This volume traces the emergence of German idealism providing original interpretations of key philosophical figures of the 19th century. It is a broad, scholarly introduction to this period and includes a glossary.

The turn of the 19th century marked an explosion of philosophical energy and talent. The enormity of the revolution set off in philosophy by Immanuel Kant was comparable, by Kant's own estimation, with the Copernican Revolution that ended the Middle Ages. The movement he set in motion, the fast-moving and often cantankerous dialectic of "German Idealism", inspired some of the most creative philosophers in modern times: including G.W.F. Hegel and Arthur Schopenhauer as well as those who reacted against Kant - Marx and Kierkegaard, for example. This volume traces the emergence of German Idealism from Kant and his predecessors through the first half of the 19th century, ending with the irrationalism of Kierkegaard. It provides a broad, scholarly introduction to this period for students of philosophy and related disciplines, as well as some original interpretations of these authors. Each chapter is written by a distinguished scholar in the field. A glossary of technical terms together with a chronological table of philosophical, scientific and other important cultural events are provided.

1. From Leibniz to Kant
Lewis White Beck,
University of Rochester
2. Kant's copernican revolution
Daniel Bonevac, University of Texas at Austin
3. Kant's moral philosophy
Don Becker, University of Texas at Austin
4. Kant: Critique of Judgment
Patrick Gardiner, Magdalen College, Oxford
5. Fichte and Schelling: the jena period
Dan Breazeale, University of Kentucky
6. Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit
Robert C.Solomon, University of Texas at Austin
7. Hegel's logic and philosophy of mind
Willem deVries, University of New Hampshire
8. Hegel, spirit, and politics
Leo Rauch, Babson College
9. The young Hegelians, Feuerbach and Marx
Robert Nola, University of Auckland
10. Arthur Schopenhauer
Kathleen M.Higgins, University of Texas at Austin
11. Kierkegaard's speculative despair
Judith Butler, Johns Hopkins University