The Cambridge Companion to German Idealism

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

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.