Matthew C. Altman - The Palgrave Handbook of German Idealism

The Palgrave Handbook of German Idealism

Also by Matthew C. Altman

A COMPANION TO KANTS CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON

THE FRACTURED SELF IN FREUD AND GERMAN PHILOSOPHY (coauthored)

KANT AND APPLIED ETHICS: The Uses and Limits of Kants Practical Philosophy

The Palgrave Handbook of German Idealism

Edited by

Matthew C. Altman

Central Washington University, USA

Selection, introduction, conclusion and editorial matter Matthew C. Altman 2014

Chapters Individual authors 2014

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published 2014 by

PALGRAVE MACMILLAN

Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.

Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martins Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world.

Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries

ISBN: 9781137334749

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Palgrave handbook of German idealism / edited by Matthew C. Altman.

pages cm

ISBN 9781137334749 (hardback)

1. Idealism, German. 2. Philosophy, German 18th century. 3. Philosophy, German 19th century. I. Altman, Matthew C., editor.

B2745.P35 2014

141.0943dc23 2014024790

Contents

Matthew C. Altman

Steve Naragon

Paul Guyer

Timothy Rosenkoetter

Lara Denis

Benjamin Vilhauer

Brian Watkins

Stephen R. Palmquist

Allen Wood

Alix Cohen

Benjamin D. Crowe

Peter Thielke

Kienhow Goh

Marina F. Bykova

Gnter Zller

Frederick Neuhouser

Matthew C. Altman

David James

Steven Hoeltzel

Elizabeth Milln

Violetta L. Waibel (translated by Christina M. Gschwandtner)

Bruce Matthews

Jason M. Wirth

Iain Hamilton Grant

Michael Vater

Devin Zane Shaw

Andreja Novakovic

Terry Pinkard

Slavoj iek

J. M. Fritzman and Kristin Parvizian

Cynthia D. Coe

Sally Sedgwick

George di Giovanni

Allen Speight

William F. Bristow

Robert Wicks

Frederick C. Beiser

Matthew C. Altman

Preface

German Idealism was the dominant philosophical movement from the late eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries, but it is still very much alive. Contemporary philosophers continue to draw on the German Idealists to formulate their own ideas, and historians of philosophy work to clarify their positions and to evaluate their philosophical legacy. Although its most important proponents, especially Kant and Hegel, have received considerable attention in the scholarly literature, surprisingly little has been published that explores German Idealism as a whole in one volume, and from a variety of interpretive standpoints. The Palgrave Handbook of German Idealism attempts to remedy that.

This anthology includes essays from some of the most accomplished scholars in the field, who cover in depth the work of the four major figures Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel and clarify how a number of philosophers who have been underrepresented in the relevant scholarship, such as Jacobi, Maimon, Reinhold, and the German Romantics, fit within the German Idealist tradition. Chapters address the different philosophical subfields to which the German Idealists made the most important contributions, including epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, aesthetics, political philosophy, the philosophy of history, and the philosophy of religion, among others. Although no one volume can do justice to the full variety and complexity of German Idealism, the Palgrave Handbook aims for comprehensiveness. The sheer range of topics and quality of the contributions make it the most thorough and accessible secondary source on German Idealism.

The Palgrave Handbook is not merely an expository work, however. Each contributor sets out a particular interpretation and defends a thesis. In some cases, authors develop or revise positions that they have taken in their other publications, but other contributors take novel approaches that challenge existing paradigms. Thus the book serves as a touchstone for meaningful discussions about the movements philosophical and historical importance. In short, the book not only explains German Idealism, but engages the reader in critical reflection about how to interpret what it means and how to assess its continuing importance for us.

Contributors to this volume include both established and emerging scholars in the field, all of whom produced philosophically rigorous yet accessible chapters on some very difficult material. Needless to say, the book would not have been possible without their extraordinary efforts.

Ellensburg, Washington

July 2014

Notes on Contributors

Matthew C. Altman is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Philosophy & Religious Studies Department at Central Washington University. He is the author of A Companion to Kants Critique of Pure Reason (2008) and Kant and Applied Ethics (2011), and coauthor of The Fractured Self in Freud and German Philosophy (2013).

Frederick C. Beiser is Professor of Philosophy, Syracuse University. He has taught at Harvard, Yale, Penn, and the universities of Indiana, Wisconsin, and Colorado. His main publications relating to German Idealism are The Fate of Reason (1987), German Idealism: The Struggle against Subjectivism, 17811801 (2002), Late German Idealism (2013), and The Genesis of Neo-Kantianism (2014).

William F. Bristow is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is the author of the book Hegel and the Transformation of Philosophical Critique (2007) and various articles on German philosophy of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.