Friedrich Schlegel and the Emergence of Romantic Philosophy » (New Edition)

This book addresses the philosophical reception of early German Romanticism and offers the first in-depth study in English of the movement's most important philosopher, Friedrich Schlegel, presenting his philosophy against the background of the controversies that shaped its emergence. Elizabeth Millan-Zaibert begins by distinguishing early German Romanticism from classical German Idealism, under which it has all too often been subsumed, and then explores Schlegel's romantic philosophy (and his rejection of first principles) by showing how he responded to three central figures of the post-Kantian period in Germany-Jacobi, Reinhold, and Fichte-as well as to Kant himself. She concludes with a comprehensive critique of the aesthetic and epistemological consequences of Schlegel's thought, with special attention paid to his use of irony.

About the Author:
Elizabeth Millan-Zaibert is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University

Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction     1
Philosophy and Early German Romanticism     1
The Literary Dimensions of Early German Romanticism     5
Defining Romanticism     10
Schlegel's Antifoundationalism     18
Overview     20
Finding Room for the Romantics between Kant and Hegel     25
Idealism: From Misconceptions to Post-Kantian Variations     28
Searching for the Unity of Thought and Being: Idealist Jager versus Romantic Spurhunde     32
Frank's Romantic Realists versus Beiser's Romantic Idealists     38
On Why Schlegel Is Not Hegel     44
Romantic Skepticism     48
Searching for the Grounds of Knowledge     53
Jacobi's Salto Mortale     54
Schlegel's Reaction to the Salto     57
Reinhold's Elementarphilosophie     62
Aenesidemus and the Shift from Principle to Fact of Consciousness     65
Fichte's Move from Fact to Act of Consciousness     68
Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre: A Tendency to Be Avoided?     71
The Foundations of Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre     72
The Clash between Schmid and Fichte     75
Fichte and Schlegel on Critical Philosophy     79
Fichte's Mystical Errors     86
The Spirit versus the Letter of Fichte's Philosophy     91
Niethammer's Influence on the Development of Schlegel's Skepticism     95
Niethammer's Skepticism     97
Niethammer's Appeal to Common Sense     101
Schlegel's Philosophical Debut     109
Schlegel's Critique of Niethammer's Appeal to Common Sense     111
Schlegel's Historical Taxonomy     114
Critique as Metaphilosophy: Kant as Half Critic     117
Revolution, Scientific Method, and Kant's Critical Project     120
Critiquing the Critical Philosopher     122
Away from Kant: Schlegel's Historical Turn     127
Philosophy in Media Res     133
The Wechselerweis and the Search for Truth     134
Philosophy "in the Middle": Between Fichte and Spinoza     137
Destroying the Illusion of the Finite: Schlegel's Critique of the Thing     141
Wilhelm Meister: Schlegel's Model of Coherence     150
The Aesthetic Consequences of Antifoundationalism     159
The Modern Spirit of Romanticism     160
Understanding, Misunderstanding, and Irony     165
Irony and the Necessity of Poetry     170
Notes      175
Bibliography     231
Index     249