Essay Sample on Philosophy Change

Introduction

There was a significant change in the field of Philosophy in the early 20th Century and especially in the 1930's.These new changes birthed contemporary philosophy with the new developments making philosophy more professional, technical and hard to the layman to understand. The difference was predominated by the rivalry of the two schools of view that is the analytical philosophy and the continental philosophy (Russell, 2013). The analytical philosophy bent on logical techniques while the continental philosophy tends on historicism. The systematic philosophical changes were developed in the theories of logical positivism, ordinary language philosophy, and epistemology. Meanwhile, the continental philosophers developed philosophies of structuralism, post-structuralism, existentialism, phenomenology, and Marxism.

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The precursor of the analytical philosophy was logicism by Gottlob Frege which explained that mathematics was reducible to logic. However, Russell and Alfred Whitehead, both British Philosophers championed in Frege's work and proved incompleteness to his theory. Russell's approach was in the philosophy of language, and he developed the theory of Logical Atomism. Meanwhile, Whitefield developed a metaphysical approach and formulated the process philosophy. The logicism of the two philosophers complemented Plato's and Comte's positivism which played a significant role in the development of the logical positivism. Logical positivists narrowed human know how to logicality and science. They claim that a statement is only meaningful if it is mathematical, logical or can be verified empirically. In 1921, Ludwig Wittsteign developed an idea that he named Tractatus. The philosophy asserted the structure of language is determined by the constructs of the language. He, later on, revisited his work and inclined to a different direction (Deleuze & Guattari, 2014)) .He shifted emphasis from logical positivism to casual style to the actual use, which is the ordinary language philosophy. The idea became very dominant in the philosophical field between the 1930's and 1970's.Later on, G.E developed a theory that he named Principia Ethica, which is a modern standard of ethics in the contemporary philosophy. The philosophy caused a mind shift from ethical naturalism to ethical non-naturalism which is a wipeout of the belief that morals have features and properties.

Most of the analytic philosophers were motivated by the need to oppose Hegel because they found his work theoretical and disorganized. The scholars, therefore, came together and developed an excellent logic system that made major advancement in the technology of analysis of statements and opinions. The analytic philosophy was so significant that it becomes one of the weapons of the World War. The British military realized that they could not win the war against the Germans on the battlefield because they did not match up to their population and technology. Therefore, a group of mathematicians and logicians were gathered who came up with a machine that broke the code to the secret information of the Germans, and thus, the Britons were able to plan a surprise attack on them. Therefore, it is evident that the analytical philosophy changes had a significant influence and impact beyond philosophy.

The most influential philosopher on the continental philosophy was Edmund Husserl who developed the phenomenology concept. The phenomenology concept sought to explain that what is perceived as reality is not independent of the human awareness. However, Martin Heidegger, however, disagreed with this concept and developed the theory of individualism (Russell, 2013). According to him the existence of ideas and objects is linked to time, and that being is just a process of becoming. It implied that authenticity could only be achieved if humans accepted how the world was set up and responded to situations as individuals, therefore his philosophy promotes individualism. The theory has a broader implication on humanity as it asks the questions that often very interesting and vague. Its application is often seen in sociology, linguistics and political science

The philosophy was later extended by Jean-Paul Sartre who was a Marxist and communist. Jean-Paul emphasized that existence is in essence which implies that humans have choices. This philosophy started a revolution of existentialism which believes that human dignity is measured by how persons accept and deal with despair (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2017).

Michel Foucault was a scholar who was involved in the development of structuralism, post-structuralism, and post modernization. He was a scholar that looked at the underlying conditions that dictated was acceptable and what was not. His works are often cited and mentioned in different disciplined when explaining human behavior. Structuralism was another philosophy that was adopted by the continental philosophers which sought to explain human behavior. The philosophy profoundly believes that every human response and activity has a meaning in the language system that they function. However, a post-structuralism theory was developed which explained human behavior subject to the willingness to buy into ideas from different cultures as well as the authority of a place.

In the same era, Jacques Derrida criticized the underlying assumptions on certainty, truth and looked at cultures as well as frameworks that formed the basis of people's beliefs. His philosophy was called the deconstructionism philosophy. The theory aimed at creating self- awareness and has often been blamed for sophistry. The ethos has a significant influence on human morals as it helps them answer the questions of what is there? How do we know? And what is the value?

Conclusion

In conclusion, we would say that these philosophical changes were quite significant and continue to apply in the modern world. Continental philosophers believe that social concerns are relevant to all branches of philosophies and therefore they are interested in solving problems for humanity. The philosophies challenge political oppression and injustices, racial discrimination, Marxism, poverty just to name a few (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2017)

References

Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (2014). What is philosophy? Columbia University Press.

Ritzer, G., & Stepnisky, J. (2017). Modern sociological theory. SAGE Publications.

Russell, B. (2013). History of western philosophy: Collectors edition. Routledge.