Lebensphilosophie Before the Nineteenth Century

In this article I provide a reading of the eighteenth century German discourse of life philosophy (Lebensphilosophie, Philosophie des Lebens) and its importance for classical German philosophy. I draw a line of influence between eighteenth century popular philosophers’ uses of the concept of “life” (Leben, Erleben) and criticisms of school philosophy (Schulphilosophie), and Fichte’s, Schelling’s, and Hegel’s uses of the concept of “life,” and efforts to reenvision the organization of the modern university at the turn of the nineteenth century. My thesis in this article is that classical German philosophy should be viewed as having both radicalized and overcome the characteristic tendencies of eighteenth century life philosophy. On the one hand, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel similarly used the concept of “life” as a struggle concept (Kampfbegriff) and sought to reconnect scientific and philosophical forms of reasoning with the experiential sphere of “life.” On the other hand, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel overcame the struggle orientation of eighteenth-century life philosophy by recognizing “life” as something more than the mere ‘negative’ of reason, and revisioning the modern university as a space where individual disciplines of knowledge are brought into the unity of practical “life.”