Modern Subject, The: Conceptions of the Self in Classical German Philosophy

Description

Contemporary thought often claims the "death of the subject," and postmodernists typically contend that the standpoint of human subjectivity has been surpassed as a foundation for philosophy. A proper appreciation of these influential claims requires an understanding of the main tradition in which the standpoint of subjectivity was articulated, namely the classical philosophy of German Idealism. This book provides such an understanding. The authors assess what is dead and what is alive today in the philosophy of subjectivity, and offer the most thorough study available on the background of the postmodern assault on the primacy of the subject. Tracing this assault back to reactions to Kant, they elucidate the historical and systematic details of the development of the concept of the self in Classical philosophy from Kant to Fichte and Hegel. Manfred Frank, one of Europe's most prominent and prolific writers on neo-structuralism, provides two major contributions--an account of the philosophical foundations of the reaction to Kant in early romanticism (especially Novalis), and a defense of the ineliminability of self-consciousness against its critics in current analytic philosophy. Essays by other contributors-including Henry Allison, Robert Pippin, Daniel Breazeale, Guenter Zoeller, Ludwig Siep, Veronique Zanetti, and Georg Mohr--relate the concept of the self to topics such as freedom, teleology, modernity, and intersubjectivity. The Modern Subject Contents Acknowledgments 1 Introduction The Project of The Modern Subject: Conceptions of the Self in Classical German Philosophy The Contributions Future Perspectives Notes 2 Spontaneity and Autonomy in Kant's Conception of the Self I II III Notes 3 Freedom and the Self: From Introspection to Intersubjectivity: Wolff, Kant, and Fichte Introspection Moral Consciousness Intersubjectivity Conclusion Notes 4 Teleology and the Freedom of the Self Notes 5 Philosophical Foundations of Early Romanticism I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX Notes 6 Check or Checkmate? On the Finitude of the Fichtean Self The Doctrine of the Anstoss in the 1794/95 Wissenschaftslehre Anstoss and Aufforderung in the Later Jena Wissenschaftslehre The Finite Fichtean Self Notes 7 Original Duplicity: The Ideal and the Real in Fichte's Transcendental Theory of the Subject The Ideality of Philosophy Ideal and Real Activity Ideal and Real Thinking Thinking and the Real Notes 8 Individuality in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit I II III IV Notes 9 Hegel's Ethical Rationalism I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX Notes 10 Is Subjectivity a Non-Thing, an Absurdity [Unding]? On Some Difficulties in Naturalistic Reducti... I II III IV Notes 11 Self and Reason: A Nonreductionist Approach to the Reflective and Practical Transitions of Self-C... The Subject of Mental Activity The Elusiveness of the Self Traces of the Self in Consciousness The Activity of the Self Autonomy and Reason The Examined Life The Rational Life-Plan The Other Person as a Fact of Reason Notes 12 From Kant to Frank: The Ineliminable Subject I II III Notes Selected Bibliography Books Articles Contributors Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W