Mind and Nature in German Idealism: An Online Graduate Course at CIIS

Description:

The German Idealist movement, beginning with the publication of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason in 1781 and climaxing with Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit in 1806, is considered by many to be the most inspired period of philosophical activity since Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Indeed, this period has been referred to simply as “the twenty five years of philosophy” by one recent commentator, as it was Kant who claimed that real philosophy had not even begun until his discovery of the transcendental method, and Hegel who, perfecting this method, claimed to have brought philosophy to its end. This course re-evaluates aspects of this standard narrative by highlighting the contributions and critiques offered by other major figures of the time, most notably Schelling and Goethe, both of whom sought to bring balance to the heights claimed by idealist rationality by pointing to Reason’s utter dependence upon and emergence out of the unfathomable depths of Nature.

Like every philosophical movement, the intellectual efforts of the German Idealists make sense only if set in their proper context. In order to fully benefit from the content of this course, students should already have developed an appreciation for the 2000 year historical arc of Western philosophy from Plato to Descartes. Without this historical background, students will have difficulty grasping the significance of the solutions distilled by the thinkers we will study for the simple reason that they have not yet come to share in their problems.



Student Learning Outcomes:

Students should grasp the historical contribution of German Idealism to the development of modern philosophy and natural science.

Students should gain an appreciation for the important rupture points that led to mutations within and reactions against German Idealism (including Schelling’s break with Fichte, Goethe’s influence on Schelling and appropriation of Kant, Hegel’s break with Schelling, and Schelling’s later critique of Hegel).

Students should gain an appreciation for dialectical thinking, that is, a mode of thought that is able to both grasp and release ideas in the course of a developmental dialogue (with oneself or in conversation with others).

Students should gain a deeper appreciation for the intimate connection between Mind and Nature that is all too often obscured by standard accounts of modern natural scientific knowledge.