Value Decisions

Abstract

I should like to begin with a remark which, although personal, is not without relevance both to the special topic of this paper and the general purpose of an International Congress of Philosophy. Having had the opportunity of studying and teaching philosophy in various countries of the Western World I have come to realize strongly the enormous power of national traditions in philosophy. Much more so than scientific research and, I believe, even the arts, our philosophizing is tied down to and captivated by particular spiritual climates, particular national traditions. Notwithstanding the apparatus of international congresses, the various personal and professional contacts between philosophers of different nationality, and the translation of at least the most important works into other languages, there is, I have come to feel, a mutual contempt, a mutual misunderstanding, a mutual intolerance, that are frightening. You will remember Nietzsche's sarcasms concerning English philosophy. I have heard Heidegger say that the only language in which one can really philosophize, besides Greek, is German. The German contempt for French clarity and English factuality is equalled by the irony which French and English philosophers show towards German “depth.” The examples could be multiplied. Scrutinize your university programs and I am convinced you will be startled by the enormous emphasis upon philosophers of your own nationality. I know German Ph.D.s who have never read more than 200 pages of English and French philosophy. Courses in contemporary philosophy give usually 90 percent of their time to the philosophical scene in the particular country to which the teachers belongs and only the small remainder to the international scene.