The Twenty-Five Years of Philosophy: A Systematic Reconstruction

Eckart Förster; Eckart Förster

Published by Harvard University Press 2012

The Twenty-Five Years of Philosophy

A Systematic Reconstruction

Eckart Förster and Eckart Förster

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674064980

Overview
Contents

About this book

Kant declared that philosophy began in 1781 with his Critique of Pure Reason. In 1806 Hegel announced that philosophy had now been completed. Eckart Förster examines the reasons behind these claims and assesses the steps that led in such a short time from Kant’s “beginning” to Hegel’s “end.” He concludes that, in an unexpected yet significant sense, both Kant and Hegel were indeed right.

The Twenty-Five Years of Philosophy follows the unfolding of a key idea during this exceptionally productive period: the Kantian idea that philosophy can be scientific and, consequently, can be completed. Förster’s study combines historical research with philosophical insight and leads him to propose a new thesis. The development of Kant’s transcendental philosophy in his three Critiques, Förster claims, resulted in a fundamental distinction between “intellectual intuition” and “intuitive understanding.” Overlooked until now, this distinction yields two takes on how to pursue philosophy as science after Kant. One line of thought culminates in Fichte’s theory of freedom (Wissenschaftslehre), while the other—and here Förster brings Goethe’s significance to the fore—results in Goethe's transformation of the Kantian idea of an intuitive understanding in light of Spinoza's third kind of knowledge. Both strands are brought together in Hegel and propel his split from Schelling.

Förster’s work makes an original contribution to our understanding of the classical era of German philosophy—an expanding interest within the Anglophone philosophical community.

Author information

Förster Eckart :

Eckart Förster is Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He is also Honorary Professor of Philosophy at the Humboldt University in Berlin.Bowman Brady :

Brady Bowman is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University.

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	i
Contents Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Prologue: A Beginning of Philosophy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I. “Kant has given the results...”
1. Kant’s “Revolution of the Mode of Thought” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
2. Critique and Morals Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
3. From A to B Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
4. How to Become a Spinozist Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
5. From One Make Three Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
6. The “Critical Enterprise”: Complete? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
7. The “Critical Enterprise”: Incomplete Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
PART II. “...the premises are still missing”
8. Fichte’s “Complete Revolution of the Mode of Thought” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
9. Morals and Critique Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
10. Spiritus sive natura? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	230
11. The Methodology of the Intuitive Understanding Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	250
12. Does Philosophy Have a History? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
13. Hegel’s “Voyages of Discovery”: Incomplete Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	306
14. Hegel’s “Voyages of Discovery”: Complete Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	351
Epilogue: An End of Philosophy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	373
Translator’s Note Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	379
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	383
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	385
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	403

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 432
Illustrations
- Other: 1 halftone, 13 line illustrations

eBook

Published: March 15, 2012
ISBN: 9780674064980