experience, we can find data suggesting an independent, primary being of the spiritual principle. If in our world there are such phenomena that, being completely inexplicable from some material or mechanical reasons, are possible only as actions of the spiritual principle, that is, representing the will, and if, on the other hand, it is undoubted that there is no effect individual-conscious will and representation (i.e., the will and representation of individual individuals), it is necessary to recognize these phenomena as the actions of some universal, outside the individual consciousness, presenting will, which the poet Hartmann he calls it unconscious (das Unbewusste) (feeling, however, the unsatisfactory nature of such a purely negative, or defective, designation (which with the same right can be applied to a stone or piece of wood, as well as to the absolute beginning of the world), Hartmann admits in subsequent editions of his book its replacement by the term superconscious (das Ueberbewusste)). Indeed, going over (in the first part of his book) various areas of experience, both internal and external, Hartmann finds in them the main groups of phenomena that can only be explained by the action of the metaphysical spiritual principle; on the basis of undeniable evidence, through an inductive natural-historical method, he tries to prove the reality of this unconscious or superconscious primary subject of will and representation.

Hartmann expresses the results of his empirical study in the following positions:

1. The “unconscious” forms and preserves the body, corrects its internal and external damage, directs its movements in a targeted manner and determines its use for the conscious will;
2. The “unconscious” gives the instinct for each creature what it needs to preserve and for which its conscious thinking, for example, is not enough for a person — instincts for understanding sensory perception, for the formation of language and society, and many others. others;
3. The “unconscious” preserves childbirth through sexual desire and maternal love, ennobles them through choice in sexual love, and leads the human race in history steadily toward the goal of its possible perfection;
4. The "unconscious" often controls human actions through feelings and premonitions where full conscious thinking could not help them;
5. The “unconscious” with its suggestions in the small, as well as in the great, contributes to the conscious process of thinking and leads a person in mysticism to a premonition of higher supernatural unity;
6. it finally gives people a sense of beauty and artistic creativity.

In all of his actions, the “unconscious" itself is characterized, according to Hartmann, the following properties: painlessness, indefatigability, insensitive nature of his thinking, timelessness, infallibility, immutability and inextricable inner unity.

Reducing, in the footsteps of dynamical physicists, matter to atomic forces (or centers of forces), Hartmann then reduces these forces to manifestations of a spiritual metaphysical principle. That for the other, from the outside, is power, then by itself, inside, there is a will, and if it is a will, then a representation. The atomic force of attraction and repulsion is not only a simple aspiration or attraction, but an absolutely definite aspiration (the forces of attraction and repulsion are subject to strictly defined laws), i.e., it contains a certain definite direction and is ideal (otherwise it would not be the content of aspiration) , i.e., as a representation. So, the atoms - the foundations of the whole real world - are only elementary acts of the will, a certain representation, of course, the acts of that metaphysical will (and representation), which Hartmann calls "unconscious."

Since, therefore, both the physical and mental poles of phenomenal being — both matter and the private consciousness conditioned by organic matter — turn out to be only forms of the “unconscious” phenomenon, and since it is unconditionally non-spatial, for space itself is supposed to (the representation is ideal, by will - real), then this “unconscious” is a comprehensive single being, which is all that exists; it is absolutely indivisible, and all the multiple phenomena of the real world are only the actions and the totality of the actions of a universal being. The inductive substantiation of this metaphysical theory is the most interesting and valuable part of the "philosophy of the unconscious."

Having first recognized the inextricable combination of will and representation (or idea) in a single superconscious subject that has all the attributes of the Divine, Hartmann then not only separates the will and idea, but also personifies them in this isolation, as the male and female principles (which is convenient only in German : der Wille, die Idee, die Vorstellung). The will itself has only the power of reality, but it is unconditionally blind and unreasonable, but the idea, although light and rational, is absolutely powerless, devoid of any activity. At first, both of these principles were in a state of pure potency (or nonexistence), but then the nonexistent will absolutely accidentally and senselessly wanted to want, and thus moved from potency to act, carrying away the suffering idea. Real being, which according to Hartmann is supposed to be solely by the will - the beginning of the unreasonable - is therefore itself distinguished by the essential nature of the unreasonable or meaningless; it is that which should not be. In fact, this unreasonableness of being is expressed as the calamity and suffering that inevitably affects all that exists.

If the original origin of existence itself - the causeless transition of blind will from potency to act - is an irrational fact, absolute randomness (der Urzufall), then the rationality or celestiality recognized by Hartmann of the world process has only a conditional and negative meaning; it consists in the gradual preparation for the destruction of what is created by the primary unreasonable act of the will. A rational idea, negatively referring to the actual existence of the world as a product of meaningless will, cannot, however, directly and immediately eliminate it, being essentially powerless and passive: therefore, it reaches its goal in an indirect way. By controlling the blind forces of the will in the world process, it creates the conditions for the appearance of organic beings with consciousness. Through the formation of consciousness, the world idea or world mind (in German and female reason: die Vernunft) is freed from the dominion of blind will, and everything that exists is given the opportunity to consciously deny life's desire to return again to a state of pure potency, or nonexistence, which is the last goal of the world process.

But before reaching this highest goal, the world consciousness, concentrated in humanity and continuously progressing in it, must go through three stages of illusion. At first, humanity imagines that bliss is attainable for a person in the conditions of earthly natural existence; on the second, it seeks bliss (also personal) in the alleged afterlife; on the third, abandoning the idea of ​​personal bliss as the highest goal, it strives for general collective well-being through scientific and socio-political progress. Disappointed in this last illusion, the most conscious part of humanity, having concentrated the largest amount of world will in itself, will decide to commit suicide, and through it destroy the whole world. Improved communication methods, Hartmann believes, will provide enlightened humanity with the opportunity to instantly accept and execute this suicidal decision.

Leon Polyakov in The History of Anti-Semitism noted the views of Hartmann on the relationship between Germans and Jews. Hartmann believed that massive anti-Semitic campaigns impeded their full assimilation ; he talked about the lack of a creative spirit among Jews, about their corrupting influence and about the racial inferiority of Jews - in the case when Jewish girls were fond of German men ^[1] .

Hartmann believed that "the Jews should abandon their tribal feeling and be imbued with only a patriotic feeling of sincere love and devotion to the interests of the nation among which they have to live," and only then will they be able to open access to areas where they cannot be to admit - for example, to public service.

• "Spiritualism"

• Hartman // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church and Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2005. - T. X. - S. 438-440. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89572-016-1 .
• Hartmann, Edward // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Hartmann, Edward von // Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron . - SPb. , 1908-1913.
• Hartman Edward // Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ed. L. Ilyicheva et al. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1983.
• Hartman E. // New Philosophical Encyclopedia : in 4 volumes / prev. scientific - ed. Council V. S. Styopin . - 2nd ed., Rev. and add. - M .: Thought , 2010 .-- 2816 p.
• Ellenberger G. Philosophy of nature and romantic philosophy // Discovery of the unconscious: History and evolution of dynamic psychiatry = The discovery of the unconscious . - M .: Academic project , 2018. - T. 1. From primitive times to psychological analysis. - S. 260—261. - 550 s. - (Psychological technology). - 300 copies. - ISBN 978-5-8291-2159-4 .