●Kant: No one can know absolute truth
○But we can know the absolute truth of APPEARANCES because we live in a
world of appearances
●Hegel: the way to do it is by thinking historically
○We have to look at things by the way it develops through time, in order to grasp
the truth
○Even nature is in time and is historical
○We cannot predict the future, but there are 3 spheres in our life where we can see
the absolute truth
■Art
■Great religions
■Philosophy/thought
●Thought applied to appearances can allow us to look through time
and grasp the truth
●Ability to reason, ability to understand and explain allows us to
grasp the truth
○“The Good”- what drives history is a type of spiritual power that is pushing the
historical process to wherever it’s going
○History has reached its contemporary high point, political struggles the highest of
its time
■Struggle of monarchy, voting, citizens’ rights
●Marx- born 1818 after Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo
○Political outcast, descendant of Jews but immediate family was Lutheran, father
was a lawyer- set up for prestige
○Disillusioned with Hegelian philosophy, over-valued philosophy, religion, and art
○Living on the earth is the foundation of our existence
○Wrote critique, felt the need to challenge thought and reality as he found it
■Criticizes religion
●Religion is not at all about anything absolute. Religion is one of
the most powerful forms of illusions. Religion creates an opioid
which every powerful figure in the world recognizes. Every
country wants its people to be religious because it numbs people;
keeps them from wanting to create change. Religion is an obstacle
to human beings seizing the right to change the world, it is a
pathway for struggle.
●People have a way to be more powerful and create change but
religion gets in the way
●Expresses our every struggling in an abstract way
■Criticizes philosophy
●The notion of philosophy as the highest form of human
understanding is wrong. Philosophers have only interpreted the
world in various ways, however the goal is to change it. Need to go
beyond philosophy. Another way of being powerless within reality.
Need to look at how humankind has made the world the way it is
now and how we can change it.