Nicolai Hartmann was a Baltic German philosopher

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

.

Biography

Hartmann was born of German descent in Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

, which was then the capital of the Russian province of Livonia, and which is now in Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

. He studied Medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 at the University of Tartu

University of Tartu

The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia...

 (then Jurjev), then Philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 in St. Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 and at the University of Marburg in Germany, where he took his Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 and Habilitation

Habilitation

Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...

. He was professor of philosophy in Marburg (1922–25), Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

 (1925–31), Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 (1931–45) and Göttingen

Göttingen

Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...

 (1945–50), where he died. Originally a Marburg neo-Kantian, studying under Hermann Cohen

Hermann Cohen

Hermann Cohen was a German-Jewish philosopher, one of the founders of the Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism, and he is often held to be "probably the most important Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth century".-Life:...

 and Paul Natorp

Paul Natorp

Paul Gerhard Natorp was a German philosopher and educationalist, considered one of the co-founders of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism. He was known as an authority on Plato....

, Hartmann developed his own philosophy which has been described as a variety of existentialism

Existentialism

Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...

 or critical realism

Critical realism

In the philosophy of perception, critical realism is the theory that some of our sense-data can and do accurately represent external objects, properties, and events, while other of our sense-data do not accurately represent any external objects, properties, and events...

. Among Hartmann's many students were Boris Pasternak

Boris Pasternak

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...

, Hans-Georg Gadamer

Hans-Georg Gadamer

Hans-Georg Gadamer was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 magnum opus, Truth and Method .-Life:...

, Émil Cioran, Jakob Klein, Delfim Santos

Delfim Santos

Delfim Pinto dos Santos , was a Portuguese philosopher, author, pedagogue, University professor and occasional book and movie reviewer.-Life:...

 and Max Wehrli

Max Wehrli

Max Wehrli was a Swiss literary scholar and Germanist. Wehrli studied Germanic and Greek at the Universities of Zurich and Berlin. Among his teachers were Ernst Howald and Nicolai Hartmann.-Works:...

. He is the modern discoverer of emergence

Emergence

In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence is the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. Emergence is central to the theories of integrative levels and of complex systems....

 — originally called by him categorial novum. His encyclopedic work is basically forgotten today, although famous during his lifetime. His early work in the philosophy of biology

Philosophy of biology

The philosophy of biology is a subfield of philosophy of science, which deals with epistemological, metaphysical, and ethical issues in the biological and biomedical sciences...

 has been cited in modern discussions of genomics

Genomics

Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...

 and cloning

Cloning

Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...

, and his views on consciousness and free will are currently in vogue among contributors to the Journal of Consciousness Studies

Journal of Consciousness Studies

The Journal of Consciousness Studies is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated entirely to the field of consciousness studies. It was previously edited by Joseph Goguen. It has been co-edited by the philosopher of mysticism, Robert K.C...

.

Levels of Reality

Hartmann's levels of reality

Integrative level

An integrative level, or level of organization, is a set of phenomena emerging on pre-existing phenomena of lower level. Typical examples include life emerging on non-living substances, and consciousness emerging on nervous systems....

 are: (1) the inorganic level (German: anorganische Schicht), (2) the organic level (organische Schicht), (3) the psychical/emotional level (seelische Schicht) and (4) the intellectual/cultural level (geistige Schicht). In the Structure of the Real World (Der Aufbau der realen Welt), Hartmann postulates four laws that apply to the levels of reality

Integrative level

An integrative level, or level of organization, is a set of phenomena emerging on pre-existing phenomena of lower level. Typical examples include life emerging on non-living substances, and consciousness emerging on nervous systems....

.

1. The law of recurrence: Lower categories recur in the higher levels as a subaspect of higher categories, but never vice versa.
2. The law of modification: The categorial elements modify in their recurrence in the higher levels (they are shaped by the characteristics of the higher levels).
3. The law of the novum: The higher category is composed of a diversity of lower elements, but it is a specific novum that is not included in the lower levels.
4. The law of distance between levels: Since the different levels do not develop continuously but in leaps, they can be clearly distinguished.

Quotation

The tragedy of man is that of somebody who is starving and sitting at a richly laden table but does not reach out with his hand, because he cannot see what is right in front of him. For the real world has inexhaustible splendour, the real life is full of meaning and abundance, where we grasp it, it is full of miracles and glory.

