Hermann Cohen's Critical Idealism / Edition 1

by Reinier W. Munk

Overview

Hermann Cohen (1842-1918) is an original systematic thinker and representative of the Marburg School of Critical Idealism. The Marburg School was a leading school in German academic philosophy and in German Jewish philosophy for a period of over thirty years preceding the First World War. Initially standing at the front of the ‘Return to Kant’ movement, Cohen subsequently went beyond Kant in developing a system of critical idealism in which he offered a critique of and alternative to absolute idealism, positivism, and materialism. A critical idealist in heart and soul, Cohen is also recognized as a man who embodied German Jewish culture.

Publications on Cohen in the English language are small in number and this volume aims to fill the gap. It offers an analysis of Cohen’s System of Philosophy - the three-volume classic on logic, ethics, and aesthetics - and his writings on Judaism and religion. The book highlights Cohen’s contributions in these fields, including his discussions with Maimonides, Leibniz, Kant, and Hegel. It demonstrates the congeniality of Cohen’s critical idealism as expounded in the System and his writings on Judaism, and offers an overview of contemporary Cohen research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781402040467
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	02/10/2006
Series:	Amsterdam Studies in Jewish Philosophy , #10
Edition description:	2005
Pages:	436
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.13(h) x 0.04(d)

Table of Contents

Cohen and the Marburg School in Context.- Logik.- Cohen’s Ursprungsdenken.- Identity and Correlation in Hermann Cohen’S System of Philosophy.- Beweis and Aufweis: Transcendental a priori and metaphysical a priori in Cohen’s neo-Kantianism.- Notes on Future and History in Hermann Cohen’s Anti-Eschatological Messianism.- Hanging Over the Abyss.- Ethik.- Jurisprudence is the Organon of Ethics.- Hermann Cohen’s Theory of Virtue.- Hermann Cohen on State and Nation.- Ästhetik.- The Portrait in Hermann Cohen’s Aesthetics.- The Statute of Music in Hermann Cohen’s Ästhetik.- Critical Idealism and the Concept of Culture: Philosophy of culture in Hermann Cohen and Ernst Cassirer.- Religion.- Maimonidean Elements in Hermann Cohen’s Philosophy of Religion.- Critical Idealism in Hermann Cohen’s Writings on Judaism.- Cohen on Atonement, Purification and Repentance.- Suffering and Non-Eschatological Messianism in Hermann Cohen.

Editorial Reviews

From the reviews:

"The essays in this volume, which gathers an impressive group of scholars from around the world, are organized along these focal points of Cohen’s system: logic, ethics, aesthetics, and religion. … will provide a solid introduction for those who want a first glimpse of Cohen’s philosophy. It is to be hoped that the present volume will lead to future English-language studies on a philosopher whose wealth of work intersects not only with philosophers, but also with historians, legal scholars, and theologians." (Sebastian Luft, Journal of the History of Philosophy, Vol. 45, October, 2007)

From the Publisher