Germ Phil: Kant to Nietzsche

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

The purpose of this course is to provide a historical and philosophical overview of the development of German philosophy from Kant to Nietzsche. The goals of the class involve getting a good historical overview of the development of German philosophy in that period, developing a good philosophical grasp of what were some of the key issues in the development of that tradition and grappling with the philosophical issues about why and how the development took the shape it did. A list of key topics to be considered would include but not be exhausted by terms such as “spontaneity,” “autonomy,” “recognition,” “alienation,” “modernity,” and “subjectivity.” The focus all along will be on themes having to do with theories of knowledge, philosophy of mind, and the connection between ethics and political thought in all these thinkers. Aesthetics will also figure prominently. Among the philosophers to be considered will be: Kant, Fichte, Schleiermacher, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. We will also look very briefly at the poets Novalis, Hölderlin, and Heine.