routledge history of philosophy volume vi the age of german idealism - robert c.solomon

Routledge History of Philosophy
Volume VI
The turn of the nineteenth century marked a rich and exciting explosion of
philosophical energy and talent. The enormity of the revolution set off in
philosophy by Immanuel Kant was comparable, by Kant’s own estimation,
with the Copernican Revolution that ended the middle ages. The
movement he set in motion, the fast-moving and often cantankerous
dialectic of “German Idealism,” inspired some of the most creative
philosophers in modern times: including G.W.F.Hegel and Arthur
Schopenhauer as well as those who reacted against them—Marx and
Kierkegaard, for example.
This volume traces the emergence of German Idealism from Kant and
his predecessors through the first half of the nineteenth century, ending
with the “irrationalism” of Kierkegaard. Each chapter has been written by
a distinguished scholar in the field, and contributors include Lewis White
Beck (on the German background), Daniel Bonevac, Don Becker, Patrick
Gardiner (on Kant), Daniel Breazeale (on Fichte and Schelling), Robert
C.Solomon, Willem deVries and Leo Rauch (on Hegel), Kathleen
M.Higgins (on Schopenhauer), Robert Nola (on the Young Hegelians,
including Marx) and Judith Butler (on Kierkegaard).
The Age of German Idealism provides a broad, scholarly introduction
to the period for students of philosophy and related disciplines, as well as
some original interpretations of these authors. It includes a glossary of
technical terms and a chronological table of philosophical, scientific and
other important cultural events.
Robert C.Solomon is Quincey Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy
at the University of Texas at Austin. Kathleen M.Higgins is Associate
Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin.

Routledge History of Philosophy

General editors—G.H.R.Parkinson and
S.G.Shanker
The Routledge History of Philosophy provides a chronological survey of
the history of Western philosophy, from its beginnings in the sixth century
BC to the present time. It discusses all major philosophical developments
in depth. Most space is allocated to those individuals who, by common
consent, are regarded as great philosophers. But lesser figures have not
been neglected, and together the ten volumes of the History include basic
and critical information about every significant philosopher of the past
and present. These philosophers are clearly situated within the cultural
and, in particular, the scientific context of their time.
The History is intended not only for the specialist, but also for the
student and the general reader. Each chapter is by an acknowledged
authority in the field. The chapters are written in an accessible style and a
glossary of technical terms is provided in each volume.
Routledge History of Philosophy
Volume VI
The Age of German
Idealism
EDITED BY
Robert C.Solomon
and
Kathleen M.Higgins
London and New York
First published 1993
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.

© 1993 Robert C.Solomon, Kathleen M.Higgins, and individual contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Age of German Idealism—(Routledge History of Philosophy Series; Vol. 6)
I. Solomon, Robert C.
II. Higgins, Kathleen M. III. Series 190.9

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
The Age of German idealism/ed. Robert C.Solomon and Kathleen M.Higgins
p. cm.—(Routledge history of philosophy; v. 6)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Philosophy, German—18th century. 2. Philosophy, German—19th
century. 3. Idealism—History—18th century. 4. Idealism—
History—19th century. I. Solomon, Robert C. II. Higgins,
Kathleen Marie. III. Series.
B2615.A35 1993
141'.0943–dc20 92–32040

ISBN 0-203-03061-3 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-06007-5 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-05604-7 (Print Edition)
v
Contents
General editors’ preface vii
Notes on contributors x
Chronology xiii
Introduction
Robert C.Solomon and
Kathleen M.Higgins 1
1 From Leibniz to Kant
Lewis White Beck 5
2 Kant’s Copernican revolution
Daniel Bonevac 40
3 Kant’s moral and political philosophy
Don Becker 68
4 Kant: Critique of Judgement
Patrick Gardiner 103
5 Fichte and Schelling: the Jena period
Daniel Breazeale 138
6 Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit
Robert C.Solomon 181
7 Hegel’s logic and philosophy of mind
Willem deVries 216
8 Hegel, spirit, and politics
Leo Rauch 254
CONTENTS

vi
9 The Young Hegelians, Feuerbach, and Marx
Robert Nola 290
10 Arthur Schopenhauer
Kathleen M.Higgins 330
11 Kierkegaard’s speculative despair
Judith Butler 363
Glossary 396
Index 404
vii
General editors’ preface

The history of philosophy, as its name implies, represents a union of two
very different disciplines, each of which imposes severe constraints upon
the other. As an exercise in the history of ideas, it demands that one
acquire a “period eye”: a thorough understanding of how the thinkers
whom it studies viewed the problems which they sought to resolve, the
conceptual frameworks in which they addressed these issues, their
assumptions and objectives, their blind spots and miscues. But as an
exercise in philosophy, we are engaged in much more than simply a
descriptive task. There is a crucial critical aspect to our efforts: we are
looking for the cogency as much as the development of an argument, for
its bearing on questions which continue to preoccupy us as much as the
impact which it may have had on the evolution of philosophical thought.
The history of philosophy thus requires a delicate balancing act from its
practitioners. We read these writings with the full benefit of historical
hindsight. We can see why the minor contributions remained minor and
where the grand systems broke down: sometimes as a result of internal
pressures, sometimes because of a failure to overcome an insuperable
obstacle, sometimes because of a dramatic technological or sociological