Works in German

Books:

• 1912, Philosophische Grundfragen der Biologie, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen.
• 1921, Grundzüge einer Metaphysik der Erkenntnis, Vereinigung wissenschaftlichen. Verleger, Berlin.
• 1923, Die Philosophie des deutschen Idealismus 1: Fichte, Schelling und die Romantik, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1926, Ethik, de Gruyter, Berlin-Leipzig.
• 1929, Die Philosophie des deutschen Idealismus 2: Hegel, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1931, Zum Problem der Realitätsgegebenheit, Pan-Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin.
• 1933, Das Problem des geistigen Seins. Untersuchungen zur Grundlegung der Geschichtsphilosophie und der Geisteswissenschaften, de Gruyter, Berlin-Leipzig.
• 1935, Ontologie, (4 Volumes) I: Zur Grundlegung der Ontologie, de Gruyter, Berlin-Leipzig.
• 1938, II: Möglichkeit und Wirklichkeit, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1940, III: Der Aufbau der realen Welt: Grundriß d. allg. Kategorienlehre , de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1949, Einführung in die Philosophie, Luise Hanckel Verlag, Hannover.
• 1950, IV: Philosophie der Natur : Abriss der speziellen Kategorienlehre, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1942, Systematische Philosophie, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart & Berlin.
• 1943, Neue Wege der Ontologie, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart.
• 1951, Teleologisches Denken, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1953, Asthetik, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1954, Philosophische Gespräche, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen.
• 1955, Der philosophische Gedanke und seine Geschichte, Zeitlichkeit und Substantialität, Sinngebung und Sinnerfüllung, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1955, Kleinere Schriften ; *Bd. 1* Abhandlungen zur systematischen Philosophie, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1957, Kleinere Schriften ; *Bd. 2* Abhandlungen zur Philosophie-Geschichte, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1958, Kleinere Schriften ; *Bd. 3* Vom Neukantianismus zur Ontologie, de Gruyter, Berlin.

Articles:

• 1924, Diesseits von Idealismus und Realismus : Ein Beitrag zur Scheidg d. Geschichtl. u. Übergeschichtl. in d. Kantischen Philosophie in: Sonderdrucke der Kantischen Studien, Pan Verlag R. Heise Berlin, pp. 160-206.
• 1926, Aristoteles und Hegel, Beitrage zur Philosophie des Deutschen Idealismus, 3 (1923), pp. 1-36.
• 1927, "Über die Stellung der ästhetischen Werte im Reich der Werte überhaupt", in Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress of Philosophy, Edgar Sheffield Brightman (ed.), New York: Longmans, Green, and Co, pp. 428–436.
• 1933, Systematische Selbstdarstellung in: Deutsche systematische Philosophie nach ihren Gestaltern, Ebda, Berlin : Junker & Dünnhaupt, pp. 283-340.
• 1935, Das Problem des Apriorismus in der Platonischen Philosophie in: Sitzungsberichte d. Preuss. Akad. d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Kl. 1935, 15, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1936, Der philosophische Gedanke und seine Geschichte, in: Abhandlungen d. Preuss. Akad. d. Wissenschaften. Phil.-hist. Kl. 1936, Nr 5, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1937, Der megarische und der Aristotelische Möglichkeitsbegriff : Ein Beitr. zur Geschichte d. ontolog. Modalitätsproblems, in; Sitzungsberichte d. Preuss. Akad. d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Kl. 1937, 10, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1938, Heinrich Maiers Beitrag zum Problem der Kategorien, in: Sitzungsberichte d. Preuss. Akad. d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Kl. 1938, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1939, Aristoteles und das Problem des Begriffs, in: Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften : Philosophisch-historische Klasse ; Jg. 1939, Nr 5, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1941, “Zur Lehre vom Eidos bei Platon und Aristoteles”, in: Abhandlungen d. Preuss. Akad. d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Kl. Jg. 1941, Nr 8, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1942, Neue Wege der Ontologie, in: Systematische Philosophie, N. Hartmann, editor, Stuttgart.
• 1943, Die Anfänge des Schichtungsgedankens in der alten Philosophie, in: Abhandlungen der Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften : Philosophisch-historische Klasse ; Jg. 1943, Nr 3, de Gruyter, Berlin.
• 1946, Leibniz als Metaphysiker, de Gruyter, Berlin.

Translations in English

• Nicolai Hartmann, Ethics, London: George Allen & Unwin 1932. Reprinted with a new introduction by Andreas A.M. Kinneging - New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers, 2002-2004 in three volumes: I. Moral phenomena (2002); II. Moral values (2004); III. Moral freedom (2004).
• Nicolai Hartmann, "German Philosophy in the Last Ten Years", translated by John Ladd, Mind: A Quarterly Review of Psychology and Philosophy, vol. 58, no. 232, 1949, pp. 413-433.
• Nicolai Hartmann, New Ways of Ontology, Westport: Greenwood Press, 1952.

