Panajotis Kondylis as a Historian of the Enlightenment and the Early Modern Critique of Metaphysics

Abstract: Kondylis' practice of the historiography of philosophy in Die Aufklärung im Rahmen des neuzeitlichen Rationalismus (1981) and Die neuzeitliche Metaphysikkritik (1990) constitutes an impressive part of his oeuvre that partakes of a genealogical and polemological approach to understanding philosophical theories. Understanding the development of the Enlightenment as a general movement aiming at the rehabilitation of sensuality makes it necessary to analyse the way in which thinkers managed to develop their positions by attacking various adversaries. Within this context, the functionality of certain theories consists in creating a kind of intellectual predominance over one's opponents. The history of the Enlightenment is thus intimately linked to polemics both against the theologically orthodox enemies of the Enlightenment and the more radical proponents of the Enlightenment who seem to threaten public morality by promoting atheistic and nihilistic conclusions. A particular aspect of modern philosophy runs parallel to the Enlightenment since the 17th century, namely the critique of metaphysics. But Kondylis makes clear the fact that there is no stable content of metaphysics, as there are conflicting interpretations of it and that therefore anthropologically grounded concepts which proclaim an ineradicable metaphysical longing in man cannot really stand. The conflicting claims of the various doctrines of metaphysics to be the true and obligatory metaphysics inevitably results in the recognition of the basic argument of all critiques of metaphysics, namely that metaphysical content can be shown to be wholly arbitrary. In his thorough analysis, Kondylis highlights different basic types of critiques of metaphysics, such as:

1. polemical agnosticism and empirical epistemology

2. the criticism of metaphysics as an abuse of language

3. the sociologically grounded critique

4. the anthropological position which privileges practical and moral arguments over speculative reasoning. 

By taking a closer look at Kondylis' research into modern philosophy from the 17th to the 20th centuries, we can gain a better understanding of the hidden normative premises as well as the claims to power behind speculative or epistemological propositions concerning metaphysics.