Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-8mjnm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T16:47:50.846Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Hermeneutics and German Idealism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Michael N. Forster
Affiliation:
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Kristin Gjesdal
Affiliation:
Temple University, Philadelphia
Get access

Summary

Toward the end of the eighteenth century, hermeneutic thought in Germany developed in close proximity to the emerging “idealist” and “romantic” philosophical movements inspired by the “critical philosophy” of Immanuel Kant. Crucially this was a time that witnessed the growth of interest in the structure of national languages and literatures, and the question was soon posed as to the relation between what Kant had postulated as the a priori structure governing an individual’s experience and thought and the structure of the actual language that that individual had assimilated from their cultural tradition. This chapter examines the emergence of the strong language-dependence thesis in the approach of the early hermeneutic thinkers Hamann and Herder, and their use of this idea to criticise the “purism” of Kantian thought. It then follows the ensuing response by Kant and his followers, especially Fichte and Hegel, as the latter attempted to bring a linguistic dimension to a Kantian inspired idealism. The issue of the relation of thought to language that was at the heart of this complexly developing debate has continued to be of philosophical concern up to the present.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×