Inlate modern philosophy,neo-Kantianism (German:Neukantianismus) was a revival of the18th-century philosophy ofImmanuel Kant. The neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of thething-in-itself and hismoral philosophy.
The "back to Kant" movement began in the 1860s, as a reaction to theGerman materialist controversy in the 1850s.[1]
In addition to the work ofHermann von Helmholtz andEduard Zeller, early fruits of the movement wereKuno Fischer's works on Kant andFriedrich Albert Lange'sHistory of Materialism (Geschichte des Materialismus, 1873–75), the latter of which argued thattranscendental idealism superseded the historic struggle between materialidealism andmechanistic materialism. Fischer was earlier involved in a dispute with theAristotelianidealistFriedrich Adolf Trendelenburg concerning the interpretation of the results of theTranscendental Aesthetic, a dispute that promptedHermann Cohen's 1871 seminal workKants Theorie der Erfahrung (Kant's Theory of Experience), a book often regarded as the foundation of 20th-century neo-Kantianism. It is in reference to theFischer–Trendelenburg debate and Cohen's work thatHans Vaihinger started his massive commentary on theCritique of Pure Reason.
The several schools of thought, in spite of seeing themselves as united by a common movement, often saw massive fundamental disagreements.[2]
Hermann Cohen became the leader of theMarburg School (centered in thetown of the same name), the other prominent representatives of which werePaul Natorp andErnst Cassirer.
Another important group, theSouthwest (German)School (also known as theHeidelberg School orBaden School, centered inHeidelberg,Baden inSouthwest Germany) includedWilhelm Windelband,Heinrich Rickert andErnst Troeltsch. The Marburg School emphasizedepistemology andphilosophical logic, whereas the Southwest school emphasized issues ofculture andvalue theory (notably thefact–value distinction).
A third group, mainly represented byLeonard Nelson, established theneo-Friesian School (named afterpost-Kantian philosopherJakob Friedrich Fries) which emphasizedphilosophy of science.[3]
The neo-Kantian schools tended to emphasize scientific readings of Kant, often downplaying the role of intuition in favour of concepts. However, the ethical aspects of neo-Kantian thought often drew them within the orbit ofsocialism, and they had an important influence onAustromarxism and the revisionism ofEduard Bernstein. Lange and Cohen in particular were keen on this connection between Kantian thought and socialism.[4] Another important aspect of the neo-Kantian movement was its attempt to promote a revised notion ofJudaism, particularly in Cohen's seminal work, one of the few works of the movement available in English translation.
The neo-Kantian school was of importance in devising a division of philosophy that has had durable influence well beyond Germany. It made early use of terms such asepistemology and upheld its prominence overontology. Natorp had a decisive influence on the history ofphenomenology and is often credited with leadingEdmund Husserl to adopt the vocabulary oftranscendental idealism.Emil Lask was influenced by Edmund Husserl's work,[5] and himself exerted a remarkable influence on the youngMartin Heidegger. The debate between Cassirer and Heidegger over the interpretation of Kant led the latter to formulate reasons for viewing Kant as a forerunner ofphenomenology; this view was disputed in important respects byEugen Fink. An abiding achievement of the neo-Kantians was the founding of the journalKant-Studien, which still survives today.
By 1933 (after the rise ofNazism), the various neo-Kantian circles in Germany had dispersed.[6]
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The Neo-Kantian movement had a significant impact on the development of 20th-century philosophy, particularly in the areas ofepistemology,metaphysics, andethics. It continues to be an important influence oncontemporary philosophy, particularly in the fields ofsocial andpolitical philosophy.
Towards the end of 1898G. E. Moore andBertrand Russell rebelled against Kant andHegel who were the leading philosophers within British and American universities at that time.[7] Neo-Kantianism was banned out of them for the following fifty years and continued to survive solely in the Continental Philosophy.[8] In the 1960sStrawson publishedThe Bounds of Sense, which relaunched Neo-Kantianism while proposing to deny its doctrine oftranscendental idealism.[8]John Rawls'A Theory of Justice (1971) restored Kantianpractical philosophy of thecategorical imperative.[8]
In theanalytic tradition, the revival of interest in the work of Kant that has been underway sincePeter Strawson's workThe Bounds of Sense (1966) can also be viewed as effectively neo-Kantian, not least due to its continuing emphasis on epistemology at the expense of ontology. Around the same time as Strawson,Wilfrid Sellars also renewed interest in Kant's philosophy. His project of introducing a Kantian turn in contemporary analytic philosophy has been taken up by his studentRobert Brandom. Brandom's work has transformed Sellars' project to introducing a Hegelian phase in analytic philosophy.[15] In the 1980s, interest in neo-Kantianism has revived in the wake of the work ofGillian Rose, who is a critic of this movement's influence on modern philosophy, and because of its influence on the work ofMax Weber. The Kantian concern for the limits of perception strongly influenced theantipositivist sociological movement in late 19th-century Germany, particularly in the work ofGeorg Simmel (Simmel's question 'What is society?' is a direct allusion to Kant's own: 'What is nature'?).[16] The current work ofMichael Friedman is explicitly neo-Kantian.
Continental philosophers drawing on the Kantian understandings of the transcendental includeJean-François Lyotard andJean-Luc Nancy.
Classical conservative thinkerRoger Scruton has been greatly influenced by Kantian ethics and aesthetics.
Quotations related toNeo-Kantianism at Wikiquote
