Н.В. Мотрошилова о специфике истории философии и Юргене Хабермасе

Abstract

Reflections on the philosophical heritage of N.V. Motroschilova, in particular, her ideas about the specific character of the history of philosophy, the nature of philosophical knowledge and evaluation of the modern Western history of philosophy expressed by her regarding Jürgen Habermas and his latest two-volume work Auch eine Geschichte der Philosophie, formed the basis of this article. In considering the specific character of philosophy and its history, Habermas raises the question of the format of modern philosophy. Does post-metaphysical thinking in its two contemporary strains provide a way out of the current state of philosophy? Is it still possible to answer Kant’s questions today? The “modernizing recollection,” that Habermas offers as a way of considering the history of philosophy, contributes to gaining a new perspective on many traditional problems of the history of philosophy. Both by Motroschilova and by Habermas (who characterized the history of Western philosophy as a process of constant learning and teaching that unfolds between knowledge and faith) the special attention is paid to Kant’s philosophy in the aspect of his understanding of the relationship between faith and knowledge. This new reading of Kant offered by Habermas led Motroschilova to new reflections on Kant’s philosophy and, in particular, his basic concepts. The upshot is that the questions of practical reason, its role in the justification of the moral law and its observance by the subject and, of course, the problem of using one’s own mind to achieve happiness and reasonable freedom remain central for both philosophers.