Reviews for Philosophy Of German Idealism

The average rating for Philosophy Of German Idealism based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-02-02 00:00:00 Nick Athas This excellent single volume contains some of the most crucial contributions to the canon of philosophy which are largely unavailable elsewhere in translation. Whether one is simply interested in exploring significant figures of post-Kantian figures (contemporary with or prior to Hegel) or whether one is interested in better contextualizing the thought of later figures (such as Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Marx and Nietzsche) to which these thinkers act as a "bridge," this book offers the best introduction to authors whose vast corpuses of philosophy are largely un-systematic or scattered across various brief texts. Superbly edited, Ernst Behler includes brief but highly illuminating essays from Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (as well as the famed anonymous text: "The Oldest Systematic Program of German Idealism," which has been alternately attributed to Schelling, Hegel, and Holderlin--as well as all three together). From Fichte, the volume includes his lectures "Concerning the Scholar's Vocation," (1804) which outlines the social dimension of Fichte's philosophy and is a rhetorically compelling account of his view of history and the role of the philosopher within it. More importantly, the volume also includes Fichte's (clumsily named) essay, "A Crystal Clear Report to the General Public Concerning the Actual Essence of the Newest Philosophy: An Attempt to Force the Reader to Understand" (1800). This essay offers perhaps the best (and certainly, in my view, the clearest) explanation of Fichte's overall system which he attempted in his much larger "Wissenschaftslehre." From Jacobi, Behler has included the famed "Open Letter to Fichte" (from 1800) wherein Jacobi charges Fichte with atheism, and the larger essay "On Faith & Knowledge in Response to Schelling & Hegel" (1803). Both essays capture intriguing snapshots of 19th century criticism of the idealist project from the standpoint of orthodox Lutheran fideism, which anticipates the work of Kierkegaard while also helping to shape both Hegel and Schelling's response to these forms of criticism in their own systematic undertakings. From Schelling, three texts are included. From Schelling's earlier period, Behler includes his highly influential "Ideas on a Philosophy of Nature" (1803) and his "Main Propositions for a Philosophy of Art." (1806) In both of these essays, Schelling outlines his alternative to the subjective idealism of Fichte through his more radical embrace of a "spiritualized" pantheism of natural process. Lastly, Becker has included Schelling's remarkable "Philosophical Investigations into the Essence of Human Freedom." (1809) This text, which Heidegger famously called "the most titanic work of German Idealism," finds Schelling attempting to break beyond the idealist framework altogether--anticipating his later works which strongly criticize Hegel (such as his "Ages of the World," 1811)--and affirming the reality and independence of both finite and human freedom, and ambitiously seeking to provide a rigorous account for temporality and nature.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-01-04 00:00:00 Mayssa Alwani Read: F.W.J. Schelling, "Ideas on a Philosophy of Nature as an Introduction to the Study of This Science"