Neokantian Studies: Description of Projects

Participant: Prof. dr. D. Pätzold (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Netherlands)

Project: The 'Logos' of Symbolic Forms - Ernst Cassirer’s Concept of Philosophy

Summary of subject and object of research:
Research on Cassirer still lacks clearness on the role philosophy plays in his Philosophie der symbolischen Formen. On the one hand it isn’t a symbolic form on its own, like myth, religion, art, science, technology, etc. But on the other hand it cannot merely be taken as a neutral meta-theory, because according to Cassirer every mental activity is a way of symbolizing.
In this study we deal with this problem from two points of view. First I try to reconstruct Cassirer’s concept of philosophy by proposing a systematic analysis of his various remarks on the 'logic' of symbolizing and the status of symbolic forms. Secondly his concept of philosophy, which he himself discribes as 'symbolic idealism', will be placed in the context of other philosophical systems with similar design and applications. Here we are concerned with Cassirer’s reception of Leibniz, Kant and Hegel to gain a better insight into his own image of (symbolic) idealism.

Selected bibliography:

Der systematische Ort von 'Natur' in Hegels Philosophie, in: H.F. Fulda, H.H. Holz, D. Pätzold, Perspektiven auf Hegel, Dinter Verlag, Köln 1991, 61-78, 87-93.
Hegels Transformation des Substanzbegriffs in der Wissenschaft der Logik, in: D. Pätzold, A. Vanderjagt (eds.), Hegels Transformation der Metaphysik, Dinter Verlag, Köln 1991, 98-108.
Leibniz’ Konzept des phaenomenon bene fundatum, in: Dialektik (1993/1), Meiner Verlag, Hamburg 1993, 69-82.
Philosophie des Geistes. Zum Status produktiver Einbildungskraft, in: H. J. Sandkühler (ed.), Konstruktion und Realität, Lang Verlag, Frankfurt/M. 1994, 73-86.
Spinoza ' Aufklärung ' Idealismus. Die Substanz der Moderne, Lang Verlag, Frankfurt/M. 1995.
Cassirers leibnizianische Begriffslehre als Grundlage seiner kulturhistorischen Symboltheorie, in: Dialektik (1995/1), Meiner Verlag, Hamburg 1995, 97-108.
Cassirers Symbol-Formen: konstitutives oder regulatives Apriori der Repräsentation?, in: M. Plümacher, V. Schürmann (eds.), Einheit des Geistes. Probleme ihrer Grundlegung in der Philosophie Ernst Cassirers, Lang Verlag, Frankfurt/M. 1996, 187-203.
Cassirer und das Problem der morphé, in: H.J. Sandkühler (ed.), Philosophie und Wissenschaften. Formen und Prozesse ihrer Interaktion, Lang Verlag, Frankfurt/M. 1997, 91-99.
Ernst Cassirers begrip van de techniek, In: Filosofie jrg. 8, nr. 5, 1998, 44a-47c.
Bemerkungen zum Sinn-Begriff in Cassirers Philosophie, in: Chr. Krijnen, E.W. Orth (eds.), Sinn, Geltung, Wert. Neukantianische Motive in der modernen Kulturphilosophie, Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1998, 157-168.

Participant: Prof. dr. S. Griffioen (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Project: Worldview and Universality. The Neo-Kantian concept of Worldview as a Challenge for Moral Philosophy

Summary of subject and object of research:
Subject: The relation between the fundamental recognition of a plurality of worldviews on the one hand and the striving for unity in the philosophy of culture and the theory of values on the other.
Object: To contribute to a clarification of three themes within the thought of (especially) Rickert and Windelband: transhistorical values and their concretisation (i); worldview as a unifying factor in culture (ii); Rickerts Heterologie as a method to systematize a plurality of worldviews (iii).

Selected bibliography:

De Roos en het Kruis. De waardering van de eindigheid in het latere denken van Hegel, Assen 1976.
The System of Needs as a System, Hegel-Jahrbuch 1986, Band 1, Bochum 1988, 137-146.
Rickert, Windelband, Hegel und das Weltanschauungsbedürfnis, in: Sinn, Geltung, Wert. Neukantianische Motive in der modernen Kulturphilosophie, Ch. Krijnen/E.-W. Orth (Hrsg.), Würzburg 1998, 57-72.
Perspectives, Worldviews, Structures, in: Geography and Worldview, Henk Aay & Sander Griffioen (eds.) 1998, 125-143.
Nog een geschiedfilosofie, in: Alg. Ned. Tijdschrift voor Wijsb. 91 (jan. 1999), 33-44.
Hegel: omstreden grootheid, in: Een tiental westerse filosofen, Uitg. Nieuwe Zijds, Amsterdam 2000, 129-148.
De horizont is onuitwisbaar, in: feestbundel voor Koen Boey, Leuven 2000.
The Rose is here, here you must dance! A Hegel-Renaissance in Neo-Kantianism, to appear in: Hegel Studien (paper Int. Hegelcongres, Utrecht, aug. 1998).
Hegel's Interpretation of the Incarnation placed against the backdrop of Kant's Critique of Judgment, jaarvergadering Centrum voor Duits idealisme, jan. 2000 (in preparation)
Spirit or Culture? The Reception of Hegel‘s Phänomenologie in Neo-Kantianism, paper Int. Hegelconges, Zagreb aug. 2000 (in preparation)

