Modern Subject

Summary

This video script delves into the evolution of modern philosophy, focusing on the subject-object divide introduced by Descartes. It outlines the contributions of key philosophers like Kant, who questioned the possibility of metaphysics, and Fichte, who expanded on self-consciousness. Hegel's emphasis on mutual social recognition as a foundation for knowledge is highlighted, as is Marx's examination of alienation in labor and economic relations. Heidegger's concept of being 'thrown into the world' and the relationship between humans and their tools is also discussed, providing a comprehensive overview of the development of Western philosophical thought.

Takeaways

• 🧠 The script discusses the philosophical issue of the split between subject and object, a theme central to modern philosophy.
• 📚 It suggests further exploration through the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the KSU course catalog for those interested in the topic.
• 🎓 Kant is highlighted as a pivotal figure who questioned the possibility of metaphysics, arguing that our cognitive categories filter our experience of reality.
• 🤔 Fichte built on Kant's ideas, emphasizing that knowledge is inherently human and tied to our self-awareness as the ground of knowledge production.
• 🤝 Hegel introduced the concept that knowledge requires mutual social recognition, suggesting that individual self-consciousness is not sufficient for knowledge formation.
• 🏭 Marx examined the social dimension of knowledge through the lens of economic relations, using the concept of alienation to describe the separation between subject and object in labor.
• 🔄 Heidegger presented the idea that humans are 'thrown' into a world that precedes them, focusing on our relationship with objects in our environment as either 'ready-to-hand' or 'present-at-hand'.
• 🔧 The example of a carpenter and a hammer is used to illustrate how we often interact with tools without much thought until something disrupts our routine.
• 🚗 A car breakdown is another example provided to explain how our engagement with objects and our perception of time can change when our usual 'autopilot' mode is interrupted.
• 📈 The script touches on how economic relations, like those in factory work, can influence and reproduce social relations, leading to a broader societal alienation.

Q & A

What problem did Descartes open in modern philosophy?

Descartes is credited with opening the problem of a split or division between a subject and object, which is a central concern in modern philosophy.

What was Kant's stance on the possibility of metaphysics?

Kant questioned whether metaphysics is possible and concluded that it is not, suggesting that our cognition is limited by pre-programmed categories and we can never experience the world as it truly is.

How does Kant describe our experience of the world?

Kant describes our experience of the world as being filtered through our cognitive capacities, meaning we experience the world based on the strengths and limitations of our cognitive abilities.

What is the role of self-consciousness in Kant's philosophy?

In Kant's philosophy, self-consciousness is the awareness of the laws that synthesize and govern our experience, as well as an awareness of our cognitive faculty.

What does Fichte mean by 'the eye posits itself as self-positing'?

Fichte suggests that 'the eye posits itself as self-positing' refers to the reflexive activity of consciousness being the site of knowledge production and the awareness that we are the grounds of knowledge.

How does Hegel expand on Kant's ideas?

Hegel expands on Kant's ideas by suggesting that the foundation of knowledge requires mutual social recognition, meaning that self-conscious subjects must recognize each other for knowledge to be validated.

What is the concept of 'alienation' in Marx's philosophy?

In Marx's philosophy, 'alienation' refers to the separation between the subject and object, particularly in the context of labor where humans are separated from the product of their labor.

How does Marx connect economic relations to social relations?

Marx argues that economic relations, such as those found in factory work, reproduce social alienation where people are treated as means to an end, rather than as individuals.

What does Heidegger mean by 'being-in-the-world'?

Heidegger's concept of 'being-in-the-world' describes the subject's existence within a world that precedes them, emphasizing that we are 'thrown' into a pre-existing world and our interactions with it.

How does Heidegger differentiate between 'ready-to-hand' and 'present-at-hand'?

Heidegger differentiates 'ready-to-hand' as the way we normally interact with objects without much thought, and 'present-at-hand' as the way we become aware of objects when our usual interactions are disrupted, such as when something breaks down.

What resources does the speaker recommend for further study on these philosophical topics?

