Karl Löwith (1897–1973)

This massive work impressed me as being an analysis of philosophical relationships. In his introduction the author observes the felicitous appearance of both Goethe's Faust, Part One and Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind at almost the same moment in history. Following a discussion of their relationship Lowith goes on in a thorough fashion to dissect the channels of thought that were inspired by Hegel's ideas. This includes the many thinkers who reacted in often different directions in response show more to and sometimes in reaction against Hegel. Encompassing more than Germany the reactions also occur in other countries; for example, the leading members of the budding Russian intelligentsia, Bakunin, Belinsky and Herzen, were inspired by Hegel's thought. The analysis leads inexorably toward Nietzsche and the journey is one that, while complex, is worth considering if you are interested in an important strand of Nineteenth-Century thought. show less

Pierre Joseph Proudhon: A printer and early French utopian socialist who wrote What is Property? in 1840, which explained Proudhon’s view that profit is just wealth stolen from the source of all wealth, the worker. Unlike most socialists, he was against the power of the government and was sometimes considered an anarchist. However, like most socialists, he wanted to help the poor. Although for most of his life he was against Christianity, he realized its importance by the end of his life.

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