German idealism is a philosophical current of the nineteenth century and is framed within the romantic spirit of its time. The most representative philosopher of this current is Hegel and in the background Fichte and Schelling.
General principles
The starting point of philosophical reflection is not the external reality of the world, but "the self" or thinking subject
In other words, what matters is not the world but its representation as an idea.
German idealism is an attempt to answer a metaphysical question: how can reality be known?
The reality of things is only understood from the consciousness that human beings have about said reality. In this sense, German idealism is opposed to the realist tradition, which consists in identifying the reality of things with thought.
Hegelian idealism
Hegel's approach starts from the idea that nature and spirit are the consequence of the absolute. In fact, philosophy is the science of the absolute and this claim is based on the following argumentation:
1) in a first stage, ideas are conceived in themselves and at this level the human spirit starts from subjectivity,
2) In a second stage, ideas are understood outside of themselves, that is, in nature, a reflection that is part of the objective spirit and
3) the absolute spirit understands ideas in such a way that the subjective and the objective disappear and art, religion and philosophy become the three dimensions of the absolute spirit.
For Hegel, ideas are the foundation of all knowledge and in this sense, his reasoning on the three levels of the spirit highlights how ideas change the reality of the world and become ideals.
The synthesis of Hegelian idealism is embodied in one of his most famous ideas: rational thought cannot be separated from reality and reality only makes sense if it is part of reason. This approach goes to say that the world that is generated from our ideas is not something absurd and, on the other hand, our logical thinking connects with reality.
Marx's response to German idealism
Marx's philosophy is materialistic and therefore opposed to Hegel's idealism. According to Marx, it is not the consciousness of man that explains reality, but the real and material conditions are those that determine consciousness.
Photo: Fotolia - Mihály Samu
