Jeff Samuelson > Recent Status Updates

Great book so far. Really struggle with the religion/Christianity parts though. Hoping that I can still eventually understand Hegelian philosophy despite skipping those parts

20 pages in and absolutely love Houlgate’s clear writing

Very well written so far

Absolute idealists explain the possibility of knowledge with the principle of subject-object identity. A rejection of all forms of dualism. Only a single infinite substance which subject and object are attributes. There then can be an interchange between understanding and sensibility (the intellectual and empirical).

Fichte: the concept of infinite striving of the finite ego against obstacles to approach the status of infinitude. The ego must become self conscious of this self positing to realize it’s nature as a free being

Fichte: we have knowledge as a result of action, not contemplation. Practical reason is the root of all reason. The faculty of desire/ will is the first principle of philosophy

Kant making the crucial distinction between understand sensibility. Sensibility and perception is not an unclear sense of something noumena, but a clear perception of the phenomenal. Therefore space is intuitive and not of understanding/conceptual. The representation of space is singular. This as opposed to Leibniz who holds that space is general. A concept rather than intuition.

Beiser writing is so clear, great book so far

Not at all sure about Fichte, he uses way too much abstract terminology and concepts.

Not at all sure about Fichte, he uses way too much abstract terminology and concepts.

Chapter on Fichte is a big struggle tbh. Difficult concepts