Idealism and Existentialism: Hegel and Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century European Philosophy

Description

The history of Continental philosophy is often conceived as being represented by two major schools: German idealism and phenomenology/existentialism. These two schools are frequently juxtaposed so as to highlight their purported radical differences. There is a commonly held view that an abrupt break occurred in the nineteenth century, resulting in a disdainful rejection of idealism in all its forms. This break is often located in the transition from Hegel to Kierkegaard. The history of philosophy in the first half of the nineteenth century has thus been read as a grand confrontation between the overambitious rationalistic system of Hegel and the devastating criticisms of it by Kierkegaard's philosophy of existence. This work aims to undermine this popular view of the radical break between idealism and existentialism by means of a series of detailed studies in specific episodes of European thought. As a whole, this book represents an important attempt to demonstrate the long shadow cast by Kant and Hegel over the subsequent history of European philosophy.

Jon Stewart is Associate Research Professor at the Soren Kierkegaard Research Centre, University of Copenhagen, Denmark and a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters

"Stewart's fresh approach to the so-called 'antagonism' between idealism and existentialism is both welcome and edifying. His careful, nuanced scholarship encourages the reader to re-consider and re-evaluate the major debates that shaped the development of European philosophy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries." - Daniel Conway, Texas A&M University, USA According to the conventional story told by intellectual historians, the nineteenth century witnessed a major break in the philosophical tradition, jumping from German Idealism (identified with Hegel) to existentialism (identified with Kierkegaard). Jon Stewart disagrees: and in Idealism and Existentialism he challenges this account and puts forward an alternative view of Hegel. (While most of the chapters consist of articles or lectures already published in one form or another, by collecting them in book form Stewart makes them more accessible to readers and, taken in their totality, an overarching argument emerges.) -- Paul Bishop * Journal of European Studies vol 42 issue 1 *