German philosophy is a fairly extensive current in Western philosophy, which includes all philosophy in German, as well as all the works of German thinkers in other languages. It is a very influential and respectable school that has long been central to the world's thought process.
History of German philosophy
We can assume that German philosophy began with the works of Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel and Friedrich Nietzsche. They greatly influenced the worldview of not only their contemporaries, but also their numerous followers and opponents, who, although they argued with him, could not escape this influence.
Later, German philosophy was marked by such names as Gottfried Leibniz, Karl Marx, Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche. Contemporary philosophers such as Martin Heidegger, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Jürgen Habermas also contribute significantly to the image of the school of German philosophy as very influential and deep.
Kant
The fundamental work "Critique of Pure Reason", in which Kant revealed the concept of the transcendent, became the basis of his philosophy, and also laid the foundation for the entire German classical tradition of philosophy. Kant classifies human judgments, dividing them into arpiorno-a posteriori and synthetic-analytical.
The synthetic ones include those judgments that, not being generated by the subject who revealed them, nevertheless highlight new knowledge. Analytical ones do not carry new knowledge, but only explain those judgments that were already hidden in the subject that generated them. A priori judgments include such judgments that do not need to be checked whether they are true or not, but a posteriori judgments necessarily need empirical verification. Kant adds that synthetic judgments, as a rule, are a posteriori (scientific discoveries), and analytical ones are a priori (logical chain).
Kant became the founder of a philosophical trend that was called German idealism.
Hegel
Hegel was a follower of Kant, but his idealism was objective. His views are very different from other idealists, since Hegel had a slightly different logic. In general, he was very attentive to logic, for which he studied the works of the greatest ancient Greek philosophers, setting out the results of his reflections in the work "Science of Logic".
Hegel argued that the Absolute Spirit is the basis of all that exists, it is infinite, and this is already enough to know oneself in full. Nevertheless, in order to know, he needs to see himself, therefore manifestation is necessary. Hegel believed that the contradictions of history and history are an important part of the contradictions of national Spirits, and when they disappear, the Absolute Spirit will come to the Absolute Idea of itself, which will be the result of this knowledge. Then the Kingdom of Freedom will come.
Hegel's logic is rather complex, so his works were often misunderstood and incorrectly translated into other languages.
Nietzsche
The works of Friedrich Nietzsche are rather atypical for philosophers. He deliberately refused to express his thoughts in the usual way, preferring a literary style. Nietzsche also refrained from revealing reasons and unfolding arguments. This gave him considerable freedom, since it was possible to write everything that he thought or saw directly, refusing to follow any theory, even his own. Nietzsche's ideas greatly influenced the entire Western world, not only the philosophical one.
