Hermann Cohen's Critical Idealism

Hermann Cohen (1842-1918) is an original systematic thinker and representative of the Marburg School of Critical Idealism. The Marburg School was a leading school in German academic philosophy and in German Jewish philosophy for a period of over thirty years preceding the First World War. Initially standing at the front of the 'Return to Kant' movement, Cohen subsequently went beyond Kant in developing a system of critical idealism in which he offered a critique of and alternative to absolute idealism, positivism, and materialism. A critical idealist in heart and soul, Cohen is also recognized as a man who embodied German Jewish culture.

Publications on Cohen in the English language are small in number and this volume aims to fill the gap. It offers an analysis of Cohen's System of Philosophy - the three-volume classic on logic, ethics, and aesthetics - and his writings on Judaism and religion. The book highlights Cohen's contributions in these fields, including his discussions with Maimonides, Leibniz, Kant, and Hegel. It demonstrates the congeniality of Cohen's critical idealism as expounded in the System and his writings on Judaism, and offers an overview of contemporary Cohen research.

Contenu
Cohen and the Marburg School in Context.- Logik.- Cohen's Ursprungsdenken.- Identity and Correlation in Hermann Cohen'S System of Philosophy.- Beweis and Aufweis: Transcendental a priori and metaphysical a priori in Cohen's neo-Kantianism.- Notes on Future and History in Hermann Cohen's Anti-Eschatological Messianism.- Hanging Over the Abyss.- Ethik.- Jurisprudence is the Organon of Ethics.- Hermann Cohen's Theory of Virtue.- Hermann Cohen on State and Nation.- Ästhetik.- The Portrait in Hermann Cohen's Aesthetics.- The Statute of Music in Hermann Cohen's Ästhetik.- Critical Idealism and the Concept of Culture: Philosophy of culture in Hermann Cohen and Ernst Cassirer.- Religion.- Maimonidean Elements in Hermann Cohen's Philosophy of Religion.- Critical Idealism in Hermann Cohen's Writings on Judaism.- Cohen on Atonement, Purification and Repentance.- Suffering and Non-Eschatological Messianism in Hermann Cohen.