Last Updated 25/04/05
This paper covers post-Kantian nineteenth-century German philosophers, including Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. The most essential historical background for this paper is a general knowledge of Kant's philosophy, to which all of these thinkers are, to varying degrees, responding. Any student who is not already studying Kant for some other paper, therefore, is recommended to read at least one introductory book about Kant. Although knowledge of German is helpful (enabling one to read the central texts in the original, and to draw on an extended range of secondary literature), it is not by any means necessary: all the central texts are available in English, along with the recommended secondary literature. In the exam, students are asked to answer three questions, on at least two of the authors. Most of the questions refer to one philosopher only, but there are usually some, in addition, that are general or comparative (students may be asked, for example, to discuss an aspect of Nietzsche's rejection of Schopenhauer). As there is quite a wide range of questions asked, it is sufficient for examination purposes to prepare just two authors, studying their views on a range of topics, and the arguments for and against them, in some depth. A broad knowledge of all the philosophers on the paper is important, however, for a full understanding of those you choose to study in detail.
The following sections offer suggestions for reading and list some of the central topics for each philosopher. The most useful books are marked with an asterisk. This is of course not an exhaustive list, and more detailed reading will be required for particular topics.
*Gardner, S. 1999. Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason. London: Routledge.
Guyer, P., ed. 1992. The Cambridge Companion to Kant. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Scruton, R. 1982. Kant. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Reprinted in German Philosophers: Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
*Wood, A. 2005. Kant. Oxford: Blackwell.
Bowie, A. 2003. Introduction to German Philosophy: From Kant to Habermas. Oxford: Polity.
Copleston, F. 1994. A History of Philosophy, Vol. 7: Modern Philosophy: From the Post-Kantian Idealists to Marx, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. New York: Doubleday.
Roberts, J. 1988. German Philosophy: An Introduction. London: Polity Press.
*Scruton, R., P. Singer, C. Janaway and M. Tanner. 1997. German Philosophers: Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Solomon, R. 1988. Continental Philosophy Since 1750: The Rise and Fall of the Self. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
*Ameriks, K. ed. 2000. The Cambridge Companion to German Idealism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ameriks, K., and D. Sturma, eds. 1995. The Modern Subject: Conceptions of the Self in Classical German Philosophy. Albany: State University of New York Press.
*Beiser, F. 2002. German Idealism: The Struggle Against Subjectivism 1781-1801. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
*Henrich, D. 2003. Between Kant and Hegel: Lectures on German Idealism. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
*Pinkard, T. 2002. German Philosophy 1760-1860: The Legacy of Idealism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Solomon, R., and K. Higgins, eds. 1993. Routledge History of Philosophy, Vol. VI: The Age of German Idealism. London: Routledge.
Topics include Fichte's early response to Kant's philosophy and his view of the problems that Kant faces; Fichte's conception of philosophy as a system, and of the absolute 'I' as its first principle; Fichte's theory of self-consciousness; Fichte's view of the argument between 'dogmatism' and idealism; Fichte's account of the primacy of the practical; and Fichte's argument for the necessity of inter-subjectivity.
Early Philosophical Writings , trans. and ed. D. Brezeale. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988.
Introductions to the Wissenschaftslehre and Other Writings (1797-1800) , trans. and ed. D. Brezeale. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1994.
The Vocation of Man , trans. P. Preuss. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1987.
The Science of Knowledge , ed. and trans. P. Heath and J. Lachs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Foundations of Natural Right, According to the Principles of the Wissenschaftslehre , trans. F. Neuhouser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
*Beiser, F. 2002. German Idealism: The Struggle Against Subjectivism 1781-1801 , Part II. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Martin, W. 1979. Idealism and Objectivity: Understanding Fichte's Jena Project. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
*Neuhouser, F. 1990. Fichte's Theory of Subjectivity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zöller, G. 1998. Fichte's Transcendental Philosophy: The Original Duplicity of Intelligence and Will. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Topics include Schelling's disagreements with Fichte; Schelling's philosophy of Nature; Schelling's conception of the privileged role of art in cognition of the Absolute; Schelling's attempt to conceive the Absolute as a 'point of indifference' between subjectivity and objectivity; Schelling's later metaphysical account of the possibility of evil; Schelling's criticisms of Hegel.
Ideas for a Philosophy of Nature , trans. E. Harris and P. Heath. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
System of Transcendental Idealism (1800) , trans. P. Heath. Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 1978.
Presentation of my System of Philosophy , trans. M. Vater, in Philosophical Forum 32, no. 4, 2001, 339-71.
Philosophical Inquiries into the Nature of Human Freedom , trans. J. Gutmann. LaSalle, Illinois: Open Court, 1989.
The Unconditional in Human Knowledge: Four Early Essays 1794-1796 , ed. F. Marti. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1980.
On History of Modern Philosophy , trans. A. Bowie. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
*Beiser, F. 2002. German Idealism: The Struggle Against Subjectivism 1781-1801 , Part IV. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
*Bowie, A. 1993. Schelling and Modern European Philosophy.London: Routledge, 1993
Esposito, J. 1977. Schelling's Idealism and Philosophy of Nature. New Jersey: Associated Universities Press.
Snow, D. 1996. Schelling and the End of Idealism.Albany: State University of New York.
