German IdealismFrederick C. Beiser
German Idealism
by Frederick C. Beiser · first published 2009
7mentions
5recommended by
7HN commenters
2018–2024first – last mentioned
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Clear, competent account of the German idealist period from Kant through Fichte, Schelling and Hegel. It serves as a reliable guide for readers approaching the field, especially for its treatment of Fichte.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This is an extremely personal question. I have extreme biases, I personally favour: Bryan Magee's book on Schopenhauer. German Idealism/The Fate of reason by Fredrick Beiser. Hegel and the Hermetic Tradition by Glenn Magee Kant's Transcendental Idealism: An Interpretation and Defense by Allison Plato: Complete Works by John Cooper…
on “Philosopher Bryan Magee remains wonder-struck by the ultimate questions” ↗Take a look at Frederick Beiser's works on Hegel & German Idealism overall, as he's very clear and competent about this whole period of German philosophy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_C._Beiser#Works Also, it's much easier to start with Hegel's lectures…
on “Hegel Today” ↗…some Schelling: I found Fichte a lot less opaque after reading a couple of short volumes of Schelling. It has been a while since I read it, but it seems to me that Paul Beiser's account of Fichte in German Idealism: The Struggle Against Subjectivism, 1781-1801 was worth reading. [Edit: added inadvertently omitted "you".]
on “Why Read Fichte Today?” ↗Not the user you replied to, but there's no harm (and in my judgement great benefit) from diving right into Kant, or more generally, German idealism - so Kant, Fichte, Schelling and Hegel. Marx is also worth visiting for his "Hegelian" materialism (in this case opposed to idealism). That'll provide the basics to know what Foucault was talking about.…
on “What If Consciousness Comes First?” ↗The KantBot described in the article is a fascinating character. I didn't quite get the joke on how Trump's victory presaged the completion of German Idealism, but I could not help but look up his reading list for these troubled young men [1], which overflows with learnedness, so I think it would appeal to HN readers interested in liberal arts. [1] https://autisticmercury.com/2017/02/25/kantbots-critical-for...
…system that come about with almost mechanical regularity. In any case, I don't remember Marx ever being either an academic, or particularly hard to read in most cases, even if a thorough familiarity with German Idealism is a great help to understanding him more deeply. Even Foucault was technically an academic, but only because he helped organize a nearly successful revolutionary movement that managed to extract the…
on “Scientists put Jared Diamond's continental axis hypothesis to the test” ↗…needing to shatter that real illusion by raising consciousness, or the idea of "Walter Benjamin said, we must bring about a real catastrophe" Any recommendations are welcome. Context no background in German Idealism just some cursory understanding of Marxism and Nietzche.
on “Scientists put Jared Diamond's continental axis hypothesis to the test” ↗