The Impact of Idealism
The Legacy of Post-Kantian German Thought

The third volume in this unique set provides an account of German Idealism's impact on literature, the arts and aesthetics.

Nicholas Boyle (General editor), Liz Disley (General editor), Christoph Jamme (Edited by), Ian Cooper (Edited by)

9781107039841, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 November 2013

334 pages, 3 b/w illus.
25.2 x 18.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.83 kg

'The Impact of Idealism is a monumental achievement, a bold attempt to fathom the legacy of German idealism in every sphere of culture. The extent and the depth of the enterprise, in its four volumes, is staggering. Nothing like it has been done before, and it is unlikely that anything like it will ever be attempted again. It is the product of an impressive array of scholars, virtually everyone who is anyone in the field. It is sure to be the standard work on the subject. Anyone whose work touches on German idealism, which is almost all of us, will need to read it.' Frederick Beiser, Syracuse University

The first study of its kind, The Impact of Idealism assesses the impact of classical German philosophy on science, religion and culture. This third volume explores German Idealism's impact on the literature, art and aesthetics of the last two centuries. Each essay focuses on the legacy of an idea or concept from the high point of German philosophy around 1800, tracing out its influence on the intervening period and its importance for contemporary discussions. As well as a broad geographical and historical range, including Greek tragedy, George Eliot, Thomas Mann and Samuel Beckett, and key musicians and artists such as Wagner, Andy Warhol and Frank Lloyd Wright, the volume's thematic focus is broad. Engaging closely with the key aesthetic texts of German Idealism, this collection uses examples from literature, music, art, architecture and museum studies to demonstrate Idealism's continuing influence.

Introduction: idealism in aesthetics and literature Ian Cooper
1. The legacy of idealism and the rise of academic aesthetics Christoph Jamme
2. Hegel's philosophical theory of action: the concept of action in Hegel's practical philosophy and aesthetics Klaus Vieweg
3. Tragedy and the human image: German Idealism's legacy for theory and practice Allen Speight
4. Romanticism as literary idealism, or: a 200-year-old way of talking about literature Stefan Matuschek
5. Idealism in nineteenth-century German literature Ian Cooper
6. Idealism in nineteenth-century British and American literature Richard Eldridge
7. Elements of Schopenhauer's thought in Beckett Ulrich Pothast
8. German Idealism and the philosophy of music Roger Scruton
9. The music of German Idealism Andrew Bowie
10. 'Refiner of all human relations' – Karl Friedrich Schinkel as an idealist theorist Felix Saure
11. Influences of German Idealism on nineteenth-century architectural theory: Schelling and Leo von Klenze Petra Lohmann
12. 'Making a world': the impact of idealism on museum formation in mid-nineteenth-century Massachusetts Ivan Gaskell
13. Hegel, Danto and the 'end of art' Stephen Houlgate.

Subject Areas: History of Western philosophy [HPC], Social & cultural history [HBTB], European history [HBJD]