The Imagination in German Idealism and Romanticism

Explores imagination and human rationality in a crucial period of philosophy, from hermeneutics and transcendental logic to ethics and aesthetics.

Gerad Gentry (Edited by), Konstantin Pollok (Edited by)

9781316647868, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 April 2021

279 pages
23.1 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.419 kg

'The 11 essays of The Imagination in German Idealism and Romanticism represent the first systematic attempt to provide a coherent picture … of the concept of imagination across some of the most influential years of the history of philosophy. This volume plots a course through the most significant figures of German Idealism and Romanticism … toward a variety of themes which can be said to mirror the variety of roles that the imagination plays.' Luigi Filieri, Journal of Transcendental Philosophy

For philosophers of German idealism and early German romanticism, the imagination is central to issues ranging from hermeneutics to transcendental logic and from ethics to aesthetics. This volume of new essays brings together, for the first time, comprehensive and critical reflections on the significances of the imagination during this period, with essays on Kant and the imagination, the imagination in post-Kantian German idealism, and the imagination in early German romanticism. The essays explore the many and varied uses of the imagination and discuss whether they form a coherent or shared notion or whether they embody points of philosophical divergence within these traditions. They shed new light on one of the most important and enigmatic aspects of human nature, as understood in the context of a profoundly influential era of western thought.

Introduction to the significances of the imagination in Kant, idealism, and romanticism Gerad Gentry
Part I. Kant and the Imagination: 1. Kant on the role of the imagination (and images) in the transition from intuition to experience Clinton Tolley
2. Kant on imagination and the intuition of time Tobias Rosefeldt
3. 'The faculty of intuitions A Priori'. Kant on the productive power of the imagination Günter Zöller
4. Unity in variety: theoretical, practical and aesthetic reason in Kant Keren Gorodeisky
Part II. The Imagination in Post-Kantian German Idealism: 5. Imagination and objectivity in Fichte's early Wissenschaftslehre Johannes Haag
6. The Kantian roots of Hegel's theory of the imagination Meghant Sudan
7. The ground of Hegel's logic of life and the unity of reason: free lawfulness of the imagination Gerad Gentry
Part III. The Imagination in German Romanticism: 8. Imagination and interpretation: Herder's concept of Einfühlung Michael N. Forster
9. Imagination, divination, and understanding: Schleiermacher and the hermeneutics of the second person Kristin Gjesdal
10. Poetry and imagination in Fichte and the early German romantics: a re-assessment Elizabeth Millán Brusslan
11. Art, imagination and the interpretation of the age: Hegel and Schlegel on the new status of art and its connection to religion and philosophy Allen Speight.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD], Philosophy [HP], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Humanities [H], Literature & literary studies [D]