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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 193
EAN num: 9780521663816
ISBN number: 0521663814
Label: Cambridge University Press
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 392
Printing Date: September 16, 2002
Publishing house: Cambridge University Press
Sale Popularity Level: 283232
Studio: Cambridge University Press
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In the second half of the eighteenth century, German philosophy dominated European philosophy, changing the way Europeans and people all over the world conceived of themselves and thought about nature, religion, human history, politics, and the structure of the human mind. In this rich and wide-ranging book, Terry Pinkard interweaves the story of 'Germany'--changing during this period from a loose collection of principalities into a newly-emerged nation with a distinctive culture--with an examination of the currents and complexities of its developing philosophical thought. He examines the dominant influence of Kant, with his revolutionary emphasis on 'self-determination,' and traces this influence through the development of romanticism and idealism to the critiques of post-Kantian thinkers such as Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard. His book will interest a range of readers in the history of philosophy, cultural history and the history of ideas. Terry Pinkard is professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University and is the author of the acclaimed Hegel: A Biography (Cambridge, 2000). He is honorary Professor of the Philosophy Faculty of TÜbingen University, Germany and serves on the advisory board for the Zeitschrift fÜr Philosophique Forschung.
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Rated by buyers 
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PInkard's book is probably the most modern of the introductions to the period in that this interpretation is the onemost free of all of the metaphysical and epistemological focus that was so frequent in texts on German Idealism even up until the early 90s. Even Beiser's excellent introduction to this period still maintains some threads to older interpretations, but he does make these explicit. PInkard's text provides us with a unique narrative that links all of the texts together: the so-called "Kantian Paradox". This paradox poses the question: if we choose to be self-legislating, what influenced us to make the choice to be self-legislating (and this something would have had to be an external influence). In contrast to Beiser, whose link is the question of how to prove the reality of the external world, Pinkard promotes freedom (self-legislation) to be the main challenge that the Idealists (and Romantics) tried to answer (although he does readily admit the myriad of other issues that drove them forward).
His introduction to Kant is brief, being only 100 odd pages, but it contains some of the most lucid and insightful exegesis of Kant's system in the English speaking world. I particularly like how he cast Kant, and Transcendental Idealism as a whole, not as an epistemological theory (what has come to be called 'Weak Transcendental Idealism), but as a theory that poses the following thesis: nothing escapes the workings of reason ('Strong Transcendental Idealism'). His discusion of the third critique, which he references throughout the book, shows the rarely emphasised insight that this work was the starting point for the departures and adaptations post-Kantians would instigate and develop.
The weakest point in the book is the middle discusion on the Romantics, where Pinkard tries to cover a large amount of material within a very short amount of time. But even here both students and Professors can learn a great deal about the development of thought in the 1790's and early 1800's. The discusion of Hegel, of course, is incredibly insightful, and his non-metaphysical reading of Hegel truly justifies Hegel's place as an important played in 20th Century philosophy.
Overall this is a very good introduction to German Idealism for anyone interested in German Idealism, regardless of their place in academic life. Of course, with any topic as complex as this, extra reading is required, but Pinkard has given us a book that rightly deserves a place on every philosopher's shelf. Its main benefit, as I mentioned above, is that it shows us the German Idealist free of the metaphysical baggage placed on them for the past 150 years, and gives us a picture of a period of history that could enlighten us immeasurably today.
Rated by buyers -
First, some background. I have a Ph.D. in philosophy and history of philosophy from Cornell. I studied for a year with R. M. Hare at Oxford, and attended Norman Malcolm's classes at Cornell. I got my Ph.D. when linguistic and analytic philosophy were still considered the cutting edge, and I still consider myself in that camp.
Over the years, I have moved into another profession, but have a continued interest in philosophy and continue to read about it. I have been looking for a good book on German philosophy. Some of the reviews indicated that the writing in this book was clear, so I bought it.
I was hoping for something like "The Secret of Kant": somthing that would explain in clear terms what Kant was all about, and explain what it was (about his philosophy) that subsequent philosophers found so mesmerizing.
Unfortunately, I didn't find that. I waded through the opening chapters on Kant, but instead of finding Kantian gobble-de-gook explained ("de-gobbled" if you will) I simply found it repeated.
I won't say this is a bad book. If you find Kantian idealism a compatible milieu, then this might be a very good book for you. But I want to warn folks who are coming from an Anglo-American analytical background, and looking for an entree into an understanding of Kant, etc. You won't find it here.
I am beginning to suspect that it doesn't exist anywhere, and that this business about the "transcendental" will never look (to my empirical Anglo-American sensibility) like anything other than complete hocus-pocus. In any event, be warned. If you have similar suspicions, and are trying to determine if there is anything out there that can disconfirm your suspicions and change your mind, you won't find it in this book. In philosophy, the English Channel is *still* wider than the Atlantic Ocean.
(Additional Note - August 10, 2007)
I have had the book for a month now, and had a chance to examine it more carefully. And my judgment has grown even harsher.
