German Philosophy; The Legacy of Idealism

In the second half of the eighteenth century, German philosophy
came for a while to dominate European philosophy. It changed the
way in which not only Europeans, but 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 to 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 idealismto 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.