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The function of philosophy may be circumscribed as consisting in ma king a keen analysis of the peculiar nature of the crisis-situation, as it has existed among mell throughout th~ centuries of human history, and as it manifested itself in definite ways at the various stages of this his tory. That is to say, philosophy may be regarded as the discipline which, again and again, will have to determine the authenticity of man's ex istence in the light of the changing conditions of life, i. e. , man's chang ing needs and interests. Fundamentally, these needs may be regarded as being of a material, an intellectual, an aesthetical and a spiritual kind. On the grounds of the crisis, which inevitably exists among men on ac count of the controversial nature of their various truth-perspectives, as they are postulated on a personal level, in the sciences, in history, in the fine arts and in theology, man creates and re-creates the goods of civilization and the cultural values. The task of philosophy consists then in making an ever new assessment of man's changing needs, in terests and aspirations on the basis of the specific conflicts and prob lems with which man wrestles at a certain historical stage. It is in this way that the important philosophical systems were constructed, which we still admire to-day.
List of contents
List of Contents.- The Nature of the present Crisis.- The Functionalistic Alternative or the Alternative of the Status Quo.- The Existential Alternative.- The Dialectical Alternative.- Philosophy as a Representation of the Nature of Truth.- 1. General Observations.- 2. The Historical Nature of Philosophy.- 3. The Anthropological Character of Philosophical Projects.- 4. The Systematic Aspect of the History of Philosophy as the Mirror of Human Truth.- The Existential Character of Philosophy and the Problem of Authentic Existence.- Conclusion.
