Philosophy 187

Spring 2008

Number Title Instructor Days/time Room
187 Special Topics in the History of Philosophy: Kant & the Development of German Idealism Horstmann TuTh 12:30-2 210 Wheeler

The purpose of the course is to give a survey of the development of German idealistic thought from Kant to the early Schelling. It will deal mainly with the metaphysical and the epistemological aspects of this movement and focus primarily on those aspects that are related to Kant’s theoretical philosophy. Topics that are dealt with include: (1) Kant’s criticism of metaphysics and his epistemological program, (2) reactions to Kant’s approach by F.H.Jacobi, K.L.Reinhold and G.E.Schulze. (3) Fichte’s ‘subjective’ idealism, (4) Schelling’s search for ‘lacking premisses’. Primary texts:

  • Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason.
  • Friedrich.H. Jacobi The Main Philosophical Writings and the Novel Allwill (ed. and trans. George di Giovanni), Montreal 1994.
  • Karl L. Reinhold: Über das Fundament des philosophischen Wissens (1791).
  • Gottlob E. Schulze: Aenesidemus, oder über die Fundamente der von Herrn Prof. Reinhold in Jena gelieferten Elementarphilosophie (1792).
  • Johann G. Fichte: Early Philosophical Writings (ed. Daniel Breazeale), Ithaka 1988.
  • Friedrich W. Schelling: The Unconditional in Human Knowledge: Four Early Essays (1794 – 1796), Lewisburg 1980.

Previously taught: SP07.