Daniel Whistler - Böcker

French philosophy is an internationally celebrated national philosophical tradition, and this Oxford Handbook offers a comprehensive approach to its history since 1800. The Handbook features essays written by renowned international specialists, illuminating key movements and positions, themes and thinkers in nineteenth-, twentieth- and even twenty-first-century French philosophy. The volume takes into account developments in recent historical scholarship by broadening the notion of Modern French Philosophy in two ways. Whereas recent approaches in the field have often ignored early nineteenth-century developments, this volume offers comprehensive treatment of French thought of this period in order to grasp better later developments. Moreover, the volume extends the canon at the other end of the period of Modern French Philosophy by including work on philosophers who have come to prominence only in the last ten or twenty years. The volume takes 'French philosophy' in a broad sense to include all philosophy carried out in France over the last 200 years, and it illuminates the institutional and cultural background of this national philosophical tradition in such a way as to provide a fuller and more comprehensive understanding of its unity and of its more famous moments in the twentieth century.

The first English translation of some of Victor Cousin's most important philosophical writings for over 150 years, accompanied by extensive contextual and analytic resources from a team of internationally recognized Cousin scholars. Victor Cousin was a towering philosophical figure of the nineteenth century: no French philosopher since has fully escaped his shadow. This edition of Philosophical Fragments brings together a series of Cousin's most accessible and significant texts to introduce English-language readers to his thought, along with commentaries on his relationship to Cartesianism, his role in the invention of the historiography of philosophy, as well as his lasting institutional legacy. The edition includes many of Cousin's most significant shorter pieces, such as his 1826 Preface to Philosophical Fragments, the 'manifesto' by means of which he relaunched the French spiritualist project and set out his own eclectic project in the history of philosophy; his 1833 Preface to Philosophical Fragments, in which he responds to mounting criticism of his version of spiritualism by setting out definitively his relations to Descartes, eighteenth-century sensualism, German Idealism, and Catholic theology; and a selection of the Fragments themselves, charting the genesis of his philosophy from the 1810s to the 1840s.

This study reconstructs F.W.J. Schelling's philosophy of language based on a detailed reading of §73 of Schelling's lectures on the Philosophy of Art. Daniel Whistler argues that the concept of the symbol present in this lecture course, and elsewhere in Schelling's writings of the period, provides the key for a non-referential conception of language, where what matters is the intensity at which identity is produced. Such a reconstruction leads Whistler to a detailed analysis of Schelling's system of identity, his grand project of the years 1801 to 1805, which has been continually neglected by contemporary scholarship. In particular, Whistler recovers the concepts of quantitative differentiation and construction as central to Schelling's project of the period. This reconstruction also leads to an original reading of the origins of the concept of the symbol in German thought: there is not one 'romantic symbol', but a whole plethora of experiments in theorising symbolism taking place at the turn of the nineteenth century. At stake, then, is Schelling as a philosopher of language, Schelling as a systematiser of identity, and Schelling as a theorist of the symbol.

Of all the topics in the history of philosophy, the history of different forms of thinking and contemplation is one of the most important, and yet is also relatively overlooked. What is it to think philosophically? How did different forms of thinking—reflection, contemplation, critique and analysis—emerge in different epochs? This collection offers a rich and diverse philosophical exploration of the history of contemplation, from the classical period to the twenty-first century. It covers canonical figures including Plato, Aristotle, Descartes and Kant, as well as debates in less well-known areas such as classical Indian and Islamic thought and the role of speculation in twentieth-century Russian philosophy. Comprising twenty-two chapters by an international team of contributors, the volume is divided into five parts: • Flourishing and Thinking from Homer to Hume• The Thinking of Thinking from Augustine to Gödel• Images and Thinking from Plotinus to Unger• Bodies of Thought and Habits of Thinking from Plato to Irigaray• The Efficacy of Thinking from Sextus to BatailleThought: A Philosophical History is the first comprehensive investigation of the history of philosophical thought and contemplation. As such, it is a landmark publication for anyone researching and teaching the history of philosophy, and a valuable resource for those studying the subject in related fields such as literature, religion, sociology and the history of ideas.

