Hegel and the Challenge of Spinoza
A Study in German Idealism, 1801–1831

Explores the powerful continuing influence of Spinoza's metaphysical thinking in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century German philosophy.

George di Giovanni (Author)

9781108842242, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 September 2021

280 pages
23.6 x 15.9 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

'di Giovanni's book offers a significant analysis of the historical development and conceptual nuances of a central issue raised by Jacobi's critique of Spinozism. One of the book's main merits is its original and engaging perspective on the role of the philosophy of religion, which underscores the relevance of Hegel's proposal for this specific systematic approach.' Mattia Megli, Universa. Recensioni di filosofia

Hegel and the Challenge of Spinoza explores the powerful continuing influence of Spinoza's metaphysical thinking in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century German philosophy. George di Giovanni examines the ways in which Hegel's own metaphysics sought to meet the challenges posed by Spinoza's monism, not by disproving monism, but by rendering it moot. In this, di Giovanni argues, Hegel was much closer in spirit to Kant and Fichte than to Schelling. This book will be of interest to students and researchers interested in post-Kantian Idealism, Romanticism, and metaphysics.

1. Introduction: The Spinoza Connection, or the Discovery of 'Feeling'
2. The Nature of 'Nature' in Contention
3. The Transcendental Spinozism of the Wissenschaftslehre
4. Schelling's Prophetic Spinozism
5. Schelling, Hegel, and Positivity
6. Of Things Divine and Logical.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD], History of Western philosophy [HPC], Philosophy [HP], Humanities [H]