Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten - Böcker

Reflections on Poetry: Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten’s Meditationes philosophicae de nonnullis ad poema pertinentibus makes newly accessible the 1735 dissertation that inaugurated the modern discipline of aesthetics. Long remembered chiefly as the inventor of the term, Baumgarten here sets out the principles of a “science of sensate cognition,” laying philosophical foundations for poetry and the arts alongside logic and metaphysics. Through a rigorously deductive method, he defines poetry as “perfected sensate discourse,” analyzing its clarity, vividness, and order with the same systematic care his rationalist contemporaries brought to science. Drawing heavily on Horace’s Ars poetica, Baumgarten transforms scattered critical insights into an axiomatic poetics that gives the arts a rightful place within philosophy.The volume presents both the Latin text and an English translation, supported by commentary that clarifies Baumgarten’s method, his departures from Cartesian rationalism, and his pioneering claim for aesthetics as an autonomous field. It highlights how Baumgarten’s rationalist framework led him to emphasize extensive clarity, the role of imagery and wonder, the importance of thematic unity, and the analogy between poetic creation and natural process. More than a historical curiosity, the Reflections reminds us that art can be understood as a mode of cognition, balancing the clarity of reason with the richness of perception. The enduring takeaway is that Baumgarten’s “charter of modern aesthetics” still speaks to contemporary debates, challenging us to think of poetry—and art more broadly—not merely as expression of emotion but as a disciplined pursuit of perceptual perfection and meaning.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1954.

Reflections on Poetry: Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten’s Meditationes philosophicae de nonnullis ad poema pertinentibus makes newly accessible the 1735 dissertation that inaugurated the modern discipline of aesthetics. Long remembered chiefly as the inventor of the term, Baumgarten here sets out the principles of a “science of sensate cognition,” laying philosophical foundations for poetry and the arts alongside logic and metaphysics. Through a rigorously deductive method, he defines poetry as “perfected sensate discourse,” analyzing its clarity, vividness, and order with the same systematic care his rationalist contemporaries brought to science. Drawing heavily on Horace’s Ars poetica, Baumgarten transforms scattered critical insights into an axiomatic poetics that gives the arts a rightful place within philosophy.The volume presents both the Latin text and an English translation, supported by commentary that clarifies Baumgarten’s method, his departures from Cartesian rationalism, and his pioneering claim for aesthetics as an autonomous field. It highlights how Baumgarten’s rationalist framework led him to emphasize extensive clarity, the role of imagery and wonder, the importance of thematic unity, and the analogy between poetic creation and natural process. More than a historical curiosity, the Reflections reminds us that art can be understood as a mode of cognition, balancing the clarity of reason with the richness of perception. The enduring takeaway is that Baumgarten’s “charter of modern aesthetics” still speaks to contemporary debates, challenging us to think of poetry—and art more broadly—not merely as expression of emotion but as a disciplined pursuit of perceptual perfection and meaning.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1954.

Alexander Baumgarten’s Ethica Philosophica (1740) served as a chief textbook of philosophical instruction in German universities for several decades, and was used by Immanuel Kant for his lectures on moral philosophy between 1759 and 1794. Now translated into English for the first time, John Hymers explores the extent of Baumgarten's influence on the development of German philosophy.Accompanied by an introduction to Baumgarten and his work, this translation features an explanation of the main themes of the Ethica Philosophica, touching upon its relation to Christian Wolff and G.F. Meier’s practical philosophy, but focusing especially on its role in Kant’s lectures. First-time translations of elucidatory passages from the writings of Meier, Wolff, and Heinrich Köhler appear together with the relevant transcriptions of Kant’s lectures on ethics.Based on a thorough knowledge of the original text, Hymers' clear translation and supporting material makes it possible to distinguish Kant’s own remarks and insights from his attempts to expound and summarize Baumgarten’s ideas. This is a much-needed contribution for anyone working in the history of modern philosophy.

This book presents the first English translation of Alexander Baumgarten’s Initia Philosophiae Practicae Primae, the textbook Kant used in his lectures on moral philosophy. Originally published in Latin in 1760, the Initia contains a systematic, but original version of the universal practical philosophy first articulated by Christian Wolff. In his personal copy, Kant penned hundreds of pages of notes and sketches that document his relation to this earlier tradition. Translating these extensive elucidations into English, together with Kant’s notes on the text, this translation offers a complete resource to Kant’s reading of the Initia. To facilitate further study, first-time translations of elucidatory passages from G. F. Meier and Wolff are also included, alongside a German-English-Latin glossary. The translators’ introduction provides a biography of Baumgarten, a discussion of the importance of the Initia, its relation to Wolff’s and Meier’s universal practical philosophy and its role in Kant’s lectures. By shedding new light on the arguments of Kant’s mature works and offering insights into his pre-Critical moral thought, Elements of First Practical Philosophy reveals why Baumgarten's work is essential for understanding the background to Kant’s philosophy.

Alexander Baumgarten’s Ethica Philosophica (1740) served as a chief textbook of philosophical instruction in German universities for several decades, and was used by Immanuel Kant for his lectures on moral philosophy between 1759 and 1794. Now translated into English for the first time, John Hymers explores the extent of Baumgarten's influence on the development of German philosophy.Accompanied by an introduction to Baumgarten and his work, this translation features an explanation of the main themes of the Ethica Philosophica, touching upon its relation to Christian Wolff and G.F. Meier’s practical philosophy, but focusing especially on its role in Kant’s lectures. First-time translations of elucidatory passages from the writings of Meier, Wolff, and Heinrich Köhler appear together with the relevant transcriptions of Kant’s lectures on ethics.Based on a thorough knowledge of the original text, Hymers' clear translation and supporting material makes it possible to distinguish Kant’s own remarks and insights from his attempts to expound and summarize Baumgarten’s ideas. This is a much-needed contribution for anyone working in the history of modern philosophy.

Now available for the first time in English, this critical translation of Metaphysica draws from the original seven Latin editions, the Academy edition of Kant, and Georg Friedrich Meier’s 18th-century German translation. To assist and support the reading of this crucial text, the translation features: * historical and philosophical introductions and sketches * extensive glossaries and notes* clear reproductions of Kant’s elucidations and handwritten notes* Eberhard’s insertions in the 1783 German editionUsed as a philosophical instruction for thinkers such as Kant, Mendelssohn, Abbt, Herder, and Maimon, Metaphysica is arguably one of philosophy’s most influential texts. Equipped with supportive and illuminating introductory material, this clear and lucid translation presents scholars of Kant, German philosophy and the history of philosophy with an indispensable resource.

This book presents the first English translation of Alexander Baumgarten’s Initia Philosophiae Practicae Primae, the textbook Kant used in his lectures on moral philosophy. Originally published in Latin in 1760, the Initia contains a systematic, but original version of the universal practical philosophy first articulated by Christian Wolff. In his personal copy, Kant penned hundreds of pages of notes and sketches that document his relation to this earlier tradition. Translating these extensive elucidations into English, together with Kant’s notes on the text, this translation offers a complete resource to Kant’s reading of the Initia. To facilitate further study, first-time translations of elucidatory passages from G. F. Meier and Wolff are also included, alongside a German-English-Latin glossary. The translators’ introduction provides a biography of Baumgarten, a discussion of the importance of the Initia, its relation to Wolff’s and Meier’s universal practical philosophy and its role in Kant’s lectures. By shedding new light on the arguments of Kant’s mature works and offering insights into his pre-Critical moral thought, Elements of First Practical Philosophy reveals why Baumgarten's work is essential for understanding the background to Kant’s philosophy.