Of all the topics in the history of philosophy, the history of different forms of thinking and contemplation is one of the most important, and yet is also relatively overlooked. What is it to think philosophically? How did different forms of thinking—reflection, contemplation, critique and analysis—emerge in different epochs? This collection offers a rich and diverse philosophical exploration of the history of contemplation, from the classical period to the twenty-first century. It covers canonical figures including Plato, Aristotle, Descartes and Kant, as well as debates in less well-known areas such as classical Indian and Islamic thought and the role of speculation in twentieth-century Russian philosophy. Comprising twenty-two chapters by an international team of contributors, the volume is divided into five parts: • Flourishing and Thinking from Homer to Hume• The Thinking of Thinking from Augustine to Gödel• Images and Thinking from Plotinus to Unger• Bodies of Thought and Habits of Thinking from Plato to Irigaray• The Efficacy of Thinking from Sextus to BatailleThought: A Philosophical History is the first comprehensive investigation of the history of philosophical thought and contemplation. As such, it is a landmark publication for anyone researching and teaching the history of philosophy, and a valuable resource for those studying the subject in related fields such as literature, religion, sociology and the history of ideas.

Two decades ago, Schelling first resurfaced in Žižek’s Indivisible Remainder, and the same argumentative move of redeploying Schellingian themes for contemporary ends has continued to play a significant role in critical theory since (Markus Gabriel, Iain Hamilton Grant, Jean-Luc Nancy). All the articles in this volume attempt to take seriously the idea of Schelling as a contemporary philosopher: Schelling is read in dialogue with key figures in the canon of European philosophy and critical theory (Alain Badiou, Émilie du Châtelet, Gilles Deleuze, Paul de Man, Quentin Meillassoux, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Gilbert Simondon, Slavoj Žižek), as well as in light of recent trends in analytic philosophy (Brandomian pragmatism, powers-based metaphysics and semantic naturalism) – and such readings are not meant merely to highlight Schellingian influences or resonances in contemporary thinking but rather to challenge and interrogate current orthodoxies by insisting upon the contemporaneity of Schellingian speculation. That is, the aim is both to evaluate and constructively build upon this repeated return to Schelling: to probe, to diagnose and to experiment on the latent Schellingianisms of the present and the future. This book was originally published as a special issue of Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities.

Two decades ago, Schelling first resurfaced in Žižek’s Indivisible Remainder, and the same argumentative move of redeploying Schellingian themes for contemporary ends has continued to play a significant role in critical theory since (Markus Gabriel, Iain Hamilton Grant, Jean-Luc Nancy). All the articles in this volume attempt to take seriously the idea of Schelling as a contemporary philosopher: Schelling is read in dialogue with key figures in the canon of European philosophy and critical theory (Alain Badiou, Émilie du Châtelet, Gilles Deleuze, Paul de Man, Quentin Meillassoux, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Gilbert Simondon, Slavoj Žižek), as well as in light of recent trends in analytic philosophy (Brandomian pragmatism, powers-based metaphysics and semantic naturalism) – and such readings are not meant merely to highlight Schellingian influences or resonances in contemporary thinking but rather to challenge and interrogate current orthodoxies by insisting upon the contemporaneity of Schellingian speculation. That is, the aim is both to evaluate and constructively build upon this repeated return to Schelling: to probe, to diagnose and to experiment on the latent Schellingianisms of the present and the future. This book was originally published as a special issue of Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities.

F.W.J. Schelling (1775-1854) stands alongside J.G. Fichte and G.W.F. Hegel as one of the great philosophers of the German idealist tradition. The Schelling Reader introduces students to Schelling’s philosophy by guiding them through the first ever English-language anthology of his key texts—an anthology which showcases the vast array of his interests and concerns (metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of nature, ethics, aesthetics, philosophy of religion and mythology, and political philosophy). The reader includes the most important passages from all of Schelling’s major works as well as lesser-known yet illuminating lectures and essays, revealing a philosopher rigorously and boldly grappling with some of the most difficult philosophical problems for over six decades, and constantly modifying and correcting his earlier thought in light of new insights.Schelling’s evolving philosophies have often presented formidable challenges to the teaching of his thought. For the first time, The Schelling Reader arranges readings from his work thematically, so as to bring to the fore the basic continuity in his trajectory, as well as the varied ways he tackles perennial problems. Each of the twelve chapters includes sustained readings that span the whole of Schelling’s career, along with explanatory notes and an editorial introduction that introduces the main themes, arguments, and questions at stake in the text. The Editors’ Introduction to the volume as a whole also provides important details on the context of Schelling’s life and work to help students effectively engage with the material.

