The Cambridge companion to German idealism

Abstract

German Idealism represents the classical period of German philosophy, spanning from Kant’s critical turn to the comprehensive systems of Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. This movement emerged as a programmatic attempt to resolve the core crises of the Enlightenment, specifically the tension between rational criticism and skepticism, and between scientific naturalism and reductive materialism. Central to its development was the systematic interrogation of Kantian dualisms, such as the divide between concepts and intuitions, which led to the eventual formulation of Absolute Idealism. This philosophical progression was not monolithic; it incorporated the holistic aesthetics of Hamann, Herder, and Schiller, alongside fundamental challenges to rational transparency advanced by early Romantics like Hölderlin and Novalis. The era is characterized by a shift toward grounding normativity in social practices, historical development, and intersubjective recognition. Furthermore, internal critiques within the movement revealed a latent realism centered on the self-limitation of reason in the later works of Fichte and Schelling. The influence of this period extends to the foundational critiques of religion and socio-economics found in Feuerbach and Marx, as well as the existential emphasis on individual subjectivity in Kierkegaard. By synthesizing theoretical and practical concerns through art, history, and theology, German Idealism redefined the relationship between human subjectivity and the objective world. – AI-generated abstract.