The speaker recommends the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy for summaries and the KSU course catalog for relevant classes, suggesting to email professors for specific topic coverage.

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Introduction to Modern Philosophy and Kant's Critique

The video begins by setting the stage for an exploration of modern philosophy, emphasizing the division between subject and object, a problem partly attributed to Descartes. The speaker suggests that while the content is better suited for in-person discussion, they aim to provide an overview accessible online. The focus then shifts to Immanuel Kant, who is noted for questioning the possibility of metaphysics and introducing a new phase in Western philosophy. Kant argues that our cognition is limited by pre-programmed categories that filter our experience of the world, suggesting we never truly experience the world as it is but rather through the lens of our cognitive capacities. The speaker also touches on the idea of synthesized experience, governed by the laws of self-consciousness, which is central to understanding Kant's philosophy.

05:02

🤔 Fichte's Expansion on Self-Consciousness and Knowledge

The second paragraph delves into Johann Gottlieb Fichte's philosophy, building upon Kant's ideas. Fichte is noted for his emphasis on the self-positing nature of consciousness, where the 'I' is both the subject and the ground of knowledge. The speaker explains that Fichte sees every fact as containing the unity of self-positing, meaning that knowledge is inherently human and not merely a reflection of the world as it is. This perspective challenges the traditional view of knowledge as an objective representation of reality, instead suggesting that knowledge is a product of the human mind's reflexive activity.

10:04

🤝 Hegel's Concept of Mutual Recognition and Social Mediation of Knowledge

The third paragraph introduces Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who is considered by the speaker as one of the most important philosophers in the Western tradition. Hegel's philosophy is characterized by the idea that knowledge is socially mediated and that self-consciousness requires mutual recognition. The speaker suggests that Hegel builds on Fichte's ideas by arguing that the isolated reflexive subject is insufficient for knowledge production. Instead, knowledge is a social process that involves recognition between self-conscious subjects. This perspective emphasizes the importance of social interaction in the formation of knowledge and consciousness.

15:07

🏭 Marx on Alienation and the Social Impact of Economic Relations

The fourth paragraph discusses Karl Marx's view on alienation, particularly in the context of labor and economic relations. Marx extends the philosophical discussions of Kant, Fichte, and Hegel into the realm of concrete social processes, focusing on how economic structures lead to alienation. The speaker explains that under factory work, humans are separated from the products of their labor, leading to a form of alienation where they neither own nor control what they produce. This separation is seen as a fundamental change in human relationships with work and with each other, leading to a broader social alienation where individuals are treated as means to an end rather than as ends in themselves.

20:08

🚗 Heidegger on Being-in-the-World and the Role of Objects in Daily Life

The final paragraph introduces Martin Heidegger's philosophy, focusing on the concept of 'being-in-the-world' and the relationship between subjects and objects. Heidegger suggests that we are 'thrown' into a world that precedes us, filled with societal structures and infrastructures that we did not create. The speaker uses the example of a carpenter's relationship with a hammer to illustrate how objects are often used without much thought until they break down, at which point they become more present to us. This disruption leads to a deeper awareness of the object's role in our lives and a more complex understanding of time and our engagement with the world.

Keywords

💡Subject-Object Split

The subject-object split refers to the philosophical concept where the 'subject' (the self or consciousness) is distinct from the 'object' (the external world). This division is central to modern philosophy and is discussed in the context of Descartes' influence. The video script explains how this split is a problem that modern philosophy grapples with, as it affects our understanding of reality and knowledge.

💡Metaphysics

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that seeks to understand the fundamental nature of reality. In the script, it is mentioned that traditional metaphysics aims to provide a comprehensive account of reality. However, Kant questions whether metaphysics is possible, suggesting that our cognitive faculties limit our ability to know reality as it truly is.

💡Cognition

Cognition refers to the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. The script discusses how our cognition comes with pre-programmed categories that filter our experience of the world, implying that what we perceive is not the world as it truly is, but rather a version shaped by our cognitive capacities.