F.W.J. Schelling (1775-1854) stands alongside J.G. Fichte and G.W.F. Hegel as one of the great philosophers of the German idealist tradition. The Schelling Reader introduces students to Schelling’s philosophy by guiding them through the first ever English-language anthology of his key texts—an anthology which showcases the vast array of his interests and concerns (metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of nature, ethics, aesthetics, philosophy of religion and mythology, and political philosophy). The reader includes the most important passages from all of Schelling’s major works as well as lesser-known yet illuminating lectures and essays, revealing a philosopher rigorously and boldly grappling with some of the most difficult philosophical problems for over six decades, and constantly modifying and correcting his earlier thought in light of new insights.Schelling’s evolving philosophies have often presented formidable challenges to the teaching of his thought. For the first time, The Schelling Reader arranges readings from his work thematically, so as to bring to the fore the basic continuity in his trajectory, as well as the varied ways he tackles perennial problems. Each of the twelve chapters includes sustained readings that span the whole of Schelling’s career, along with explanatory notes and an editorial introduction that introduces the main themes, arguments, and questions at stake in the text. The Editors’ Introduction to the volume as a whole also provides important details on the context of Schelling’s life and work to help students effectively engage with the material.

Over three decades, Gillian Howie wrote at the forefront of philosophy and critical theory, before her untimely death in 2013. This interdisciplinary collection uses her writings to explore the productive, yet often resistant, interrelationship between feminism and critical theory, examining the potential of Howie’s particular form of materialism. The contributors also bring to this debate a serious engagement with Howie’s late turn towards philosophies of mortality, therapy and ‘living with dying’. The volume considers how differently embodied subjects are positioned within public institutions, discourses and spaces, and the role of philosophy, art, film, photography, and literature, in facing situations such as sexual oppression and life-limiting illness.

Carl Friedrich Kielmeyer (1765-1844) was the ‘father of philosophy of nature’ owing to his profound influence on German Idealist and Romantic Naturphilosophie. With the recent growth of interest in Idealist and Romantic philosophy of nature in the UK and abroad, the importance of Kielmeyer’s work is being increasingly recognised and special attention is being paid to his influence on biology’s development as a distinct discipline at the end of the eighteenth century. In this exciting new book, Lydia Azadpour and Daniel Whistler present the first ever English translations of key texts by Kielmeyer, along with contextual and interpretative essays by leading international scholars, who are experts on the philosophy of nature and the formation of the life sciences in the late eighteenth century. The topics they cover include: the laws of nature, the concept of force, the meaning of ‘organism’, the logic of recapitulation, Kielmeyer and ecology, sexual differentiation in animal life and Kielmeyer’s relationship to Kant, Schelling and Hegel. In doing so, they provide a comprehensive English reference to Kielmeyer’s historical and contemporary significance.

Carl Friedrich Kielmeyer (1765-1844) was the ‘father of philosophy of nature’ owing to his profound influence on German Idealist and Romantic Naturphilosophie. With the recent growth of interest in Idealist and Romantic philosophy of nature in the UK and abroad, the importance of Kielmeyer’s work is being increasingly recognised and special attention is being paid to his influence on biology’s development as a distinct discipline at the end of the eighteenth century. In this exciting new book, Lydia Azadpour and Daniel Whistler present the first ever English translations of key texts by Kielmeyer, along with contextual and interpretative essays by leading international scholars, who are experts on the philosophy of nature and the formation of the life sciences in the late eighteenth century. The topics they cover include: the laws of nature, the concept of force, the meaning of ‘organism’, the logic of recapitulation, Kielmeyer and ecology, sexual differentiation in animal life and Kielmeyer’s relationship to Kant, Schelling and Hegel. In doing so, they provide a comprehensive English reference to Kielmeyer’s historical and contemporary significance.

