Herder's Essay on Being: A Translation and Critical Approaches (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture)

In recent years, Johann Gottfried Herder has been the focus of much interest in the English-speaking world. While he was long disregarded, current scholarship in both German and English is revisiting his importance as an early theorist of the limits of Enlightenment. Increasingly, scholarship is remembering that in the closing decades of the eighteenth century Herder was one of the most important alternative voices to Kant. Herder's Versuch über das Sein (Essay on Being, ca. 1764) was likely composed in reaction to Kant's lectures on metaphysics. In it, Herder unfolds his philosophical project, setting the terms that remained the foundation of his work throughout his life and influenced Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and others. Given the central importance of the essay and Herder's increasing recognition in the English-speaking world, it is striking that it has not been translated into English until now. This volume presents a facsimile of the manuscript along with a German transcription, an annotated translation, and critical essays by the most important Herder scholars writing in German and English today. Contributors: Manfred Baum, Arnd Bohm, Nigel DeSouza, Ulrich Gaier, Alexander J. B. Hampton, Marion Heinz, John K. Noyes, Wolfgang Pross, Sonia Sikka. John K. Noyes is Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures at theUniversity of Toronto and Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He is the author of Herder: Aesthetics against Imperialism. Table of Contents Introduction: The Essay on Being - John K. Noyes PART 1. VERSUCH ÜBER DAS SEYN , BY JOHANN GOTTFRIED HERDER Facsimile of Versuch über das Seyn Transcription by Hans-Dietrich Irmscher and Heinrich Clairmont Annotation Translation by John K. Noyes PART 2. CRITICAL ESSAYS Herder's Essay on Being - Manfred Baum The Order of Being and the Order of Ideas: The Historical Context of Herder's Essay on Being - Wolfgang Pross Indivisible, Inexplicable, and the Centre of all Certainty: Herder's Concept of Being - Alexander J. B. Hampton The Metaphysical Foundation of Subjective Philosophy in Herder's Essay on Being - Marion Heinz Herder's Kantian Critique of Kant on the Concept of Being - Nigel DeSouza Attempting to Place the Essay on Being - Arnd Bohm Herder's Early Neoplatonism - Ulrich Gaier Being, Possibility, and God: A Comparison of Herder and Heidegger - Sonia Sikka Bibliography Notes on the Contributors Index Presents the first English translation of Herder's foundational essay along with critical responses to it by today's leading Herder scholars.In recent years, Johann Gottfried Herder has been the focus of much interest in the English-speaking world. While he was long disregarded, current scholarship in both German and English is revisiting his importance as an early theorist of the limits of Enlightenment. Increasingly, scholarship is remembering that in the closing decades of the eighteenth century Herder was one of the most important alternative voices to Kant. Herder's Versuch über das Sein (Essay on Being, ca. 1764) was likely composed in reaction to Kant's lectures on metaphysics. In it, Herder unfolds his philosophical project, setting the terms that remained the foundation of his work throughout his life and influenced Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and others. Given the central importance of the essay and Herder's increasing recognition in the English-speaking world, it is striking that it has not been translated into English until now. This volume presents a facsimile of the manuscript along with a German transcription, an annotated translation, and critical essays by the most important Herder scholars writing in German and English today. Contributors: Manfred Baum, Arnd Bohm, Nigel DeSouza, Ulrich Gaier, Alexander J. B. Hampton, Marion Heinz, John K. Noyes, Wolfgang Pross, Sonia Sikka. John K. Noyes is Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures at theUniversity of Toronto and Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He is the author of Herder: Aesthetics against Imperialism. In recent years, Johann Gottfried Herder has been the focus of much interest in the English-speaking world. While he was long disregarded, current scholarship in both German and English is revisiting his importance as an early theorist of the limits of Enlightenment. . Increasingly, scholarship is remembering that in the closing decades of the eighteenth century Herder was one of the most important alternative voices to Kant.0 Herder's 'Versuch uber das Sein' (Essay on Being, ca. 1764) was likely composed in reaction to Kant's lectures on metaphysics. In it, Herder unfolds his philosophical project, setting the terms that remained the foundation of his work throughout his life and influenced Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and others. Given the central importance of the essay and Herder's increasing recognition in the English-speaking world, it is striking that it has not been translated into English until now. This volume presents a facsimile of the manuscript along with a German transcription, an annotated translation, and critical essays by the most important Herder scholars writing in German and English today Frontcover Contents Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction: The Essay on Being Part I. Versuch über das Seyn, by Johann Gottfried Herder Facsimile Transcription by Hans-Dietrich Irmscher and Heinrich Clairmont Annotated English Translation by John K. Noyes Part II. Critical Essays Herder’s Essay on Being The Order of Being and the Order of Ideas: The Historical Context of Herder’s Essay on Being Indivisible, Inexplicable, and the Center of All Certainty: Herder’s Concept of Being The Metaphysical Foundation of Subjective Philosophy in Herder’s Essay on Being Herder’s Kantian Critique of Kant on the Concept of Being Attempting to Place the Essay on Being Herder’s Early Neoplatonism Being, Possibility, and God: A Comparison of Herder and Heidegger Bibliography Notes on the Contributors Index Edited By John K. Noyes. Includes Bibliographical References (pages [203]-215) And Index.