For the Love of Metaphysics

Nihilism and the Conflict of Reason from Kant to Rosenzweig

Karin Nisenbaum

Offers a new take on how to tell the story of the development of post-Kantian German Idealism and beyond
Approaches its subject from both contemporary and historical perspectives
Highlights the contemporary relevance of the post-Kantian philosophical tradition by emphasizing the continuity between philosophy and life and between abstract philosophical problems and existential concerns

For the Love of Metaphysics

Nihilism and the Conflict of Reason from Kant to Rosenzweig

Karin Nisenbaum

Description

In his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant argued that human reason is inherently conflicted, because it demands a form of unconditioned knowledge which is unattainable; his solution to this conflict of reason relies on the idea that reason's quest for the unconditioned can only be realized practically. Karin Nisenbaum recommends viewing this conflict of reason, and Kant's solution to this conflict, as the central problem shaping the contours of post-Kantian German Idealism. She contends that the rise and fall of German Idealism is to be told as a story about the different interpretations, appropriations, and radicalization of Kant's prioritizing of the practical.

The first part of the book explains why Kant's critics and followers came to understand the aim of Kant's critical philosophy in light of the conflict of reason. According to Nisenbaum, F. H. Jacobi and Salomon Maimon set the stage for the reception of Kant's critical philosophy by conceiving its aim in terms of meeting reason's demand for unconditioned knowledge, and by understanding the conflict of reason as a conflict between thinking and acting, or knowing and willing. The manner in which the post-Kantian German Idealists radicalized Kant's prioritizing of the practical is the central topic of the second part of the book, which focuses on works by J.G. Fichte and F.W.J. Schelling. The third part clarifies why, in order to solve the conflict of reason, Schelling and Rosenzweig developed the view that human experience is grounded in three irreducible elements--God, the natural world, and human beings--which relate in three temporal dimensions: Creation, Revelation, and Redemption.

For the Love of Metaphysics

Nihilism and the Conflict of Reason from Kant to Rosenzweig

Karin Nisenbaum

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I. Nihilism, Reason, and Freedom in the Early Reception of Kant's Critical Philosophy
Chapter 1. The Legacy of Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi: Restoring Human Reason to Its Full Measure
Chapter 2. The Legacy of Salomon Maimon: Philosophy as a System Actualized in Freedom

Part II. The Primacy of the Practical in Early Fichte and Schelling
Chapter 3. Kant's Deduction of Freedom: The Performative and First-Personal Aspect of Transcendental Arguments
Chapter 4. The Unconditioned in Human Knowledge: A Theoretical Puzzle, or a Practical Demand?

Part III. Nihilism and the Affirmation of the World in Schelling and Rosenzweig
Chapter 5. Why Is There a Realm of Experience at All? Love and Defiance as the Two Forms of Human Individuation
Chapter 6. The Star of Redemption as a System of Philosophy: The Human Word as a Response to the Word of God, and Human Words and Actions as the Means for the Unification of God

Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

For the Love of Metaphysics

Nihilism and the Conflict of Reason from Kant to Rosenzweig

Karin Nisenbaum

Author Information

Karin Nisenbaum is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Colgate University. Her research focuses on issues of metaphysics and practical reason in Kant's critical philosophy, as developed by post-Kantian thinkers such as Fichte and Schelling and by Jewish philosophers such as Maimon and Rosenzweig.

For the Love of Metaphysics

Nihilism and the Conflict of Reason from Kant to Rosenzweig

Karin Nisenbaum

Reviews and Awards

"The brief summary here does not come close to doing justice to Nisenbaum's rich and provocative book, nor does it capture the deep commitment to the importance of philosophy that she clearly displays ... [it] will be of great value to anyone interested in the period, or in the fate of metaphysics more broadly." -- Peter Thielke, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"For the Love of Metaphysics offers a new and refreshing perspective on the history of German idealism. It sees the central problem of German idealism as the struggle to reconcile reasons' demand for unity with the ideals of freedom and individuality. She widens and enriches the history of German idealism by not only giving new interpretations of familiar figures (Kant and Fichte) but also by focusing on lesser known ones (Maimon, the late Schelling and Rosenzweig). Nisenbaum tells her story with great erudition, insight, verve and, of course, love." -- Frederick Beiser, Professor of Philosophy, Syracuse University

"Metaphysics under the guise of rationalism and under the sway of the Principle of Sufficient Reason has always flirted with radical monism and, ultimately, with nihilism. Few philosophers--especially among contemporary philosophers--have acknowledged this threat of nihilism. And even fewer have faced it down and argued for a full-blown rationalism that not only is fully compatible with freedom and human values, but is also grounded in them. Nisenbaum is one of these few. Rigorous and spirited, historically-informed and brimming with relevance to contemporary philosophy, For the Love of Metaphysics explores the ways in which Kant and the German idealist tradition confronts an out of control rationalism and try to tame it. For the Love of Metaphysics will inspire in its readers their own love for metaphysics and will renew the commitment to rationalism in its most genuine form." -- Michael Della Rocca, Andrew Downey Orrick Professor of Philosophy. Yale University

"Nisenbaum's exceptionally original study of post-Kantian philosophy is remarkable for its breadth and for its detailed examination of the influence of both Jewish and Christian theology on 19th century thought. Students of Schelling and Rosenzweig will find the groundbreaking analysis of the Star of Redemption and its debt to the Freiheitsschrift and Weltalter especially interesting."-- Michelle Kosch, Professor of Philosophy, Cornell University