German Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction VERY SHORT INTRODUCTIONS are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have been published in more than 25 languages worldwide. The series began in 1995, and now represents a wide variety of topics in history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. The VSI Library now contains over 200 volumes—a Very Short Introduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy to conceptual art and cosmology—and will continue to grow to a library of around 300 titles. Very Short Introductions available now: ADVERTISING Winston Fletcher BRITISH POLITICS Anthony Wright AFRICAN HISTORY BUDDHA Michael Carrithers John Parker and Richard Rathbone BUDDHISM Damien Keown AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES BUDDHIST ETHICS Damien Keown AND ELECTIONS L. Sandy Maisel CAPITALISM James Fulcher THE AMERICAN CATHOLICISM Gerald O’Collins PRESIDENCY Charles O. Jones THE CELTS Barry Cunliffe ANARCHISM Colin Ward CHAOS Leonard Smith ANCIENT EGYPT Ian Shaw CHOICE THEORY Michael Allingham ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Julia Annas CHRISTIAN ART Beth Williamson ANCIENT WARFARE CHRISTIANITY Linda Woodhead Harry Sidebottom CITIZENSHIP Richard Bellamy ANGLICANISM Mark Chapman CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE John Blair Helen Morales ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia CLASSICS ANTISEMITISM Steven Beller Mary Beard and John Henderson THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS CLAUSEWITZ Michael Howard Paul Foster THE COLD WAR Robert McMahon ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn COMMUNISM Leslie Holmes ARCHITECTURE Andrew Ballantyne CONSCIOUSNESS Susan Blackmore ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes CONTEMPORARY ART ART HISTORY Dana Arnold Julian Stallabrass ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY ATHEISM Julian Baggini Simon Critchley AUGUSTINE Henry Chadwick COSMOLOGY Peter Coles AUTISM Uta Frith THE CRUSADES Christopher Tyerman BARTHES Jonathan Culler CRYPTOGRAPHY BESTSELLERS John Sutherland Fred Piper and Sean Murphy THE BIBLE John Riches DADA AND SURREALISM BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY Eric H. Cline David Hopkins BIOGRAPHY Hermione Lee DARWIN Jonathan Howard THE BOOK OF MORMON THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS Timothy Lim Terryl Givens DEMOCRACY Bernard Crick THE BRAIN Michael O’Shea DESCARTES Tom Sorell DESERTS Nick Middleton GLOBAL WARMING Mark Maslin DESIGN John Heskett GLOBALIZATION Manfred Steger DINOSAURS David Norman THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND DOCUMENTARY FILM THE NEW DEAL Eric Rauchway Patricia Aufderheide HABERMAS James Gordon Finlayson DREAMING J. Allan Hobson HEGEL Peter Singer DRUGS Leslie Iversen HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood THE EARTH Martin Redfern HIEROGLYPHS Penelope Wilson ECONOMICS Partha Dasgupta HINDUISM Kim Knott EGYPTIAN MYTH Geraldine Pinch HISTORY John H. Arnold EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY BRITAIN Paul Langford Michael Hoskin THE ELEMENTS Philip Ball THE HISTORY OF LIFE EMOTION Dylan Evans Michael Benton EMPIRE Stephen Howe THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE ENGELS Terrell Carver William Bynum EPIDEMIOLOGY Roldolfo Saracci THE HISTORY OF TIME ETHICS Simon Blackburn Leofranc Holford-Strevens THE EUROPEAN UNION HIV/AIDS Alan Whiteside John Pinder and Simon Usherwood HOBBES Richard Tuck EVOLUTION HUMAN EVOLUTION Bernard Wood Brian and Deborah Charlesworth HUMAN RIGHTS Andrew Clapham EXISTENTIALISM Thomas Flynn HUME A. J. Ayer FASCISM Kevin Passmore IDEOLOGY Michael Freeden FASHION Rebecca Arnold INDIAN PHILOSOPHY Sue Hamilton FEMINISM Margaret Walters INFORMATION Luciano Floridi film music Kathryn Kalinak INNOVATION THE FIRST WORLD WAR Mark Dodgson and David Gann Michael Howard INTELLIGENCE Ian J. Deary forensic psychology INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION David Canter Khalid Koser FORENSIC SCIENCE Jim Fraser INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS FOSSILS Keith Thomson Paul Wilkinson FOUCAULT Gary Gutting ISLAM Malise Ruthven FREE SPEECH Nigel Warburton ISLAMIC HISTORY Adam Silverstein FREE WILL Thomas Pink JOURNALISM Ian Hargreaves FRENCH LITERATURE John D. Lyons JUDAISM Norman Solomon THE FRENCH REVOLUTION JUNG Anthony Stevens William Doyle KABBALAH Joseph Dan FREUD Anthony Storr KAFKA Ritchie Robertson