Works about N. Hartmann

Books:

• 1952, H. Heimsoeth and others, N. Hartmann, der Denker und seine Werk.
• 1957, Jitendra Nath Mohanty, Nicolai Hartmann and Alfred North Whitehead: A Study in Recent Platonism, Calcutta: Progressive Publishers.
• 1959, H. Hulsmann, Die Methode in der Philosophie N. Hartmanns.
• 1962, K. Kanthack, N. Hartmann und das Ende der Ontologie.
• 1965, I. Wirth, Realismus und Apriorismus in N. Hartmanns Erkenntnistheorie.
• 1965, J. B. Forsche, Zur Philosohie Nicolai Hartmann".
• 1971, E. Hammer-Kraft, Freiheit und Dependenz im Schichtdenken Nicolai Hartmanns.
• 1973, R. Gamp, Die interkategoriale Relation und die dialektische Methode in der Philosophie N. Hartmanns.
• 1974, S. U. Kang, Nächstenliebe und Fernstenliebe Eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit Nicolai Hartmann.
• 1982, Herbert Spiegelberg, The Phenomenological Movement: A Historical Introduction, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. (Chapter VI: Phenomenology in the Critical Ontology of Nicolai Hartmann).
• 1984, Eva Hauel Cadwallader, Searchlight on Values: Nicolai Hartmann's Twentieth-Century Value Platonism, Washington: University press of America.
• 1987, Dong-Hyun Son, Die Seinsweise des objektivierten Geistes: Eine Untersuchung im Anschluss an Nicolai Hartmanns Problematik des "geistigen Seins", Peter Lang
• 1989, Arnd. Grötz, Nicolai Hartmanns Lehre vom Menschen, Frankfurt am Main, Lang.
• 1990, William H. Werkmeister, Nicolai Hartmann's New Ontology, Tallahassee, Florida State University Press.
• 1992, Roland H. Feucht, Die Neoontologie Nicolai Hartmanns im Licht der evolutionären Erkenntnistheorie, Regensburg, Roderer.
• 1994, Abolghassem Sakersadeh, Immanenz und Transzendenz als ungelöste Problematik in der Philosophie Nicolai Hartmanns, Münster, Lit.
• 1996, João Maurício Adeodato,Filosofia do direito: uma crítica à verdade na ética e na ciência (através de um exame da ontologia de Nicolai Hartmann), São Paulo, Saraiva.
• 1997, Martin Morgenstern,Nicolai Hartmann zur Einführung, Hamburg, Junius.
• 2000, Wolfgang, Harich, Nicolai Hartmann - Größe und Grenzen, edited by Martin Morgenstern, Wurzburg: Königshausen und Neumann.
• 2001, Axiomathes (Springer), 12:3-4, special issue on N. Hartmann (Includes papers by Albertazzi, Cicovacki, Da Re, Johansson, Peruzzi, Poli, Tegtmeier, van der Schaar, Wildgen)
• 2001, Nebil Reyhani, Hermann Weins Auseinandersetzung mit Nicolai Hartmann als sein Weg von der Ontologie zu einer philosophischen Kosmologie, PhD dissertation, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz.
• 2003, Gerhard Ehrl, Nicolai Hartmanns philosophische Anthropologie in systematischer Perspektive, Cuxhave, Junghans.
• 2004, Alessandro Gamba, In principio era il fine. Ontologia e teleologia in Nicolai Hartmann, Milano, Vita e Pensiero.
• 2011, Roberto Poli, Carlo Scognamiglio and Frederic Tremblay (eds.), The Philosophy of Nicolai Hartmann, Berlin, Walter de Gruyter.

