Kant's "critical philosophy" criticized the metaphysical pretensions of reason unaided by experience. In this volume, leading scholars show how the various aspirations at work in the emergence of German Idealism can be understood as both consummating and overcoming this critical philosophy.

The volume also includes a chronology of the major works in the development of German Idealism, as well as a new translation of the seminal and still-controversial essay "The Earliest System Programme of German Idealism".