Wolfgang Marx as a post-Neo-Kantian: The Reflection of the Reflection of the Reflection

Abstract

This article presents Wolfgang Marx as a post-Neo-Kantian par excellence. Wolfgang Marx begins with an essay on Paul Natorp, then writes a book on Hegel and one on Hermann Cohen and from there his first major work, “Reflexionstopologie” (1984). In this book, Wolfgang Marx denies that the great epistemological goals of traditional philosophy, such as, in a Hegelian perspective, finding an ‘intrinsically’ first thought from which all further thoughts could be gained, or also an ‘intrinsically’ final thought in and with which philosophical thought would come to a definitive end, are achievable at all. Accordingly, there is no “unity of the world after the unity of the Logos”. These philosophical-critical theses explain why Wolfgang Marx’s philosophy is hardly recognised by the established philosophical establishment. After “Reflexionstopologie”, the second main work, “Bewusstseins-Welten” (1994), is also presented. This book now relates the insights gained with regard to pure thinking in the “topology of reflection” to consciousness and concretises them therein. Finally, it is presented that Wolfgang Marx has expressed himself in a wealth of individual publications on various topics. These include personalised questions about Rudolf Carnap and Martin Heidegger, but also purely systematic questions such as the relevance of the philosophical concept of the system.

Keywords

• neo-kantianism
• hermeneutics
• hegel
• cohen
• systematic philosophy
• theory of reflection
• consciousness
• end of philosophy