German philosophy, 1760-1860 : the legacy of idealism

In the second half of the eighteenth century, German philosophy dominated European philosophy, changing the way Europeans and people all over the world conceived of themselves and thought about nature, religion, human history, politics, and the structure of the human mind. In this rich and wide-ranging book, Terry Pinkard interweaves the story of "Germany"—changing during this period from a loose collection of principalities into a newly-emerged nation with a distinctive culture—with an examination of the currents and complexities of its developing philosophical thought. He examines the dominant influence of Kant, with his revolutionary emphasis on "self-determination," and traces this influence through the development of romanticism and idealism to the critiques of post-Kantian thinkers such as Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard. His book will interest a range of readers in the history of philosophy, cultural history and the history of ideas. Terry Pinkard is professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University and is the author of the acclaimed Hegel: A Biography (Cambridge, 2000). He is honorary Professor of the Philosophy Faculty of Tübingen University, Germany and serves on the advisory board for the Zeitschrift für Philosophique Forschung.

the First Comprehensive Modern History Of The Origins And Emergence Of German Philosophy.

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published A Little More Than Two Years Ago, Pinkard's Hegel: A Biography Has Quickly Become The Standard Life In English Of The World's Major Romantic-era Philosopher, Not Least Because Of Its Magisterial Explications Of The Finer Points Of Hegel's Thought, Along With Its Extremely Forthright Judiciousness About The Life. To Have Another Work From Pinkard, Professor Of Philosophy At Northwestern University, In So Short A Time Is Remarkable. Pinkard Takes Readers-carefully, Succinctly And In A Manner Sensitive To The Political And Social Ferment Of The Time-on A Journey Through The Most Important Hundred Years In Philosophy Since The Renaissance. Beginning With The Kantian Revolution In Human Understanding Of Its Own Knowledge (the Ethical And Political Consequences That Result From It), Pinkard Walks Readers Through The Philosophical Chaos That Reigned Through The 1790s, When Hegel Was At University With Halderlin And Schelling And The German States Were In Upheaval, Through To Hegel's Completion Of Kant's Project (announced With 1807's Phenomenology Of Spirit) And Schopenhauer's Version Of Idealism (mirrored In Kierkegaard's Pessimism). In Pinkard's Hands, What Could Be Just Names Come Alive As Men And Ideas That Have Much To Teach Us About Our Own Beliefs About How To Live. As He Writes Of Hegel's Phenomenology, It Was To Provide An Education, A Bildung, A Formation For Its Readership So That They Could Grasp Who They Had Become (namely, A People Individually And Collectively `called' To Be Free), Why They Had Become Those People, And Why That Had Been Necessary. (dec.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

In the second half of the eighteenth century, German philosophy dominated European philosophy, changing the way Europeans and people all over the world conceived of themselves and thought about nature, religion, human history, politics, and the structure of the human mind. In this rich and wide-ranging book, Terry Pinkard interweaves the story of "Germany"--changing during this period from a loose collection of principalities into a newly-emerged nation with a distinctive culture--with an examination of the currents and complexities of its developing philosophical thought. He examines the dominant influence of Kant, with his revolutionary emphasis on "self-determination," and traces this influence through the development of romanticism and idealism to the critiques of post-Kantian thinkers such as Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard. His book will interest a range of readers in the history of philosophy, cultural history and the history of ideas. Terry Pinkard is professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University and is the author of the acclaimed Hegel: A Biography (Cambridge, 2000). He is honorary Professor of the Philosophy Faculty of TUbingen University, Germany and serves on the advisory board for the Zeitschrift fUr Philosophique Forschung. In the second half of the eighteenth century, German philosophy came for a while to dominate European philosophy. It changed the way in which not only Europeans, but people all over the world, conceived of themselves and thought about nature, religion, human history, politics, and the structure of the human mind. In this rich and wide-ranging book, Terry Pinkard interweaves the story of 'Germany' - changing during this period from a loose collection of principalities into a newly-emerged nation with a distinctive culture - with an examination of the currents and complexities of its developing philosophical thought. He examines the dominant influence of Kant, with his revolutionary emphasis on 'self-determination', and traces this influence through the development of romanticism and idealism to the critiques of post-Kantian thinkers such as Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard. His book will interest a range of readers in the history of philosophy, cultural history and the history of ideas. Kant's first major book, The Critique of Pure Reason, rapidly became a key text in virtually all areas of German intellectual life in the last part of the eighteenth century. In 1763, one of the many contenders for the title "the first world war" - in this case, the "Seven Years War" - was concluded.