Difference between French and English thinkers

 

Originally posted by Paul Originally posted by gcle2003 What makes this tricky if it's generalised to other than named philosophers is that many French and English (not so much Scots) philosophers are heavily influenced by Germans of various schools, especially in the nineteenth century, which, though it's sometimes looked on as the heyday of English liberal, empirical thought, actually includes Germanic philosophers from Carlile to Bradley and co.   If you stop with the eighteenth century that problem tends to go away a bit.   I think the 20th century should be reguarded as one of the strongest for German influence on french philosphy. French existentialism was born out of German and the Frankfurt school had enourmous influence on French postwar thought.

Agreed, and the nineteenth the strongest for German influence on Britain.

Ironically with Britain, though German thought exercised little influence over British 20th century thought, two of the most influential British philosophers of the century were Austrian born.

 

That's an interesting point. And raises the even more interesting one of why Austrian philosophy was (is?) so different from German. Not just Popper and Wittgenstein, whom I take you to mean, but Carnap and the rest of the Vienna Circle, like Mach and Neurath, too.

 

I have no idea why, on the whole, Austrian philosophy is so much like British.

 

As a philosopher, I've always have had a disgust of 20th century French Philosophy, its the "Oh No, who's reading this and planning genocide in the third world Phenomena".

I liked the enlightenment thinkers up till the French Revolution. Tocqueville was great. Du Picq the last giant. For the longest time I refused to accept or recognize any 20th century philosophers, but can sorta now bring Sartre in the fold of philosophy. It's dead to me after that, Nothing by Nietzschean, Nazis, Marxists, and Fruedians chasing one another around in a madhouse with a peacock feather tickling one another. Death and socialism, more socialism, more death is the end result.

Luckily, its all in French, so it can't hurt anyone. I have some book called Malice, a translation from a nobody in the corner collecting dust. Translation of some French 60s work. I try to break into French Though on occasion but am left feeling it's rootless, up in the clouds and based on tradition, and not solid, confirmable facts. I'm still enrage with Bernard Levi Strauss (think I spelled his name right) when I tracked him down as the cause of the Libyan War. We (US) fought that war because the French insisted, and the French did it because he thought we should. I think he should be extradited to Libya to share a cell with Qaddafi's son. See what happens.