Publisher Description

Michelle Kosch's book traces a complex of issues surrounding moral agency - how is moral responsibility consistent with the possibility of theoretical explanation? is moral agency essentially rational agency? can autonomy be the foundation of ethics? - from Kant through Schelling to Kierkegaard. There are two complementary projects here. The first is to clarify the contours of German idealism as a philosophical movement by examining the motivations not only of itsbeginning, but also of its end. In tracing the motivations for the transition to mid-19th century post-idealism to Schelling's middle and late periods and, ultimately, back to a problem originallypresented in Kant, it shows the causes of the demise of that movement to be the same as the causes of its rise. In the process it presents the most detailed discussion to date of the moral psychology and moral epistemology of Schelling's work after 1809.The second project - which is simply the first viewed from a different angle - is to trace the sources of Kierkegaard's theory of agency and his criticism of philosophical ethics to this same complex of issues in Kant andpost-Kantian idealism. In the process, Kosch argues that Schelling's influence on Kierkegaard was greater than has been thought, and builds a new understanding of Kierkegaard's project in hispseudonymous works on the basis of this revised picture of their historical background. It is one that uncovers much of interest and relevance to contemporary debates.

Back Cover

It's 1851, and a flood of settlers is pouring westward through Missouri to the new state of California. Maribel Harker is a willful young woman determined to experience the Wild West; Dan Cutter is the frontiersman into whose care she is entrusted. Maribel's campaign to seduce Dan during the two thousand-mile trek is interrupted by her dalliance with a captain of the US cavalry who appreciates her skill with her whip and lariat, and seems doomed when she is taken captive by the passionate son of a native chief. By the best-selling author of Black Orchid and A Bouquet of Black Orchids.

Author Biography

Michelle Kosch is Professor of Philosophy at the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University.

Table of Contents

Introduction1: Kant's account of freedom2: Kant on autonomy and moral evil3: Idealism and autonomy in Schelling's early systems4: Freedom against reason: Schelling's Freiheitsschrift and later work5: 'Despair' in the pseudonymous works, and Kierkegaard's double incompatibilism6: Religiousness B and agencyConclusion

Promotional

Michelle Kosch examines the conceptions of free will and the foundations of ethics in the work of Kant, Schelling, and Kierkegaard

Long Description

Michelle Kosch's book traces a complex of issues surrounding moral agency - how is moral responsibility consistent with the possibility of theoretical explanation? is moral agency essentially rational agency? can autonomy be the foundation of ethics? - from Kant through Schelling to Kierkegaard. There are two complementary projects here. The first is to clarify the contours of German idealism as a philosophical movement by examining the motivations not only of its
beginning, but also of its end. In tracing the motivations for the transition to mid-19th century post-idealism to Schelling's middle and late periods and, ultimately, back to a problem originally
presented in Kant, it shows the causes of the demise of that movement to be the same as the causes of its rise. In the process it presents the most detailed discussion to date of the moral psychology and moral epistemology of Schelling's work after 1809.The second project - which is simply the first viewed from a different angle - is to trace the sources of Kierkegaard's theory of agency and his criticism of philosophical ethics to this same complex of issues in Kant and
post-Kantian idealism. In the process, Kosch argues that Schelling's influence on Kierkegaard was greater than has been thought, and builds a new understanding of Kierkegaard's project in his
pseudonymous works on the basis of this revised picture of their historical background. It is one that uncovers much of interest and relevance to contemporary debates.

Review Quote

Review from previous edition: "Marks the emergence of an already strong scholar with the potential to become a major voice in Anglophone understanding of 19th century European thought." --Alistair Welchman, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Feature

A compelling new picture of connections between three giants of European philosophy
Includes the first substantial discussion in English of Schelling's later work
Structured to allow specialists to consult separate sections as well as the whole

Details