💡Self-positing

Self-positing is the idea that the subject of knowledge is the ground of its own existence and knowledge. The script relates this to Descartes' famous 'I think, therefore I am,' suggesting that the subject is reflexively aware of its own existence and role in producing knowledge.

💡Fichte

Johann Gottlieb Fichte, often referred to as 'Ficta' in the script, is a German philosopher who expanded on Kant's ideas. He emphasized the role of the self-positing subject in knowledge production, suggesting that every fact contains the unity of self-positing as both action and product, highlighting the inherently human nature of knowledge.

💡Hegel

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is a significant figure in the script, known for his complex philosophical system. Hegel is noted for developing the idea that knowledge and self-consciousness are socially mediated, requiring mutual recognition between subjects. This challenges the notion of an isolated, reflexive subject and emphasizes the social process in knowledge production.

💡Alienation

Alienation, as discussed in the context of Marx's philosophy, refers to the estrangement of individuals from their labor, products, and the processes of production. The script uses the example of factory work to illustrate how workers are separated from the products they create, leading to a broader social alienation where individuals are treated as means to an end.

💡Commodity Fetishism

Commodity fetishism is a concept from Marx's critique of capitalism, where the social relations between people are masked by the relations between commodities. The script explains how workers' labor is transformed into a commodity, and the products they make become objects of desire and exchange, obscuring the human labor involved in their creation.

💡Heidegger

Martin Heidegger, a 20th-century German philosopher, is briefly mentioned in the script. Heidegger's philosophy focuses on the concept of 'being' and the nature of existence. The script touches on his idea that humans are 'thrown' into a world that precedes them, emphasizing the pre-existing context in which individuals find themselves and the tools they use without much thought until something disrupts this familiarity.

💡Ready-to-hand vs. Present-at-hand

Heidegger's distinction between 'ready-to-hand' and 'present-at-hand' refers to the way we encounter objects in our daily lives. 'Ready-to-hand' describes the way tools are used seamlessly in our activities, while 'present-at-hand' refers to objects that are explicitly noticed and thought about, often when something goes wrong. The script uses the example of a car to illustrate this concept, where the car's functions are typically taken for granted until it breaks down.

Highlights

Descartes is partially responsible for opening the problem of a split between a subject and object.

Modern philosophy is concerned with the division between subject and object.

Kant initiates a new phase in Western philosophy by questioning the possibility of metaphysics.

Kant argues that our cognition comes with pre-programmed categories that filter our experience of the world.

We don't experience the world as it truly is but through the lens of our cognitive capacities.

Kant emphasizes the importance of self-consciousness in synthesizing our experience.

Fichte expands on Kant's ideas, suggesting that the foundation of science and philosophy is the self-positing subject.

Fichte claims that every fact contains the unity of self-positing as both action and product.

Hegel argues that mutual social recognition is required for the foundation of knowledge.

Hegel's philosophy suggests that knowledge is socially mediated and not just an individual's knowledge.

Marx develops the social dimension of knowledge further, focusing on concrete social processes like economic relations.

Marx introduces the concept of alienation, where the subject and object are separated, as seen in labor.

Commodity fetishism is a result of the separation between humans and the product of their labor.

Heidegger views the subject as being in the world, using the concept of 'thrownness' to describe our existence.

Heidegger distinguishes between 'ready-to-hand' and 'present-at-hand' to describe our relationship with objects.

The disruption of 'autopilot' in life makes us more aware of our present, future, and past.

Heidegger's philosophy suggests that we engage with the world without much thought until something disrupts our routine.

