German idealism as constructivism

214 Pages·1.987 MB·English

by  Rockmore, Tom

German Idealism as Constructivism

German Idealism
as Constructivism
Tom Rockmore
The University of Chicago Press Chicago & London
tom rockmore is the Distinguished Humanities Chair Professor and
professor of philosophy in the Institute of Foreign Philosophy at the Peking University
and was formerly a McAnulty College Distinguished Professor at Duquesne University.
He is the author of numerous books, including Kant and Phenomenology and Art and
Truth after Plato, both published by the University of Chicago Press.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2016 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2016.
Printed in the United States of America
25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 34990- 9 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 35007- 3 (e- book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226350073.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rockmore, Tom, 1942– author.
Title: German idealism as constructivism / Tom Rockmore.
Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2016. | Includes
bibliograpical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015036804 | ISBN 9780226349909 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780226350073 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Idealism, German. | Philosophy, German.
Classification: LCC B2745 .R63 2016 | DDC 141.0943—dc23 lc record available at
http:// lccn.loc.gov/2015036804
♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48– 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
Das Absolute selbst aber ist darum die Identität der Identität und Nichtidentität;
Entgegensetzten und Einssein ist zugleich in ihm.
— G. W. F. Hegel, Differenzschrift

C o n t e n t s
List of Abbreviations ix
Introduction: Kant and Cognitive Constructivism 1
1 Kant, Idealism, and Cognitive Constructivism 11
2 Reinhold, Maimon, and Schulze 40
3 Fichte’s Transcendental Philosophy, the Subject, and Circularity 58
4 Schelling, the Philosophy of Nature, and Constructivism 76
5 Hegel, Identity, and Constructivism 92
6 Cognitive Constructivism after German Idealism 167
Notes 175
Index 195

A b b r e v i a t i o n s
Works frequently cited are noted in the text and are identified by the following
abbreviations:
A: G. E. Schulze. Aenesidemus oder über die Fundamente der von den Herrn Profes-
sor Reinhold in Jena gelieferten Elementar- Philosophie. Nebst einer Vertheidigung
des Skepticismus gegen die Anmassungen der Vernunftkritik. 1792. Reprinted edi-
tion edited by Arthur Liebert. Berlin: Verlag von Reuther und Reichard, 1911.
CPR: Immanuel Kant. Critique of Pure Reason. Translated and edited by Paul
Guyer and Allen W. Wood. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
D: G. W. F. Hegel. The Difference between Fichte’s and Schelling’s System of Phi-
losophy. Translated and edited by H. S. Harris and Walter Cerf. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1977.
EL: G. W. F. Hegel. Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Basic Outline:
Part 1: Logic. Translated by Klaus Brinkmann and Daniel O. Dahlstrom. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
FK: G. W. F. Hegel. Faith and Knowledge. Translated and edited by Walter Cerf and
H. S. Harris. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1977.
PN: G. W. F. Hegel. Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature. Translated by A. V. Miller. Ox-
ford: Clarendon Press, 1970.
SK: J. G. Fichte. The Science of Knowledge with the First and Second Introductions.
Edited and translated by Peter Heath and John Lachs. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1982.