Confronting the relationship between words and images in the representation of plant life in Western modernity, this interdisciplinary book examines the ways in which plants have been theorised both in contemporary plant humanities and modern thinking about plants more generally.Focusing on the various ways that the vegetal has been represented—or hidden—during modernity, it studies how philosophical, scientific and environmental theories, as well as colonial histories, have determined these representations, as well as the ways in which these representations have themselves influenced theory. Situating itself within the plant-humanities, a developing field of research which draws upon the environmental humanities to rectify the traditional neglect of plants as a model for thinking, it examines aesthetic representations of plant life, and philosophical and scientific thinking about the vegetal, so as to challenge traditional assumptions regarding plant intelligence, agency and communication.

Resets the scholarship on the philosophical practice and style of Francois HemsterhuisFrancois Hemsterhuis, 1721-1790, was the most significant Dutch philosopher after Spinoza. Daniel Whistler argues that Hemsterhuis' philosophy matters and that its exclusion from the canon of modern philosophy has been unjust. This is not just because of its influence on later German thinkers, such as Goethe, Hegel, Herder, Jacobi, Lessing and Novalis - but primarily because Hemsterhuis' philosophy contains such a rich assemblage of ideas and philosophical practices. Whistler looks specifically at Hemsterhuis' reflections on philosophical style and the strategies he employs to communicate and disclose ideas in his late dialogues. Taking seriously Hemsterhuis' newly-published complete correspondence as a significant philosophical text, he contends that Hemsterhuis deserves to be placed alongside Schlegel, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche as one of the preeminent philosophical stylists of modernity.

Francois Hemsterhuis (1721-1790) was the most significant Dutch philosopher after Spinoza. Daniel Whistler argues that Hemsterhuis' philosophy matters and that its exclusion from the canon of modern philosophy has been unjust. This is not just because of its reception history - its influence on later German thinkers, such as Goethe, Hamann, Hegel, Herder, Holderlin, Jean Paul, Kant, Jacobi, Novalis, Schelling, the Schlegels, Schleiermacher, Wieland - but is primarily because Hemsterhuis' philosophy contains a rich assemblage of ideas and philosophical practices. Whistler looks specifically at Hemsterhuis' reflections on philosophical style and the strategies he employs to communicate ideas in his late dialogues. Taking seriously Hemsterhuis' newly-published complete correspondence as a significant philosophical text, he contends that Hemsterhuis deserves to be placed alongside Shaftesbury, Hamann, Friedrich Schlegel, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche as one of the preeminent philosophical stylists of modernity.

The first ever English translation of Fran ois Hemsterhuis' philosophically ambitious and illuminating fragments, notes and correspondenceTranslates Hemsterhuis' fragmentary notes, treatises and letters in English for the first time, supplementing and informing the texts published in volumes 1 and 2 of the seriesIntroduces the first translation into any language that is based on a critical and complete edition of Hemsterhuis' correspondence and unedited worksForms a scholarly edition with full apparatus and commentaries that will elucidate the meaning of Hemsterhuis' textsIncludes introductory essays that cover the full range of subjects at stake in the texts by world-leading scholars of Dutch philosophy like Jonathan I. Israel and Henri A. KropA complete edition with full scholarly apparatus and commentaries, tracing Hemsterhuis' remarkable influence on the French Enlightenment, German Idealism and German Romanticism.The first ever English translation of Fran ois Hemsterhuis' philosophically ambitious and illuminating fragments, notes and correspondence, making accessible to Anglophone readers some of the most significant texts, for a genuine understanding of his philosophy.This final volume in The Edinburgh Edition of the Complete Philosophical Works of Fran ois Hemsterhuis includes the Letter on Atheism, the Letter on Fatalism and the Letter on Optics all penned as part of his remarkable correspondence with Amalie Gallitzin as well as the unpublished dialogue, Alexis II. Also included is Hemsterhuis' philosophical responses to Plato, Spinoza and Diderot, to contemporary political events in the Dutch Republic and to the French Revolution.

From the shadow of the Kantian critique it to the Oxford debates over Darwinism that shook the discipline to the core, and from the death of God to the rise of new Evangelical movements, 19th-century theology was fundamentally reshaped by both internal struggles and external developments.This critical history charts this reshaping by focusing on the emerging theological themes of the period that cross authors, disciplines and nations. A team of internationally leading scholars map lines of thought from Romanticism through Hegelianism and positivism, exploring the richness of theology's interactions with anthropology, art, industry, literature, philosophy, science and society.