Participant: Prof. dr. R. Munk (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Project: Immanuel Kant and Hermann Cohen on the place of Judaism in the religion of reason

Summary of subject and object of research:
The present research program is a discussion of Cohen’s critique of Kant’s religion of reason and the place of Judaism therein. Cohen articulated his critique ad rem throughout his System of philosophy and writings on religion and on Judaism. The output of our discussion will be a number of articles on Kant’s concept of religion; Cohen’s concept of religion; and Cohen’s critique of Kant regarding the topic under discussion.

Selected bibliography:

Alterity in Hermann Cohen (2000, in preparation).
Who is the Other? Alterity in Hermann Cohen's Religion der Vernunft, to appear in: Proceedings of the Hermann Cohen Conference, Zürich 1998.
Alterity in Hermann Cohen's Critical Idealism, to appear in: The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy.
A Hypothesis, and more than a Hypothesis. Hermann Cohen on the Idea of God, erscheint in: Anniversary Volume for Stéphane Mosès
Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Hermann Cohen on Thought and Transcendence, Da ‘at. A Journal of Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah, No. 42 (Winter 1998/99), 97-124 (in Hebrew).
Alterität im Denken Hermann Cohens, in: Sinn, Geltung, Wert. Neukantianische Motive in der modernen Kulturphilosophie, hrsg. von Christian Krijnen und Ernst Wolfgang Orth, Würzburg, 1998, 109-120.
The Self and the Other in Cohen's Ethics and Works on Religion, in: Hermann Cohen's Philosophy of Religion. International Conference in Jerusalem 1996, ed. by Stéphane Mosès, et al. Philosophische Texte und Studien, Bd. 44, Hildesheim etc. 1997, 161-181.
God Reveals Himself in Reason. On Hermann Cohen's Analogy Between Logic and Religion, Archivio di Filosofia 61 (1993) 269-287.
God openbaart zich in de rede. Logica en religie bij Hermann Cohen, in: Joodse filosofie tussen rede en traditie, Kampen 1993, 112-129.
Joseph B. Soloveitchik on Hermann Cohen's Logik der reinen Erkenntnis, in: Torah and Wisdom. Studies in Jewish Philosophy, Kabbalah, and Halacha. Essays in Honor of Arthur Hyman, ed. by Ruth Link-Salinger, New York 1992, 147-173.
Hermann Cohen's Critical Idealism. [A collection of eightteen essays by an international group of Cohen-scholars that has its center at the Hermann Cohen Archives in Zürich], ed. R. Munk (2000, in preparation).

Participant: Drs. Ch. Krijnen (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands):

Project 1996-2000: The Neokantian question of meaning under paradigmatic analyses of Heinrich Rickert.

Summary of subject and object of research:
In the light of the often discussed crisis of metaphysics and the modern subject the question is posed: To what extent can the Kant-inspired Neokantian philosophy of values be understood as a (successful) attempt to overcome the gap between (meaningless) facticity and meaning under post-metaphysical conditions?
More in detail, we analyse the philosophical system of Heinrich Rickert and evaluate the importance of this analysis against the background of fundamental shifts in orientation within contemporary philosophy.

Project 2001-2004 (to apply for scholarship): Open system. Studies on the idea of a 'system' in the Southwest German School of Neokantianism:

Summary of subject and object of research:
In the 20th century the concept of a philosophical system has been repudiated over and over; this repudiation is tightly linked to Hegel’s idea of a philosophical system. Against this background the question is posed: To what extent does the Southwest German School of Neokantianism succeed in reducing Hegel’s system 'critically', so that system criticisms can be absorbed without giving up the necessity of an all-embracing and principle-guided order?
More in detail we start with Heinrich Rickert’s concept of an »open system« and analyse its Hegel-critical points; in addition, the reception of Rickert’s concept of a system within the Southwest German School of Neokantianism is analysed; finally the value of these analyses for contemporary system criticisms and system conceptions is evaluated.

Selected bibliography:

