Introductory Reflections the Historical Context of the Lectures their Subject Matter and Method

According to Gadamer1 the period between the two World Wars was one of extraordinary spiritual fertility. The economic, social, and political disaster which, particularly in Germany, followed World War I completely destroyed the optimism and idealism prevailing in the liberal era that preceded the first World War. There were very few people in Germany who still believed that the future holds nothing but progress. During the same period the neo-Kantian philosophy which had become dominant in Germany during the last quarter of the 19th Century, suddenly began to appear to many as being no longer acceptable. Several authors spoke about a complete breakdown of German Idealism and some even felt that a general decline of Western civilization was imminent (Paul Ernst, Oswald Spengler). This criticism of neo-Kantianism was prepared by Nietzsche’s attack on Platonism and historical Christianity as well as by Kierkegaard’s criticism of absolute Idealism. The first traces of this critique, however, were not found in philosophy, but rather in the so-called dialectical theology.