Transcripts

hello

so I'm just going to do a quick video I

hope it's quick

um it explains some of the things going

on in this slideshow on the modern

subject

um this is something that works better

in an in-person setting but I want to

give you access to it anyways because

I'm allowed to I'm able to respond to

questions and so on and so forth but the

idea here is really to just I mentioned

with Descartes

um that he opens this problem or he's at

least partially responsible for opening

this problem of a split or a division

between a subject and object and that

modern philosophy is very much concerned

with this split or division I'll talk

about it in relation to sort of more

contemporary science and in another

video that I think would follow this one

so I just want to give you an overview

of some of the philosophers that come

afterwards so that you can

um well the two things that you should

do if these things interest you any of

them

is you should go to the course catalog

well first you should go to Stanford

encyclopedia philosophy and read more

right read more summary and then if you

think you're really interested you

should look in the KSU course catalog

and find classes that we have that might

cover these topics and email the

professor and find out if they're going

to be covering them for example uh our

19th century philosophy class May cover

ficta May cover Hegel

May cover marks even

the modern philosophy class May cover

Kant cells

with that said let's just have a a look

here

at this PowerPoint right

the first person that I want to talk

about here is Kant and Kant is very

important for initiating a sort of new

phase

into European philosophy or Western

philosophy

you remember that I said metaphysics is

a philosophical system that that

purports to account for reality as it

really is right it can explain

reality literally

so a platonic metaphysics a Christian

metaphysics

um the claim that these philosophies

make is that this Doctrine these ideas

can tell us everything about the world

justify and explain everything about the

world right so Kant asks this question

is metaphysics possible

and the answer that he gives to this

question is no

and he's the first one to really give

this explicitly to say that actually

um

we need to find a new way of doing

philosophy because this this

metaphysical way of doing it this way

that tries to capture everything

um is not actually possible and the

reason for that he says is that our

cognition The Faculty through which we

we perceive the world that produce

knowledge comes with these

pre-programmed categories

so that the world

um

as we experience and know it is filtered

through these categories right so

we don't ever experience the world as it

truly is we experience the world on the

basis of what our cognition does right

so we don't know the things in the world

as they truly are we know the things in

the world on the basis of

um the strengths and limitations of our

cognitive capacities

so

um in some sense you might say that all

knowledge is knowledge of the human

relationship to the world and not

knowledge of the way the world truly is

now another important thing to note

about Kant is that

um he believes that our experience is

synthesized

um which is something that we all

experience right it's not just knowledge

and things that happened floating around

totally incoherently in some mental

space it seems that things have

continuity right I'm talking and you're

listening something happened yesterday

something happened today we learn and we

build knowledge so

um our mind constructs experience by

synthesizing it the synthesis of our

experience is governed by law

self-consciousness

this thing that Descartes is referring

to when he says I think therefore I am

is an awareness of the way that our

experience works so a knowledge and

awareness of the laws that that

synthesize and govern the synthesis of

our experience and also an awareness

of our cognitive faculty right this

pre-programmed categories that allow us

to experience and know the world

so self-consciousness is an awareness of

how it is that we're experiencing the

world right it's us knowing and being

aware

of what it actually is that our mind our

intellect our spirit or however you want

to put it

um is actually doing

so ficta

ficta expands a little bit on

um what cons

saying or what Kant was saying it sort

of tries to elaborate the

some of the consequences so I have here

this first bullet point the foundation

of Science and philosophy is that the

eye posits itself

as self-positing

so this can mean

um two things in the first place this is

precisely what's going on when Descartes

says I think therefore I am right

it's me who's doing the stating right

when I say I think therefore I am and

that this is the basis of knowledge

about the world it's me who's affirming

that I am the site of the production of

knowledge that my Consciousness is the

place where knowledge is produced so the

eye posits itself is self-positing this

is a reflexive activity right it's me

doing something making a claim about

myself

um

this also means

as I said sort of with Kant already that

we're aware

of this self-positing so we're we're

aware that that we are the grounds of

knowledge right the human consciousness

is the ground of knowledge not something

outside of us right the Rocks Don't tell

us what they are we

