Rousseau and German Idealism Freedom, Dependence and Necessity

The claim that Rousseau's writings influenced the development of Kant's critical philosophy, and German idealism, is not a new one. As correct as the claim may be, it does not amount to a systematic account of Rousseau's place within this philosophical tradition. It also suggests a pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author James, David
Format eBook
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Cambridge University Press 08.08.2013
Edition1
Subjects
1712-1778
1724-1804
1762-1814
1770-1831
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Idealism, German
Influence
Kant, Immanuel
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
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Summary:The claim that Rousseau's writings influenced the development of Kant's critical philosophy, and German idealism, is not a new one. As correct as the claim may be, it does not amount to a systematic account of Rousseau's place within this philosophical tradition. It also suggests a progression whereby Rousseau's achievements are eventually eclipsed by those of Kant, Fichte and Hegel, especially with respect to the idea of freedom. In this book David James shows that Rousseau presents certain challenges that Kant and the idealists Fichte and Hegel could not fully meet, by making dependence and necessity, as well as freedom, his central concerns, and thereby raises the question of whether freedom in all its forms is genuinely possible in a condition of human interdependence marked by material inequality. His study will be valuable for all those studying Kant, German idealism and the history of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ideas.
ISBN:9781107037854
1316609480
1107037859
9781316609484
DOI:10.1017/CBO9781139795388