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. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 11 Abbreviations......Page 12 Introduction: “Germany” and German philosophy......Page 13 PART I Kant and the revolution in philosophy......Page 29 FREEDOM AND CRITICISM......Page 31 JUDGMENTS......Page 33 PURE INTUITIONS......Page 36 CONCEPTS AND INTUITIONS: THE TRANSCENDENTAL DEDUCTION......Page 38 CONCEPTS AND INTUITIONS: PROBLEMS AND SCHEMATA......Page 48 "IDEAS," THINGS-IN-THEMSELVES, AND FREEDOM......Page 52 FROM SPONTANEITY TO FREEDOM......Page 57 FROM FREEDOM TO AUTONOMY......Page 60 FROM AUTONOMY TO MORAL PRINCIPLE......Page 65 FREEDOM AND THE POLITICAL COMMONWEALTH: AUTONOMY AND VIRTUE......Page 67 AUTONOMY, RELIGION, AND THE ETHICAL COMMONWEALTH......Page 70 THE NATURAL AND THE MORAL ORDERS......Page 78 NORMATIVITY AND AESTHETIC JUDGMENT......Page 79 NORMATIVITY AND TELEOLOGICAL JUDGMENT......Page 88 PART II The revolution continued: post-Kantians......Page 93 Introduction: idealism and the reality of the French Revolution......Page 94 KANT'S STATUS AND THE RISE OF JENA......Page 99 THE CRITIQUE OF REASON TURNED AGAINST KANT: JACOBI......Page 102 REINHOLD, THE "NEW UNIVERSITY," AND THE DEFENSE OF KANTIANISM......Page 108 CHAPTER 5 The 1790s: Fichte......Page 117 THE PROBLEM OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND POST-KANTIAN ROMANTICISM......Page 143 THE PROBLEM OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS: HÖLDERLIN......Page 151 THE PROBLEM OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS: NOVALIS......Page 156 SCHLEIERMACHER: ROMANTIC RELIGION AND THE IRREDUCIBILITY OF INDIVIDUALITY......Page 160 FRIEDRICH SCHLEGEL: THE IRONY OF A FRAGMENTED LIFE......Page 170 THE AMBIGUITIES OF REPUBLICANISM......Page 176 SCHELLING, SPINOZA, AND FICHTEAN THOUGHT......Page 184 Naturphilosophie......Page 190 TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM......Page 196 HISTORY, "ABSOLUTE IDENTITY," AND ART......Page 202 REEVALUATING FREEDOM......Page 204 CHAPTER 8 1801–1807: the other post-Kantian: Jacob Friedrich Fries and non-Romantic Sentimentalism......Page 211 MORAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT: KANT REDEFINED......Page 219 PART III The revolution completed? Hegel......Page 225 Introduction: post-revolutionary Germany......Page 226 HEGEL'S JOURNEY......Page 229 THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT......Page 233 CONSCIOUSNESS......Page 234 SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS......Page 236 FROM MASTERY AND SERVITUDE TO REASON......Page 241 THE HISTORICAL GENESIS OF MODERN LIFE......Page 245 RELIGION AND ABSOLUTE KNOWING......Page 254 CHAPTER 10 Hegel’s analysis of mind and world: the Science of Logic......Page 258 THE DOCTRINE OF BEING: GOING BEYOND HÖLDERLIN......Page 262 FINITE, INFINITE, AND "IDEALISM"......Page 263 MODERN SKEPTICISM AND THE WORLD OF ESSENCES......Page 267 CONCEPTS AND INFERENCES......Page 268 SUBJECTS, OBJECTS, AND SYLLOGISMS......Page 272 THE ABSOLUTE IDEA......Page 275 NATURE......Page 278 THE CONCEPT OF GEIST......Page 287 FREEDOM......Page 292 INSTITUTIONS AND ACTUALIZATIONS: OBJECTIVE SPIRIT......Page 298 WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN: ABSOLUTE SPIRIT......Page 306 PART IV The revolution in question......Page 317 Introduction: exhaustion and resignation,1830–1855......Page 318 CHAPTER 12 Schelling's attempt at restoration: idealism under review......Page 329 SCHELLING'S DEVELOPMENT AFTER 1809: THE MIDDLE PERIOD......Page 331 THE LATE PHILOSOPHY: SCHELLING'S BERLIN PERIOD AND THE "PHILOSOPHY OF REVELATION"......Page 336 SCHOPENHAUER'S POST-KANTIANISM IDEALISM AS ROMANTIC PESSIMISM......Page 345 KIERKEGAARD: POST-SCHELLINGIAN HEGELIANISM?......Page 357 Conclusion: the legacy of idealism......Page 368 Bibliography......Page 380 Index......Page 390

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

publishers Weekly

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.