change, and, quite often, because of nothing more than a shift in
intellectual fashion or interests. Yet, because of our continuing
philosophical concern with many of the same problems, we cannot afford
to look dispassionately at these works. We want to know what lessons are
to be learned from the inconsequential or the glorious failures; many times
we want to plead for a contemporary relevance in the overlooked theory
or to reconsider whether the “glorious failure” was indeed such or simply
ahead of its time: perhaps even ahead of its author.
We find ourselves, therefore, much like the mythical “radical
translator” who has so fascinated modern philosophers, trying to
GENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE
viii
understand an author’s ideas in his and his culture’s eyes, and, at the same
time, in our own. It can be a formidable task. Many times we fail in the
historical undertaking because our philosophical interests are so strong, or
lose sight of the latter because we are so enthralled by the former. But the
nature of philosophy is such that we are compelled to master both
techniques. For learning about the history of philosophy is not just a
challenging and engaging pastime: it is an essential element in learning
about the nature of philosophy—in grasping how philosophy is intimately
connected with and yet distinct from both history and science.
The Routledge History of Philosophy provides a chronological survey
of the history of Western philosophy, from its beginnings up to the present
time. Its aim is to discuss all major philosophical developments in depth,
and, with this in mind, most space has been allocated to those individuals
who, by common consent, are regarded as great philosophers. But lesser
figures have not been neglected, and it is hoped that the reader will be able
to find, in the ten volumes of the History, at least basic information about
any significant philosopher of the past or present.
Philosophical thinking does not occur in isolation from other human

activities, and this History tries to situate philosophers within the cultural,
and in particular the scientific, context of their time. Some philosophers,
indeed, would regard philosophy as merely ancillary to the natural
sciences; but even if this view is rejected, it can hardly be denied that the
sciences have had a great influence on what is now regarded as
philosophy, and it is important that this influence should be set forth
clearly. Not that these volumes are intended to provide a mere record of
the factors that influenced philosophical thinking; philosophy is a
discipline with its own standards of argument, and the presentation of the
ways in which these arguments have developed is the main concern of this
History.
In speaking of “what is now regarded as philosophy”, we may have
given the impression that there now exists a single view of what
philosophy is. This is certainly not the case; on the contrary, there exist
serious differences of opinion, among those who call themselves
philosophers, about the nature of their subject. These differences are
reflected in the existence at the present time of two main schools of
thought, usually described as “analytic” and “continental” philosophy. It
is not our intention, as general editors of this History, to take sides in this
dispute. Our attitude is one of tolerance, and our hope is that these
volumes will contribute to an understanding of how philosophers have
reached the positions which they now occupy.
One final comment. Philosophy has long been a highly technical
subject, with its own specialized vocabulary. This History is intended not
only for the specialist but also for the general reader. To this end, we have
GENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE
ix
tried to ensure that each chapter is written in an accessible style; and since
technicalities are unavoidable, a glossary of technical terms is provided in
each volume. In this way these volumes will, we hope, contribute to a

wider understanding of a subject which is of the highest importance to all
thinking people.
G.H.R.Parkinson
S.G.Shanker
x
Notes on contributors
Lewis White Beck is Burbank Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the
University of Rochester. His works include A Commentary on Kant’s
Critique of Practical Reason (1961), Studies in the Philosophy of Kant
(1965), Early German Philosophy: Kant and his Predecessors (1969), The
Actor and the Spectator (1975), Critique of Practical Reason and Other
Writings in Moral Philosophy (1976), and Essays on Kant and Hume
(1978).
Daniel Bonevac (Ph.D. Pittsburgh, 1980) is Professor and Chair of the
Department of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the
author of Reduction in the Abstract Sciences (1982), Deduction (1987),
and The Art and Science of Logic (1990); the editor of Today’s Moral
Issues (1991); and a co-editor of Beyond the Western Tradition (1992). He
has published articles on Kant, metaphysics, semantics, and philosophical
logic.
Donald Becker is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of
Texas at Austin.
Patrick Gardiner is an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and
a Fellow of the British Academy. His publications include The Nature of
Historical Explanation (1952), Schopenhauer (1963), and Kierkegaard
(1988). He has edited Theories of History (1959), Nineteenth-Century
Philosophy (1969), and The Philosophy of History (1974).
Daniel Breazeale is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kentucky.
His publications include Philosophy and Truth: Selections from
Nietzsche’s Notebooks of the Early 1870s (1979), and Fichte, Early

Philosophical Writings (1988).
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
xi
Robert C.Solomon is Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy at
the University of Texas at Austin. His publications include In the Spirit of
Hegel (1983), From Hegel to Existentialism (1987), Continental
Philosophy since 1750 (1988), and A Passion for Justice (1990).
Willem deVries is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of
New Hampshire. He is author of Hegel’s Theory of Mental Activity: An
Introduction to Theoretical Spirit (1988).
Leo Rauch is Professor of Philosophy at Babson College. His publications
include The Political Animal: Studies in Political Philosophy from
Macbiavelli to Marx (1981), Hegel and the Human Spirit: A Translation
of the Jena Lectures on the Philosophy of Spirit (1805–6) with
Commentary (1983), and Introduction to the Philosophy of History, with
Selections from The Philosophy of Right (1988).
Robert Nola teaches philosophy at the University of Auckland. Most of
his published work is in the philosophy of science. He has also published
several papers on Plato, Marx, Nietzsche, and the sociology of scientific
knowledge.
Kathleen M.Higgins is Associate Professor at the University of Texas at
Austin. She is author of Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (1987) and The Music of
our Lives (1991). She is also co-editor of Reading Nietzsche (1988), The
Philosophy of (Erotic) Love (1991), and Thirteen Questions in Ethics
(1992).
Judith Butler is Professsor of Humanities at Johns Hopkins University and
the author of Subjects of Desire: Hegelian Reflections in Twentieth-
Century France (1987), and Gender Trouble: Feminism and the
Subversion of Identity (1990).

xiii
Chronology

Unless otherwise specified, the dates assigned to books or articles are the
dates of publication, and the dates assigned to musical or stage works are
those of first performance. The titles of works not written in English have
been translated, unless they are better known in their original form.
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