produce the knowledge about what rocks

are right we produce the knowledge about

what the universe is right so

uh then ficta would say that every fact

fact here just sort of means a piece of

knowledge contains the unity of this

self-positing as both action and product

that is every fact contains both

self-positing and the certainty of the

subject and what this means again again

it's a sort of another way of saying

that all knowledge is um inherently

human knowledge right not necessarily

knowledge of the world in itself

um but it means to say that every piece

of knowledge

contains an awareness that is the

um

action of self-positing it contains an

awareness that we are the grounds for

knowledge that the the grounds for

knowledge are in our mind and nowhere

but in our mind

um or in our Consciousness and nowhere

but in our Consciousness and that

the

every piece of knowledge is also a

product of this right if we if we didn't

have this self-reflexive awareness in

the way that we do

um then we couldn't make the claims uh

that we do about the world

so those are the the basis of or That's

the basis of

ficta is extremely difficult so

um

try not to talk too much about him here

so Hegel

um I have here sort of joke he's the

most difficult philosopher in human

history

um I should have said this maybe earlier

Compton is probably the most important

philosopher at least in my mind is

probably the most important philosopher

following Plato in the western tradition

some people might argue that Hegel is

more important he's certainly an

important and also very difficult

philosopher

um

what I would like to say here

is that one of hegel's main

interventions and this is already

this is already apparent in ficta but

Hegel develops it in ways

um which have a great influence on the

way we understand the production of

knowledge

um namely uh the idea that this

self-positing this single isolated

reflexive subject is not enough

the foundation of knowledge actually

requires

that

I

as a self-conscious subject

recognize you

as a self-conscious subject and you in

turn recognize me

um so mutual social recognition is

actually required

um for reasons that I mean in some sense

should be obvious right you can't just

have knowledge being produced by one

person in a bat right this needs to be

checked as it were so Hegel really

um

drives it home this idea that knowledge

is socially mediated right knowledge is

never knowledge simply of the individual

it's knowledge of self-consciousness or

what he calls Spirit

um as a social process right as a social

process that's developing sort of um in

relation

and so that's that's the big Main

intervention of

Hegel and you should read this Pinkard

quote

um that's on the next page that's uh a

very good one that's directly from the

Stanford encyclopedia

so Marx develops the social dimension of

this issue even further

um and one way that he refers to this

separation between the subject and

object and in this case this is a

subject an object which properly belong

together is alienation so Marx looks at

these some of these issues that are

developed in Kant and ficta and Hegel

through concrete social processes like

economic relations right so a prime

example of a separation between subject

and object is alienation and labor

humans are separated from the product of

their labor they neither own or control

them so this starts this really becomes

the main mode of production and economic

organization with the rise of factory

work right sort of before this you had

serfs who lived on land I mean in large

part when we're talking about

agriculture you had serfs who lived on

land

who grew food food went to the land

owners but at the same time the Surfs

kept much of the food or at least kept

enough of the food that you know what

they needed and so on and so forth and

um sort of took the winters off

um but with with the Advent of factory

work you get this explicit process

whereby you go in

to

work

um and you trade your labor power for a

wage and then you make these things

which you have no contact to anymore

um and then commodity fetishism as an

expression of this

um

points out the sort of

strange

scenario that arises when you exchange

your labor power for a wage you go into

a factory you make things you don't take

those things home with you right if you

work in a Spam canning Factory you don't

take a couple of cans of spam home at

night for the family dinner actually you

have to take that money that you got

from the wage to go and buy these things

so you're totally alienated

um from the product of your labor and I

know that this is going to sound really

normal

uh to all of you

but it was not this was a radical change

in the way that we

um relate to our work the way we relate

to our sustenance in terms of the things

that we need to survive and the way that

we relate to each other

and uh one of Marx's I guess sort of

main criticisms of this is that we

reproduce economic relations in all

other social relations and this is going

to be important um for your next

readings on Audrey Lord um it shows up

in a different way but

um related to the same claim so the

factory owners

don't have personal relationships in any

way with the people who work in the

factory they treat

people like Commodities and in fact

labor power as a commodity that sort of

exists within us is for Marx

um a unique and important commodity but

