Philosophy of Hildebrand

Running head: PHILOSOPHY OF HILDEBRAND
PHILOSOPHY OF HILDEBRAND
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Author Note

1PHILOSOPHY OF HILDEBRAND
Dietrich von Hildebrand was one of the pioneering philosophers of his times. The most
profound contribution of his lies in his skeptical and rational understanding, explanation and
analysis of the established doctrines of Christianity; his philosophical enquiry about the question
of what constitutes at the heart of human knowledge and the meaning and significance of
philosophy for mankind. Dietrich von Hildebrand was well known for viewing the inner meaning
of the prevalent doctrines and breaking free from the parochial and uncritical bent of human
mind to accept the state of affairs and the ideas that are prevalent in society without must protest.
Since Dietrich von Hildebrand had been able to think differently, his works find a reflection of
that and that has generated a profound impact in causing human beings to open up to a totally
new world of ideas and imbibe the spirit of awakening. In the works of Dietrich von Hildebrand
one can find an influence of several classical philosophers and also of those philosophers who
were his contemporaries. Those ideas were combined by means of taking into account their
positive aspects and by imbibing his personal philosophical predispositions. Through that
process Dietrich von Hildebrand has been able to prove the centrality of philosophy in all human
questions thereby elevating the status of the discipline above all other. In this particular essay, a
synoptic view of the ideas provided by Dietrich von Hildebrand shall be provided with special
emphasis on the aspect of the attempt made by him in deciphering the meaning and significance
of philosophy that has relevance for entire mankind. In other word it is an epistemological
understanding of knowledge and the utilitarian significance it has in human life. It is however
impossible to ignore the mention of religion in his works since that has been placed at the heart
of his theorization of human knowledge and philosophy. Thus in this particular essay, three
aspects shall be finding a mention, the views of Dietrich von Hildebrand on Religion, his views
on human knowledge and what constitutes philosophy.

2PHILOSOPHY OF HILDEBRAND
According to Dietrich von Hildebrand the very interest which propels one to embark
upon a deep quest of knowledge is synonymous to indulgence in a philosophical enquiry. Thus
the philosophy is the quest for seeking answers to the problems and as to why a particular state
of affair prevails or exists. On the basis of the inference that is drawn from the query that the task
of establishing knowledge is accomplished (Hildebrand). This particular analysis provided by
Dietrich von Hildebrand has a sophist undertone to it. Socrates had considered truth to be
knowledge and that knowledge is formed by means of questioning and seeking answer behind
why a system functions in the way it does. The activity of looking forward to finding the reason
is the very essence of knowledge creation, and that strand of logic is found both the set of ideas
provided by Socrates and Dietrich von Hildebrand. Both of them have elevated the status of the
quest for knowledge or indulging in philosophical requisites of human existence to that of agent
which sharpens human intellect. The very basis of the generation of knowledge lies in the human
interest to look for answers and provide a credible basis to the set of human values and beliefs.
When the very interest to indulge in the philosophical queries cease to exist, that marks the death
of human intellect. As per the opinions of both Socrates and Dietrich von Hildebrand, human
intellect must relentlessly propel itself to the path of seeking answers and that leads to the
awakening of the human mind, and that in turn showcases itself by means of the development
that human beings brings about. Development is thus but a state which first begins at the realm
of mind, and then manifests itself materially in the social sphere. Until and unless the thought
process develops, the state of human life shall not be developing, since elevated ideas are the
basis of actions that shall be leading to the development (Hildebrand). This importance of ideas
over the materialistic aspects of life is an indication that the philosophy of knowledge as
provided by Dietrich von Hildebrand has an essence of Hegelian Idealism to it. Hegel had argued

3PHILOSOPHY OF HILDEBRAND
that materials are but a manifestation of the ideas. Ideas are abstract and their concrete
expression and manifestation lies in the materials. It is very important thus to have a clear and
well defined idea, without which it would be difficult to render the idea a physical, tangible and
concrete form. Thus the connection between idea and philosophy is clear that they are
complementary to each other. Philosophy is the quest for new ideas and that cuts across all
disciplines. Naturally, philosophy as one can find in Platonic discourses is the master of all
science. Whether it is an enquiry about human behaviour and problems in the sphere of social
sciences, or an indulgence in some experiment or research by a natural scientist, philosophy is
central to each of the branches of scholarly pursuit. Both the genres of scholarly pursuits,
concerning social science as well as the natural science is motivated by indulging in enquiries
which shall be aimed at solving the problems of human beings. Naturally, both disciplines have
to devote efforts which shall be enable them to find out the answers and that requires
questioning. If the spirit of questioning, the spirit of being critical is absent then it shall become
difficult to solve the problems of human lives (Hildebrand). That is owing to the fact that the
problems of human lives are dynamic in nature and they keep on appearing and reappearing.
Problems do not seem to stop and the solving of one problem does not imply that it shall be the
be all and end all of all problems. Naturally, human beings are supposed to exhibit a sense of
preparedness at all points of time and be prepared to provide a solution to the problems that shall
be coming in future. For that purpose the established knowledge base shall become redundant
and a newer set of ideas and knowledge must be created in order to provide a worthwhile
solution (Hildebrand). This necessitates that the exercise of constantly expanding and broadening
the horizon of human knowledge must be kept intact. The very generic misconception about
philosophy being a discipline of social science is based on a wrong premise, since its scope is all