General rationality types and concrete philosophical cultures: from Hegel to Max Weber
The paper deals with the problematic antinomy which seems to exist between the universality of reason on the one hand, and the many concrete forms of philosophical cultures on the other. To proclaim an irreversible plurality of philosophies would be too easy a solution. Instead, the idea of Hegel of a concrete totality, where different philosophies are seen as moments of a more or less organic whole, is examined. Although Hegel’s concept of totality offers fruitful insights, it suffers from finalistic and teleological assumptions. Max Weber’s concept of rationality can here be seen as a necessary correction to Hegel’s views. Both Hegel and Weber see Reason as the idée-maîtresse of modernity. Modern rationality means an epochal breach in the development of philosophy, and it is thus not justified to treat modern philosophies on equal terms with traditional philosophies. It should be noted that from this point of view even pre-modern Western philosophy belongs to the “traditional philosophies.”Finally, the interaction between modern and traditional philosophy is examined briefly, analyzing the case of Russian thought.