Here is an example of Pinkard's writing. On page 320 he discusses Schelling's "growing suspicion that ... all the post-Kantians had in effect confused logic with existence; they had labored under the illusion that a coherent, consistent system of thought was necessarily identical with the way the world had to be. (Later philosophers would label something like this a form of 'verificationism,' the doctrine that nothing could be said to be unless it could be humanly verified to be -- unless, for example, propositions asserting its existence could be shown to be in accordance with accepted standards of evidence -- a doctrine that seemed to make what existed dependent on human capacities for verification.)"
First, a simple examination of the sentence construction here shows how bad the writing is. Second, this passage shows that Pinkard (like many of the subjects of this book) is a horribly fuzzy thinker, or a horribly fuzzy writer, or both. With the term "verificationism" Pinkard must be referring to the early Logical Positivists. To describe verificationism as a doctrine that "seemed to make what existed dependent on human capacities for verification" is absurd. Verificationism was an endeavor to develop criteria that would allow us to distinguish meaningful statements from statements that (although they appear to be meaningful) are not. Only in the most fevered excesses of philosophical hyperbole could that be jumbled around to the point that the Logical Positivists could be made to look like post-modern relativists. And it is no defense to pick nits and say that Pinkard is attributing this view to "later philosophers" and not espousing it himself. This is just plain bad writing.
Rated by buyers 
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German Philosophy 1760-1860: The Legacy of Idealism written by Terry Pinkard provides an overview of German idealism from Kant to Kierkegaard.
I should say at the outset that though I love philosophy, I am not a particular fan of nineteenth century idealism. I am in the camp that views Hegel as one of the low points of modern philosophy (so take my comments accordingly). Pinkard combines discusion of the various philosohers' thougth with some quasi-historic conjecture about their personal lives and tribulations. Some readers may enjoy this style of 'story-telling' - it is not my preference, and though I Pinkard is a solid scholar he lacks the flare to carry off this approach.
Overall, this book is probably of interest only to connoisseurs of German idealism - it is a solid, if dry piece of academic work. I found it a difficult read, often putting it down in favour of other material.
Rated by buyers 
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As in his lauded biography of Hegel, Pinkard does an amazing job in this book. To those "analytic" philosophers, still under the influence of the cavalier early 20th century rejection of the idealist tradition by Russel et. al., this is a must read. Pinkard presents detailed, cogent, and clear reconstructions of the key positions of the most important philosophers in Germany between Kant and Schopenhauer. Being a Hegel scholar, he understandably devotes a great deal of attention to Hegel's work. But, other figures, included the neglected early Romantics and the later Schelling, are given fair and lucid consideration. Pinkard's work (along with that of some other recent scholars) is a clarion call - the German tradition needs to be taken seriously, and needs to be treated in a fashion that is freed from the post-modernist humbug that it, in part, inspired. If only there were more books like this!
Rated by buyers -
_German Philosophy 1760 - 1860: The Legacy of Idealism_ by Terry Pinkard is a unique book which examines the sorts of philosophical systems being proposed in Germany during that time period. Although at very first Germany was not united, philosophy came to take on a unique German flavor, often meaning little more than the opaqueness of the language. For a generation of disenfranchised youth, Goethe captured the spirit of the times in his novel (with mistranslated title), _The Sorrows of Young Werther_. The very first part of this book deals with the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, who created a "Copernican revolution" in philosophical thought with the writing of his three _Critiques_. Kant provided the foundation that many youth of the period were seeking in terms of philosophical thought. The second part of this book deals with post-Kantians, many of them founders of the Romantic movement, who took off from Kant's philosophy in the _Critiques_. Two issues played a central role for these early post-Kantian figures, one being the French Revolution and the other being the issue of Spinoza's pantheism (and alleged atheism). Two early individuals involved in the controversy over Spinoza were Jacobi, who argued against both Kant and Spinoza and is often associated with a dark kind of irrationalism, and Reinhold who defended Kant against these claims in the 1780s. In the 1790s, Fichte came to play an important role in philosophy, extending the thought of Kant with a form of subjectivism in his _Wissenschaftslehre_. The 1790s also witnessed the Romantic appropriation of Kantianism. Many of these early Romantics wrote for the journal _Athenaum_. These included the poets Holderlin and Novalis, the Protestant theologian of sentimentalism Schleiermacher, the brothers Schlegel who wrote in fragments, and the philosopher Schelling. Originally Schelling came to embrace Spinoza; however, later in his career he would become more conservative and reject him while explicitly defending Christian revelation. In addition, Jacob Fries played some role as a non-Romantic philosopher who appropriated Kant. The third part of this book deals strictly with Hegel. Hegel's _Phenomenology of Spirit_ provided an early groundwork for his _Encyclopedia_ and _Logic_. The book also covers some of Hegel's later lectures including his _Philosophy of Right_. Finally, the fourth part of this book deals with the revolution in question. This includes sections on Schelling's attempts at restoration in the second half of his career and on the philosophers Schopenhauer (a radical pessimist) and Kierkegaard (an early Danish existentialist). Finally, Hegel's philosophy was turned on its head and idealism abandoned for materialism in the writings of the Left Hegelians (who became increasingly radical) including such figures as Feuerbach, Marx, and Engels. This book gives an excellent introduction to German philosophy during a crucial period of years. Mostly this philosophy reflects the influence of Kant as well as the spirit of the times in which large sections of the youth and intelligentsia felt abandoned and left to pursue a life of autonomy.
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