Moral Powers, Fragile Beliefs suggests new ways of thinking about moral philosophy in its under-explored but potentially very fruitful encounter with philosophy of religion. The contributors to this volume undertake this project through a variety of novel approaches, via literature, psychoanalysis, history of philosophy, continental and feminist thought, as well as by means of analytic philosophy. The volume will include essays by both highly regarded academics who have already made significant contributions in the fields of moral and/or religious philosophy - and a select number of young, up-and-coming researchers, who will add fresh voices to the debate.

Over three decades, Gillian Howie wrote at the forefront of philosophy and critical theory, before her untimely death in 2013. This interdisciplinary collection uses her writings to explore the productive, yet often resistant, interrelationship between feminism and critical theory, examining the potential of Howie’s particular form of materialism. The contributors also bring to this debate a serious engagement with Howie’s late turn towards philosophies of mortality, therapy and ‘living with dying’. The volume considers how differently embodied subjects are positioned within public institutions, discourses and spaces, and the role of philosophy, art, film, photography, and literature, in facing situations such as sexual oppression and life-limiting illness.

From the shadow of the Kantian critique it to the Oxford debates over Darwinism that shook the discipline to the core, and from the death of God to the rise of new Evangelical movements, 19th-century theology was fundamentally reshaped by both internal struggles and external developments.This critical history charts this reshaping by focusing on the emerging theological themes of the period that cross authors, disciplines and nations. A team of internationally leading scholars map lines of thought from Romanticism through Hegelianism and positivism, exploring the richness of theology’s interactions with anthropology, art, industry, literature, philosophy, science and society.

During the first decade of the 19th century, F. W. J. Schelling was involved in 3 distinct controversies with one of his most perceptive and provocative critics, A. K. A. Eschenmayer. The first of these controversies took place in 1801 and focused on the philosophy of nature. Now, Berger and Whistler provide a ground-breaking account of this moment in the history of philosophy. They argue that key Schellingian concepts, such as identity, potency and abstraction, were first forged in his early debate with Eschenmayer. Through a series of translations and commentaries, they show that the 1801 controversy is an essential resource for understanding Schelling’s thought, the philosophy of nature and the origins of absolute idealism.

During the first decade of the nineteenth century, F. W. J. Schelling was involved in three distinct controversies with one of his most perceptive and provocative critics, A. C. A. Eschenmayer. The first of these controversies took place in 1801 and focused on the philosophy of nature.Berger and Whistler provide a ground-breaking account of this moment in the history of philosophy. They argue that key Schellingian concepts, such as identity, potency and abstraction, were first forged in his early debate with Eschenmayer. Through a series of translations and commentaries, they show that the 1801 controversy is an essential resource for understanding Schelling's thought, the philosophy of nature and the origins of absolute idealism.Additionally, Berger and Whistler demonstrate how the Schelling-Eschenmayer controversy raises important issues for the philosophy of nature today, including questions about the relation between identity and difference and the possibility of explaining sensible qualities in terms of quantity. This ultimately leads to the formulation of the most basic methodological question for the philosophy of nature: must this philosophy be based upon a prior consideration of consciousness as Eschenmayer insists or might it simply begin with nature itself? By arguing for the latter position, Schelling challenges us to entertain the possibility that the philosophy of nature is first philosophy.

The first ever English translation of Francois Hemsterhuis' early series of philosophical letters published during the 1760s and 1770s. In this edition, the Letter on an Antique Gemstone, Letter on Sculpture, Letter on Desires and Letter on Man and his Relations are published chronologically to gradually reveal Hemsterhuis' complete systematic vision. They are supplemented with three introductions: the first by Peter Sonderen pinpoints the significance of Hemsterhuis' remarkably influential aesthetics; the second by Jacob van Sluis provides the context to his comprehensive Letter on Man and his Relations; and the third by Gabriel Trop focuses on the importance of these writings in the history of ideas, especially Herder's translation and 'Postscript' to the Letter on Desires, Diderot's commentary on the Letter on Man and his Relations and Goethe's incorporation of Hemsterhuis' definition of beauty into his aesthetic reflections.

