German Idealism and the Question of System

This volume in the Collected Writings of John Sallis presents his lecture course on German Idealism, tracing its development from the reception of Kant through the works of Fichte and Schelling. With insightful interpretations of key texts, John Sallis demonstrates the enduring power of post-Kantian thought—especially with respect to freedom, the relation of subject to object, and the role of the imagination. He shows that what underlies the development of German Idealism is a concern with the question of system and the nature of philosophy itself.

The book begins with a treatment of Kant's philosophy and its new beginning. It then discusses the initial reception of Kant's philosophy, showing how criticisms of Kant set the stage for the subsequent development of German Idealism. The central chapters focus on Fichte, first introducing his central philosophical project (the Wissenschaftslehre) and then carefully analyzing its implementation in the 1794 Grundlage. The final chapters treat Schelling's early and middle philosophy, including the 1800 System of Transcendental Idealism and his famous 1809 treatise on freedom.

Beyond its insights into the thought of German Idealism, the book is distinctive for the clarity of Sallis's exposition, his attention to the implications for philosophy today, and the sense of wonder he evokes in his readers. Because of these features, the book will be of interest to general readers as well as specialists in German philosophy.