Philosophieren im Schatten des Nihilismus. Eine Hinführung zum neukantianischen Beitrag, in: Ch. Krijnen/E.-W. Orth (Hrsg.), Sinn, Geltung, Wert. Neukantianische Motive in der modernen Kulturphilosophie, Würzburg 1998, 11-34.
Das philosophische Problem ethischer Grundlagen und das Grundproblem der Evolutionären Ethik, in: Zeitschrift für philosophische Forschung, 53 (1999), 77-100.
Begründung als Aufgabe, in: M. Düwell (Hrsg.), Moralbegründung und angewandte Ethik. Die Beiträge des dritten Treffens der Ethikzentren in Nijmegen und Tübingen, Tübingen o. J. (1999), 21-29.
[Rez.] W. Flach, Grundzüge der Ideenlehre. Die Themen der Selbstgestaltung des Menschen und seiner Welt, der Kultur, in: Philosophischer Literaturanzeiger, 52 (1999), 166-172.
[Rez.] Heinrich Rickert: Philosophische Aufsätze, hrsg. v. R. A. Bast, in: Philosophischer Literaturanzeiger 52 (1999), 330-333
Der 'Formalismus' in der materialen Wertethik Max Schelers, to appear in: Person und Wert, Ch. Bermes et al (ed.) (ca. 15 pp.).
Fehlt die konkrete Subjektivität im Neukantianismus? Zur systematischen Bedeutung von H. Rickerts 'Zwei Wege der Erkenntnistheorie', to appear in: Zeitschrift für philosophische Forschung (ca. 22 pp.).
Nachmetaphysischer Sinn. Eine problemgeschichtliche und systematische Studie zu den Prinzipien der Wertphilosophie Heinrich Rickerts (in preparation, ca. 550 pp.).
Krijnen, Ch./Orth, E.-W. [Hrsg.], Sinn, Geltung, Wert. Neukantianische Motive in der modernen Kulturphilosophie, Würzburg 1998.
Subjektive und objektive Logik bei Husserl. Das Problem ihres Begründungsverhältnisses (in preparation: congres-paper 'Husserl heute' Praag, CS, 23.-25.03.2000)

Participant: Drs. A. K. Jagersma (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Netherlands):

Project 1997-2001: Objectivity as a task - an enquiry into the transformation by Cassirer of Kantian transcendental philosophy by means of reflection on four fundamental philosophical notions

Summary of subject and object of research:
Interest in Ernst Cassirer’s 'Philosophy of Symbolic Forms' is increasing. His thinking in terms of pluralistic constitution of meaning aims at combining a transcendental-foundationalistic tendency with optimal openness in human experience of meaning. Reality cannot according to Cassirer be characterised monolithically in terms of being 'an sich', but shows itself in a diversity of forms to human consciousness, due to the capacity of reason to constitute meaning in a pluralistic way.
In my research-project I will try to gain insight in Cassirers notion of 'symbolic form' by showing that this notion should be understood as an interweaving of three fundamental philosophical notions: the notion of 'relation', the notion of 'function' and the notion of 'synthesis' (in combination with its opposite, 'analysis'). Generally speaking then 'symbolic forms' can be understood as functions of synthesis, which constitute meaning in the chaos of sense-impressions by relating these impressions according to certain types of unity.

Selected bibliography:

Über 'Sinn' und 'Bedeutung' in der Philosophie Ernst Cassirers. In: Sinn, Geltung, Wert. Neukantianische Motive in der modernen Kulturphilosophie, Ch. Krijnen/E.-W. Orth (Hrsg.), Würzburg 1998, 169-183.

Participant: Drs. C. Zijlstra (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Netherlands)

Project 2000-2004: Changes in the reception of Descartes from Cousin (1792-1867) to Cohen (1842-1918): De-politicization and de-theologization (The revaluation of Descartes as a cultural-historical and as a epistemological phenomenon):

Summary of subject and object of research:
This project aims to discuss the revaluation of Descartes in the nineteenth century from both the cultural-historical and the epistemological point of view. The initiators of the "neo-Cartesian movement", which starts around 1820, are G.W.F. Hegel and V. Cousin. After a short retrospect of the eighteenth-century reception of Descartes (D’Alembert and Kant), Cousin is studied as an early representative of the above-mentioned movement. In the works of Cousin we still see a conservative (dogmatically Christian, Cartesian) concept of God and a concrete conservative (monarchist) opinion of the state. A later representative of this movement is Hermann Cohen, the leading figure of the Marburger Schule. His opinion of the state and concept of God is abstractly developed in to his philosophic system.

Selected bibliography:

De idee van God, in: Metamorphose, Acten van de 20e Nederlands-Vlaamse Filosofiedag 24 oktober 1998, Faculteit der Wijsbegeerte Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, J.F.M. Hoenen (red.), 315-338

Participant: Drs. E. Kreiter (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Project 2000-2004 (applied for scholarship): Wilhelm Windelband and the heritage of Idealism. A study in Southwest-German neokantianism:

Summary of subject and object of research:
Wilhelm Windelband (1848 - 1915) is mainly recognized as a historian of philosophy. His systematic-philosophic thought has as yet only scarcely been studied scholarly. This stands in particular for the relation between the historian and the systematic philosopher.
The background against which Windelband is placed is not the Southwest-German school of neokantianism as such, but more specifically the relation of this school to the German Idealism of Fichte and Hegel. Contrary to the current view that neokantianism constituted a rupture with Idealism, is the hypothesis of this research project that there is in fact a continuity, and that this continuity is crucial to an understanding of Windelbands systematic philosophy.
The main question of this research project is thus: What is the meaning of Windelbands systematic philosophy and how can it be understood in relation to German Idealism? The goal of this project is to contribute to a better understanding of the historical and actual meaning and importance of neokantianism.

Last modified:

24 June 2022 11.05 p.m.