The first English translation of Francois Hemsterhuis' widely influential late dialogues, which came to be entwined in contemporary philosophical debates in GermanyThe four published dialogues offer diverse treatments of non-materialist philosophy. Sophylus is concerned with providing the basic epistemological structures that Hemsterhuis believes are compatible with common sense, Socratic inquiry and Newtonian science. Aristeaus is a sustained series of reflections on arguments for the existence of God, concepts of order and chaos in the universe. Simon is closely modelled on Plato's Symposium in style, structure and content and provides the clearest statement of Hemsterhuis' late ethics and aesthetics. Finally, Alexis the favourite work of many of the German Romantics uses contemporary discussions of astronomy and optics to formulate a mythic ode to the role of enthusiasm and feeling in the constitution of wisdom. Two editorial introductions supplement these translations the first by Daniel Whistler considers Hemsterhuis' relationship with Amelia Gallitzin and how that influenced what he came to call 'our philosophy' and the second by Laure Cahen-Maurel examines the role played by Jacobi and others in the transmission of these texts and their influence on Holderlin's Hyperion and Novalis' Hemsterhuis-Studies in particular.

This is a book about what the historian of philosophy does when reading. It is a book, therefore, that attempts to catalogue the various types of thinking produced in and through the act of reading a philosophical tex). Since Descartes, the philosopher has been persistently imagined as someone who thinks rather than reads, as someone who throws away the books handed down by tradition in order to properly begin meditating. And this binary has determined the image of the historian of philosophy too: the very practice of rational reconstruction informing so much contemporary history of philosophy is one which attempts to ‘draw the curtains of words’ to access what Danto called the ‘pure units of philosophy’ lying behind the text. Beginning from a series of problems set by Martial Gueroult, this book contests both the mutually exclusive binary of thinking and reading and the image of the historian of philosophy it gives rise to. And it does so by giving an account of history of philosophy as a readerly

Interrogating Modernity returns to Hans Blumenberg's epochal The Legitimacy of the Modern Age as a springboard to interrogate questions of modernity, secularisation, technology and political legitimacy in the fields of political theology, history of ideas, political theory, art theory, history of philosophy, theology and sociology. That is, the twelve essays in this volume return to Blumenberg's work to think once more about how and why we should value the modern. Written by a group of leading international and interdisciplinary researchers, this series of responses to the question of the modern put Blumenberg into dialogue with other twentieth, and twenty-first century theorists, such as Arendt, Bloch, Derrida, Husserl, Jonas, Latour, Voegelin, Weber and many more. The result is a repositioning of his work at the heart of contemporary attempts to make sense of who we are and how we’ve got here.

Interrogating Modernity returns to Hans Blumenberg's epochal The Legitimacy of the Modern Age as a springboard to interrogate questions of modernity, secularisation, technology and political legitimacy in the fields of political theology, history of ideas, political theory, art theory, history of philosophy, theology and sociology. That is, the twelve essays in this volume return to Blumenberg's work to think once more about how and why we should value the modern. Written by a group of leading international and interdisciplinary researchers, this series of responses to the question of the modern put Blumenberg into dialogue with other twentieth, and twenty-first century theorists, such as Arendt, Bloch, Derrida, Husserl, Jonas, Latour, Voegelin, Weber and many more. The result is a repositioning of his work at the heart of contemporary attempts to make sense of who we are and how we’ve got here.

The Palgrave Handbook of German Idealism and Poststructuralism offers a wide-ranging dialogue between theory and German Idealism, joining up the various lines of influence connecting German Idealist and Romantic philosophies in all their variety to post-'68 European philosophies, from Derrida and Deleuze to Žižek and Malabou. Key features:Provides in-depth reflections on the various conversations between German Idealism and theory, including an expanded canon of Idealist philosophers and a wide range of contemporary anti-foundationalist thinkers.Includes marginalized voices and concepts that reflect both contemporary concerns as well as the sheer abundance of readings of German Idealism undertaken by European theorists over the last fifty years. Expands the existing scholarship by focusing on new, future directions emerging out of the idealism-theory relationship.The Palgrave Handbook of German Idealism and Poststructuralism is essential reading for researchers and students of all levels — from senior scholars to advanced undergraduates — working on the legacy of German Idealist philosophers within philosophy departments, as well as all those interested in theory from across the humanities.