Early German Philosophy: Kant and His Predecessors

by Lewis White Beck

Early German Philosophy is a comprehensive history of German philosophy from its medieval beginnings to near the end of the eighteenth century.

In exploring the spirit of German intellectual life and its distinctiveness from that of other countries, Beck devotes whole chapters to four great philosophers -- Nicholas of Cusa, Leibniz, Lessing and Kant -- and extensively examines many others, including Albertus Magnus, Meister Eckhart, Paracelsus, Kepler, Mendelssohn, Wolff and Herder. Questioning explanations of philosophy by the racial or ethnic character of its exponents, Beck’s conclusion is that German philosophy developed as a series of diverse responses to the historical experiences of the German people. The peculiarities of German philosophy must be viewed in the light of German political problems and educational structures. In particular he stresses the importance of the connections between philosophy and Germany’s intellectual, literary, religious, and political history. This key work has been out of print for many years.

Genres: Philosophy

567 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1969

Reviews

[Daniel Schotman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning book that is absolutely essential if you set out to read Kant and want to understand any of against which background his thinking came into existence. The book also does a great job in explaining / highlighting the numerous philosophers that lived in the HRE up to Kant. Good sections on Cusa, Leibniz, Wolff, Herder, etc. Unfortunately, many of these names have already fallen into oblivion and if you wish to read them you will have to study German first, as most was never translated and quite possible not even available in print anymore either. The 300 years described in this book before Kant took the stage make a good case for assuming that the HRE was a far more important philosophical player than is generally assumed. Most of the time the credit for that goes to England, France and perhaps equally underestimated The Republic. This book should do the job in rectifying this misconception.