Articles:

• 1935, Hilda Oakeley, "Professor Nicolai Hartmann's Concept of Objective Spirit," Mind, vol. 44, pp. 39-57.
• 1942, Lewis White Beck, "Nicolai Hartmann's Criticism of Kant's Theory of Knowledge," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, vol. 2, pp. 472-500.
• 1943, Michael Landmann, "Nicolai Hartmann and Phenomenology," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, vol. 3 pp. 393-423.
• 1951, Helmut Kuhn, "Nicolai Hartmann's Ontology," Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 1, pp. 289-318.
• 1953, Jacob Taubes, "The Development of the Ontological Question in Recent German Philosophy," Review of Metaphysics, vol. 6, pp. 651-664.
• 1954, John E. Smith, "Hartmann's New Ontology," Review of Metaphysics, vol. 7, pp. 583-601.
• 1956, Eva Schaper, "The Aesthetics of Hartmann and Bense," Review of Metaphysics, vol. 10, pp. 289-307.
• 1960, Helen James, "Nicolai Hartmann's Study of Human Personality," New Scholasticism, vol. 34, pp. 204-233.
• 1961, Robert Hein, "Nicolai Hartmann: A Personal Sketch," Personalist, vol 42, pp. 469-486.
• 1963, Stanislas Breton, "Ontology and Ontologies: The Contemporary Situation," International Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 3, pp. 339-369.
• 1963, Paul K. Feyerabend, "Professor Hartmann's Philosophy of Nature," Ratio, vol. 5, pp. 91-106.
• 1963, Jitendra Nath Mohanty, "Remarks on Nicolai Hartmann's Modal Doctrine," Kant Studien, vol. 54, pp. 181-187.
• 1966, Caroline Schuetzinger, "The Gnoseological Transcendence in Nicolai Hartmann's Metaphysics of Cognition (First Part)," Thomist, vol. 30, pp. 1-37.
• 1966, Caroline Schuetzinger, "The Gnoseological Transcendence in Nicolai Hartmann's Metaphysics of Cognition (Second Part)," Thomist, vol. 30, pp. 136-196.
• 1984, Richard Bodeus, "The Problem of Freedom According to Nicolai Hartmann," International Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 24, pp. 55-60.
• 1984, Eva Hauel Cadwallader, "The Continuing Relevance of Nicolai Hartmann's Theory of Value", Journal of Value Inquiry, vol. 18, pp. 113-121.
• 1984, Frederick Kraenzel, "Nicolai Hartmann's Doctrine of Ideal Values: An Examination," Journal of Value Inquiry, vol. 18, pp. 299-306.
• 1986, Janina Makota, "Nicolai Hartmann's and Roman Ingarden's Philosophy of Man," Reports on Philosophy, vol. 10, pp. 69-79.
• 1994, Wolfgang Drechsler and Rainer Kattel, "Nicolai Hartmann", Akademia, vol. 6, pp. 1579–1592.
• 1998, Roberto Poli, "Levels," Axiomathes: An International Journal in Ontology and Cognitive Systems, vol. 9, pp. 197-211.
• 2001, Predrag Cicovacki, "New Ways of Ontology - The Ways of Interaction", Axiomathes: An International Journal in Ontology and Cognitive Systems, vol. 12, pp. 159-170.
• 2001, Gabor Csepregi, "The Relevance of Nicolai Hartmann's Musical Aesthetics," Axiomathes: An International Journal in Ontology and Cognitive Systems, vol. 12, pp. 339-354.
• 2001, Antonio Da Re, "Objective Spirit and Personal Spirit in Hartmann's Philosophy," Axiomathes, vol. 12, pp. 317-326.
• 2001, Ingvar Johansson, "Hartmann's Nondeductive Materalism, Superimposition, and Supervenience," Axiomathes, vol. 12, pp. 195-215.
• 2001, Erwin Tegtmeier, "Hartmann's General Ontology," Axiomathes: An International Journal in Ontology and Cognitive Systems, vol. 12, pp. 217-225.
• 2001, Maria Van der Schaar, "Hartmann's Rejection of the Notion of Evidence," Axiomathes: An International Journal in Ontology and Cognitive Systems, vol. 12, pp. 285-297.
• 2001, Jordan Robert Welsh, "Hartmann, Schutz, and the Hermeneutics of Action," Axiomathes: An International Journal in Ontology and Cognitive Systems, vol. 12, pp. 327-338.
• 2001, Roberto Poli, "The Basic Problem of the Theory of Levels of Reality," Axiomathes: An International Journal in Ontology and Cognitive Systems, vol. 12, pp. 261-283.
• 2001, Alberto Peruzzi, "Hartmann's Stratified Reality," Axiomathes: An International Journal in Ontology and Cognitive Systems, vol. 12, pp. 227-260.
• 2011, Frederic Tremblay, "Nicolai Hartmann's Definition of Biological Species," in R. Poli, C. Scognamiglio, F. Tremblay (eds.), The Philosophy of Nicolai Hartmann, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 125-140.

External links

• Nicolai Hartmann Society
• Levels of Reality in the Ontology of Nicolai Hartmann