White, A. 1983. Schelling: An Introduction to the System of Freedom. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Topics include Hegel's criticisms of Kant and Schelling; the method of dialectic and account of the 'shapes' of consciousness in the Phenomenology ; the master/slave dialectic and Hegel's theory of recognition; Hegel's conception of history; Hegel's criticisms of Kant's ethics and theory of Ethical Life; the nature of Hegel's idealism and his conception of the Absolute; Hegel's conception of logic.
Phenomenology of Spirit , trans. A. V. Miller. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.
Encyclopaedia Logic , trans. T. F. Geraets, W. A. Suchting and H. S. Harris. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1991.
Elements of the Philosophy of Right , trans. H. B. Nisbet, ed. A. Wood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
[NB All that you will be expected to read of Hegel are extracts from these works which may be found in the comprehensive collection edited by S. Houlgate, The Hegel Reader , Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.]
The Difference between Fichte's and Schelling's System of Philosophy , trans. H. S. Harris and W. Cerf. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1977.
Faith and Knowledge , trans. H. S. Harris and W. Cerf. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1977.
*Beiser, F., ed. 1993. The Cambridge Companion to Hegel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*Houlgate, S. 1991. Freedom, Truth and History: An Introduction to Hegel's Philosophy. London: Routledge. 2nd edn: An Introduction to Hegel: Freedom, Truth and History. London: Routledge, 2004.
Inwood, M. J. 1992. A Hegel Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell.
Inwood, M. J., ed. 1985. Hegel. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
*Norman, R. 1976. Hegel's ‘Phenomenology': A Philosophical Introduction. Atlantic Highlands, N. J.: Humanities Press.
Pinkard, T. 1994. Hegel's 'Phenomenology': The Sociality of Reason. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*Pippin, R. 1989. Hegel's Idealism: The Satisfactions of Self-consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Soll, I. 1969. An Introduction to Hegel's Metaphysics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
*Stern, R. 2002. Hegel and the 'Phenomenology of Spirit'. London: Routledge.
Taylor, C. 1975. Hegel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*Taylor, C. 1979. Hegel and Modern Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Topics include Schopenhauer's development of Kant's idealism; his identification of the will with the thing-in-itself; the world as will; the rationality of pessimism; aesthetic experience; determinism; compassion and morality; the self.
On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. Translated by E. F. J. Payne. La salle, Ill.: Open Court, 1974.
On the Freedom of the Will. Translated by Konstantin Kolenda. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985.
On the Basis of Morality. Translated by E. F. J. Payne. Rev. ed. Providence: Berghahn Books, 1995. (Prev. edn. Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill, 1965.)
Atwell, John E. 1990. Schopenhauer: The Human Character. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Atwell, John E. 1995. Schopenhauer on the Character of the World: The Metaphysics of Will. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Gardiner, Patrick. 1971. Schopenhauer. Harmonsworth: Penguin.
Hamlyn, David. 1980. Schopenhauer. London: Routledge.
Jacquette, Dale, ed. 1996. Schopenhauer, Philosophy and the Arts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*Janaway, Christopher. 1989. Self and World in Schopenhauer's Philosophy. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Janaway, Christopher, ed. 1999. The Cambridge Companion to Schopenhauer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Janaway, Christopher. 1994. Schopenhauer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Young, Julian. 1987. Willing and Unwilling: A Study in the Philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. Dordrecht: M. Nijhoff.
Topics include Nietzsche's view of tragedy; the self; truth and perspectivism; the critique of morality (genealogical method); the revaluation of values; the ascetic ideal; Nietzsche on philosophy; Nietzsche as philosopher/writer; the will to power; the doctrine of eternal recurrence.
Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future. Translated by R. J. Hollingdale. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1990.
On The Genealogy of Morals: a Polemic. Translated by M. Clark and A.J. Swensen. Cambridge: Hackett Publishing, 1998.
The Birth of Tragedy. Translated by Francis Golffing. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1956.
Twilight of the Idols (and The Anti-Christ ). Translated by R. J. Hollingdale. Harmondsworth: Penguin,1968.
The Gay Science. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. New York: Random House, 1974.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Translated by R. J. Hollingdale. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969.
The Will to Power. Translated by Walter Kaufmann and R. J. Hollingdale. New York: Vintage Books, 1968.
Human, All Too Human , translated by R.J. Holl ingdale, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986
*Clark, Maudmarie. 1990. Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*Leiter, Brian. 2002. Nietzsche on Morality : London: Routledge.
Kaufman, Walter. 1974. Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Magnus, Bernd and Kathleen Higgins. eds. 1996. The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche. Cambridge: Cambridge
*May, Simon. 1999. Nietzsche's Ethics and his War on ‘Morality'. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
*Nehamas, Alexander. 1985. Nietzsche: Life as Literature. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
*Richardson, John, and Brian Leiter, eds. 2001. Nietzsche. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
*Richardson, John. 1996. Nietzsche's System. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
*Schacht, Richard. ed. 1994. Nietzsche, Genealogy, Morality: essays on Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Schacht, Richard. 1983. Nietzsche. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Silk, M, and J. Stern. 1981. Nietzsche on Tragedy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tanner, Michael. 1994. Nietzsche. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Young, Julian. 1992. Nietzsche's Philosophy of Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.