The exploration of Johann Gottfried Herder's ideas reveals his significant influence across various fields, including philosophy, linguistics, anthropology, and comparative literature. Michael Forster aims to highlight Herder's contributions and rectify his underappreciation in modern thought, showcasing the depth and breadth of his intellectual legacy.
The rejection of much "continental philosophy" by Anglo-Saxon philosophers stems from the belief that continental thinkers fail to address key epistemological issues, particularly skepticism. Forster argues that Hegel actively engaged with these issues, countering the notion that he was naive or careless in epistemology. He begins by critically analyzing Hegel's interpretation of the skeptical tradition, presenting a compelling case for the superiority of ancient skepticism over modern forms. Forster illustrates how the challenges posed by ancient skepticism are integral to Hegel's philosophy of history, explaining the collapse of the unified Greek culture and its replacement by the division and alienation in later Western culture. Furthermore, Forster delves into Hegel's sophisticated defenses against skeptical challenges, framing them as part of a broader epistemological endeavor. Throughout the work, Forster clarifies previously obscure aspects of Hegel's writings, prompting a re-evaluation of Hegel and German Idealism, as well as the skeptical tradition in philosophy. This fresh perspective invites readers to reconsider Hegel's contributions and the complexities of skepticism in philosophical discourse.
Philosophy of language has for some time now been the very core of the discipline of philosophy. But where did it begin? Frege has sometimes been identified as its father, but in fact its origins lie much further back, in a tradition that arose in eighteenth-century Germany. Michael Forster explores that tradition. He also makes a case that the most important thinker within that tradition was J. G. Herder. It was Herder who established such fundamental principles in the philosophy of language as that thought essentially depends on language and that meaning consists in the usage of words. It was he who on that basis revolutionized the theory of interpretation ("hermeneutics") and the theory of translation. And it was he who played the pivotal role in founding such whole new disciplines concerned with language as anthropology and linguistics. In the course of developing these historical points, this book also shows that Herder and his tradition are in many ways superior to dominanttrends in more recent philosophy of language: deeper in their principles and broader in their focus.
What is the nature of a conceptual scheme? Are there alternative conceptual schemes? If so, are some more justifiable or correct than others? The later Wittgenstein already addresses these fundamental philosophical questions under the general rubric of "grammar" and the question of its "arbitrariness"--and does so with great subtlety. This book explores Wittgenstein's views on these questions. Part I interprets his conception of grammar as a generalized (and otherwise modified) version of Kant's transcendental idealist solution to a puzzle about necessity. It also seeks to reconcile Wittgenstein's seemingly inconsistent answers to the question of whether or not grammar is arbitrary by showing that he believed grammar to be arbitrary in one sense and non-arbitrary in another. Part II focuses on an especially central and contested feature of Wittgenstein's account: a thesis of the diversity of grammars. The author discusses this thesis in connection with the nature of formal logic, the limits of language, and the conditions of semantic understanding or access. Strongly argued and cleary written, this book will appeal not only to philosophers but also to students of the human sciences, for whom Wittgenstein's work holds great relevance.
Presents a reappraisal of Immanuel Kant's conception of and response to skepticism, as set forth principally in the "Critique of Pure Reason". This book argues that Kant undertook his reform of metaphysics primarily in order to render it defensible against these types of skepticism.
Michael Forster's study delves into the significance of nineteenth-century German philosophy of language, highlighting J.G. Herder's foundational role. He examines Herder's influence on thinkers like Friedrich Schlegel, Wilhelm von Humboldt, and G.W.F. Hegel, arguing that the best ideas in this tradition align with Herder's insights.
The Oxford Handbook of German Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century is the first collective critical study of this important period in intellectual history. The volume is divided into four parts. The first part explores individual philosophers, including Fichte, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Marx, and Nietzsche, amongst other great thinkers of the period. The second addresses key philosophical movements: Idealism, Romanticism, Neo-Kantianism, and Existentialism. The essays in the third part engage with different areas of philosophy that received particular attention at this time, including philosophy of nature, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of history, and hermeneutics. Finally, the contributors turn to discuss central philosophical topics, from skepticism to mat-erialism, from dialectics to ideas of historical and cultural Otherness, and from the reception of antiquity to atheism. Written by a team of leading experts, this Handbook will be an essential resource for anyone working in the area and will lead the direction of future research.