Heinrich von Kleist und die Kantische Philosophie

Cassirer, Ernst, 1874-1945Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.3

Word count: 129K words
Chapters: 13

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Heinrich von Kleist und die Kantische Philosophie by Ernst CassirerAuthor: Cassirer, Ernst, 1874-1945,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Feb 15, 2010

Editor's review

Cassirer's German study examines the relationship between Kleist and Kantian philosophy, a specialized discussion at the intersection of intellectual history and literary studies. Kleist's intellectual crisis upon encountering Kant's philosophy has long drawn attention in German literary studies; drawing on his training in the history of philosophy, Cassirer traces the impact of Kantian epistemology on Kleist's inner world and its echoes in his writing and thought. The text is short but argumentatively dense, and its German is academic in register, suiting readers who already have some grounding in Kant's philosophy and can read German. Its value lies in demonstrating how philosophical concepts can be brought together with a writer's intellectual biography, not in offering an easy introductory overview. Read it alongside Kleist's works and relevant Kant texts, and take care to distinguish Cassirer's interpretation from the historical sources themselves. For readers working on German literature, the reception history of German idealism, or the methodology of intellectual history, this is a specialized study worth close reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Advanced students studying the relationship between German literature and intellectual history
Readers with a grounding in Kant's philosophy who want to understand its reception history
Researchers who need specialized literature for paper references
Readers with good German reading ability and an interest in Kleist

Not a good fit for

Beginners without German reading ability who rely on Chinese translations
General readers without basic conceptual preparation in Kant's philosophy
Those hoping to read a writer's biography or appreciations of his works

Reading tips

Review the core concepts of Kantian epistemology before entering Cassirer's argument.
Read alongside relevant works by Kleist, marking traces of the philosophical impact in the texts.
After finishing, write a one-page summary distinguishing the historical facts from Cassirer's interpretive judgments.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What problem does this study mainly address?

It mainly addresses the relationship between Kleist and Kantian philosophy, discussing the impact of Kant's philosophy on Kleist's thought and the echoes of that impact at the literary and intellectual levels. It is a specialized study rather than a general survey, and requires readers to have the relevant background.

Must one know German to read it?

The original is in German and highly academic; German reading ability will greatly reduce the cost of understanding. If relying solely on a translation, choose a reliable one and pair it with an introductory study, or key conceptual nuances are easily lost.

Do I need to read Kant's original works first?

You need not read the originals in full, but you should at least understand the basic framework and core terminology of Kantian epistemology; otherwise it is hard to grasp the specific target of Cassirer's argument. A reliable introductory guide to Kant's philosophy can be read first, before turning to this text.

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About the author

Cassirer, Ernst, 1874-1945 Author · German · 1874–1945

Ernst Cassirer (1874–1945) was a German philosopher and one of the leading representatives of Neo-Kantianism, best known for works such as The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. He examined how human culture is constructed and understood through various symbolic forms—language, myth, art, and science—an approach that has had a lasting influence on modern philosophy, cultural studies, and the methodology of the humanities. The library currently holds one work by him, Heinrich von Kleist und die Kantische Philosophie, which discusses the relationship between the German writer Kleist and Kantian philosophy. Given the limited public information available here, details of Cassirer's life and academic career are not elaborated; the focus remains on the themes and intellectual influence of his philosophical writings.