FUNDAMENTALISM Malise Ruthven KANT Roger Scruton GALAXIES John Gribbin KIERKEGAARD Patrick Gardiner GALILEO Stillman Drake THE KORAN Michael Cook GAME THEORY Ken Binmore LAW Raymond Wacks GANDHI Bhikhu Parekh THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS GEOGRAPHY Peter Atkins John Matthews and David Herbert LINCOLN Allen C. Guelzo GEOPOLITICS Klaus Dodds LINGUISTICS Peter Matthews GERMAN LITERATURE Nicholas Boyle LITERARY THEORY Jonathan Culler GLOBAL CATASTROPHES Bill McGuire LOCKE John Dunn LOGIC Graham Priest PHOTOGRAPHY Steve Edwards MACHIAVELLI Quentin Skinner PLATO Julia Annas THE MARQUIS DE SADE John Phillips POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY David Miller MARX Peter Singer POLITICS Kenneth Minogue MATHEMATICS Timothy Gowers POSTCOLONIALISM Robert Young THE MEANING OF LIFE POSTMODERNISM Terry Eagleton Christopher Butler MEDICAL ETHICS Tony Hope POSTSTRUCTURALISM MEDIEVAL BRITAIN Catherine Belsey John Gillingham and Ralph A. Griffiths PREHISTORY Chris Gosden MEMORY Jonathan K. Foster PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY MODERN ART David Cottington Catherine Osborne MODERN CHINA Rana Mitter PRIVACY Raymond Wacks MODERN IRELAND Senia Pašeta PROGRESSIVISM Walter Nugent MODERN JAPAN PSYCHIATRY Tom Burns Christopher Goto-Jones PSYCHOLOGY MOLECULES Philip Ball Gillian Butler and Freda McManus MORMONISM PURITANISM Francis J. Bremer Richard Lyman Bushman THE QUAKERS Pink Dandelion MUSIC Nicholas Cook QUANTUM THEORY MYTH Robert A. Segal John Polkinghorne NATIONALISM Steven Grosby RACISM Ali Rattansi NELSON MANDELA Elleke Boehmer THE REAGAN REVOLUTION Gil Troy NEOLIBERALISM THE REFORMATION Peter Marshall Manfred Steger and Ravi Roy RELATIVITY Russell Stannard THE NEW TESTAMENT RELIGION IN AMERICA Timothy Beal Luke Timothy Johnson THE RENAISSANCE Jerry Brotton THE NEW TESTAMENT AS RENAISSANCE ART LITERATURE Kyle Keefer Geraldine A. Johnson NEWTON Robert Iliffe ROMAN BRITAIN Peter Salway NIETZSCHE Michael Tanner THE ROMAN EMPIRE NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN Christopher Kelly Christopher Harvie and ROUSSEAU Robert Wokler H. C. G. Matthew RUSSELL A. C. Grayling THE NORMAN CONQUEST RUSSIAN LITERATURE Catriona Kelly George Garnett THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION NORTHERN IRELAND S. A. Smith Marc Mulholland SCHIZOPHRENIA NOTHING Frank Close Chris Frith and Eve Johnstone NUCLEAR WEAPONS SCHOPENHAUER Joseph M. Siracusa Christopher Janaway THE OLD TESTAMENT SCIENCE AND RELIGION Michael D. Coogan Thomas Dixon PARTICLE PHYSICS Frank Close SCOTLAND Rab Houston PAUL E. P. Sanders SEXUALITY Véronique Mottier PHILOSOPHY Edward Craig SHAKESPEARE Germaine Greer PHILOSOPHY OF LAW SIKHISM Eleanor Nesbitt Raymond Wacks SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE ANTHROPOLOGY Samir Okasha John Monaghan and Peter Just SOCIALISM Michael Newman TRAGEDY Adrian Poole SOCIOLOGY Steve Bruce THE TUDORS John Guy SOCRATES C. C. W. Taylor TWENTIETH-CENTURY BRITAIN THE SOVIET UNION Stephen Lovell Kenneth O. Morgan THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR THE UNITED NATIONS Helen Graham Jussi M. Hanhimäki SPINOZA Roger Scruton THE VIKINGS Julian Richards STATISTICS David J. Hand WITCHCRAFT Malcolm Gaskill STUART BRITAIN John Morrill WITTGENSTEIN A. C. Grayling SUPERCONDUCTIVITY WORLD MUSIC Philip Bohlman Stephen Blundell THE WORLD TRADE TERRORISM Charles Townshend ORGANIZATION Amrita Narlikar THEOLOGY David F. Ford WRITING AND SCRIPT THOMAS AQUINAS Fergus Kerr Andrew Robinson Available soon: film music Kathryn Kalinak advertising Winston Fletcher forensic psychology modernism Christopher Butler David Canter leadership Keith Grint For more information visit our website www.oup.co.uk/general/vsi/ This page intentionally left blank Andrew Bowie German philosophy A Very Short Introduction 1 1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Andrew Bowie 2010 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Ashford Colour Press Ltd, Gosport, Hampshire ISBN 978-0-19-956925-0 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Contents List of illustrations xi Introduction: why German philosophy? 1 1 Kant and modernity 6 2 The linguistic turn 21 3 German Idealism 32 4 ‘Early Romantic’ philosophy 51 5 Marx 59 6 Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and the ‘death of God’ 70 7 Neo-Kantianism, analytical philosophy, and phenomenology 84 8 Heidegger 97 9 Critical Theory 110 References 126 Further reading 129 Index 135