The Cambridge Companion to German Idealism offers a comprehensive, penetrating, and informative guide to what is regarded as the classical period of German philosophy. Kant, Fichte, Hegel, and Schelling are all discussed in detail, together with a number of their contemporaries, such as Hölderlin and Schleiermacher, whose influence was considerable but whose work is less well known in the English-speaking world. The essays in the volume trace and explore the unifying themes of German Idealism, and discuss their relationship to Romanticism, the Enlightenment, and the culture of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe. The result is an illuminating overview of a rich and complex philosophical movement, and will appeal to a wide range of readers in philosophy, German studies, theology, literature, and the history of ideas.

• First study to provide a comprehensive thematic overview of German Idealism, including treatment of lesser-known figures as well as the major names

• Distinguished team of contributors writing from both anglophone and German perspectives

• Clearly written and accessible to upper-level students

Contents

List of contributors; Introduction: interpreting German Idealism Karl Ameriks; 1. The Enlightenment and Idealism Frederick Beiser; 2. Absolute Idealism and the rejection of Kantian dualism Paul Guyer; 3. Kant’s practical philosophy Allen Wood; 4. The aesthetic holism of Hamann, Herder, and Schiller Daniel Dahlstrom; 5. All or nothing: systematicity and nihilism in Jacobi, Reinhold, and Maimon Paul Franks; 6. The early philosophy of Fichte and Schelling Rolf Peter Horstmann; 7. Hölderlin and Novalis Charles Larmore; 8. Hegel’s Phenomenology and Logic: an overview Terry Pinkard; 9. Hegel’s practical philosophy: the realization of freedom Robert Pippin; 10. German realism: the self-limitation of Idealism in Fichte, Schelling, and Schopenhauer Günter Zöller; 11. Politics and the new mythology: the turn to late Romanticism Dieter Sturma; 12. German Idealism and the arts Andrew Bowie; 13. The legacy of Idealism in the philosophy of Feuerbach, Marx, and Kierkegaard Karl Ameriks; Bibliography; Index.

Review

‘An invaluable and original examination of unifying themes of German Idealism.’ Semcoop.com

Contributors

Karl Ameriks, Frederick Beiser, Paul Guyer, Allen Wood, Daniel Dahlstrom, Paul Franks, Rolf Peter Horstmann, Charles Larmore, Terry Pinkard, Robert Pippin, Günter Zöller, Dieter Sturma, Andrew Bowie