in any case they treat us like they

treat workers like a means to an end

right

um and Marx's claim is that this

reproduces social alienation in society

because we all we start treating each

other in in many social settings as

means to an end right

um and the example that I use in class

and uh

sometimes the noise students is the

pizza guy right you order a pizza it

gets delivered to your house

um that pizza guy to you exists as the

delivery of your pizza really at no

point in time

um are you thinking of the pizza

delivery person as a person and all the

things that come with personhood and so

on and so forth in the way that you

might think of your friends right or

your parents

um you just see that person as the way

that your pizza got to your house and we

find that in in very subtle ways these

types of of relationships amongst humans

which stem from economic relations are

reproduced all over the place you know

another example would be something like

friends

um you know you meet someone at a

social event and you don't really like

them but they like you but they have a

high up position in a place that you

want to work and so

um you strike up a friendship with them

in order to get that right that's

treating someone as a means to an end

also when we get into

um emotional and physical relationships

that are only meant to satisfy our own

needs we often then treat

um our partners

um as means to an end so there are lots

of ways that this happens and I think

that if you if you think about it

um you'll find that it is the case that

you engage in this Behavior as I do

um more often than maybe we would like

or feel comfortable with once we start

reflecting on it

and finally we have Heidegger and just

sort of two quick things Heidegger

literally conceives a subject as being

in the world being in a place uses this

word and he says that we as Dawson are

thrown into a world which is to say that

we come into a world

where pretty much everything precedes us

right this seems obvious but it's also

an important philosophical Insight right

the world is here functioning long

before we come to it right which is to

say that there are languages there are

societies laws infrastructures all of

these things are happening

um as we come into the world right they

don't develop with us right so he uses

this phrase we're thrown into the world

which is to say that we we come to exist

in a world that is not of our making

um that we've had no say in and so on

and so forth

um and because this world precedes Us in

almost every way

um we don't really think about engaging

with it right so

um he uses as example of a carpenter and

you know in the everyday life

The Carpenter's relationship to the

Hammer is not what we would call perhaps

a thoughtful relationship right the

carpenter uses the hammer almost as an

extension of its existence

um it's simply part of what it does it

goes into its woodworking shop every day

and it makes things and it just sort of

picks up the hammer and goes right but

when the hammer breaks

um

then you really really have to think

about it like oh this thing was doing

all these things you become aware of the

role that the Hammer as an object played

in your life maybe a better example is a

car

right when you get in your car uh to

come to campus or to go to work or to go

to visit a friend

most of the things that are going on

you're not thinking about right a lot of

driving happens by muscle memory you're

not thinking okay now I'm going to put

the gear shifter into drive or reverse

or whatever you need to put it in and

now drive and I'm going to make a left

turn here that means I have to turn the

wheel no most of these things you're

just doing almost automatically right

and this is the way we go through a lot

of our day but when the car breaks down

and you're on the side of the highway

not only

um

are you thinking about

whoa

now I can no longer do the thing that

the car was meant to do so the car is an

object

becomes more present to you

but also

we're thrown into the past and the

future in ways that we weren't

we aren't generally thinking about so in

the short term future we have to figure

out how we're going to get this fixed in

the long term future we might be

thinking about well what are we missing

now how does that you know with work and

so on and so forth

and then in terms of the past we might

be thinking about what it is that we did

um what we forgot to do an oil change or

we heard this noise and we ignored it

what what led us here right so

most of the time

we're going about our life in the world

without giving much thought to the

things that we're doing however when

that sort of ease when that sort of

autopilot is disrupted and Heidegger

likes to use the example of something

breaking down

suddenly not only is our immediate

present

more present to us we become more aware

of all its various facets we become more

aware of time in a complex way right we

start projecting into the future and

thinking about the past in relation to

both the present and the future in ways

that we normally take for granted

um so this is the distinction between

what Heidegger calls ready to hand and

present at hand

and that's all for this PowerPoint so

um if there's something that you want to

follow up with feel free to shoot me an

email like I said go to the Stanford

encyclopedia go to the course catalog

and so on