Books in the Contemporary Studies in Idealism series

Kant and Mysticism interprets Kant's early criticism of Swedenborg's mysticism as the fountainhead of the Critical philosophy. Kantian Critique revolutionizes not only traditional metaphysics, but also our understanding of mysticism: Critical mysticism is a unitive experience that impels us to lay bare all human pretensions to reason's light.

This book experiments with Nietzsche and Adorno who are contemporary proponents of early German Romanticism. By reconstructing the philosophies of language of these thinkers, and their critique of metaphysics and identity thinking, this book develops a notion of philosophical praxis that is grounded in the ethical dimension of thinking.

Hypotyposis is for Kant the a priori presentation of some concept, or, a presentation of an a priori concept. The focused discussion of hypotyposis and associated themes in Hypotyposis in Kant's Metaphysics of Judgment leads to an exploration of: (1) the idea of a priori presentation--the idea of something being represented in thought which is not found in the world, but found in us, in the structure of our thought----and, correlatively, (2) the idea of our taking something to be presented in the world which symbolizes something found in us. Byron Ashley Clugston's analysis takes as its central concern the structure of thought, though his exploration of this topic is not conventional to the extent that it does not adhere strictly, and only, to Kant's own pronouncements. Clugston focuses instead on extending and connecting certain major themes in Kant's thinking: the idea of an inner and outer to thought; the idea of limit cases and best cases which guide our thinking; the idea of our thinking being constrained or shaped by certain conditions; the idea of there being something which is unconditioned, or hidden from us; and the idea of our being inaccessible to ourselves.

What is philosophy? What can philosophy offer us? What brings us to think philosophically? Arthur Schopenhauer's writings offer fascinating answers to these questions that have largely been overlooked until now. In Schopenhauer and the Nature of Philosophy, Jonathan Head explores the surprisingly rich and compelling metaphilosophy that underlies Schopenhauer's work and argues that it offers a vital key to unlocking many of the mysteries that surround his ideas. Schopenhauer understands philosophy as grounded in a deep wonder about life and the world that is universal to the human experience, as well as meeting a fundamental need for both explanation and consolation. This account of the nature of philosophy leads to further important discussions concerning the relationship between philosophy and religion, the value of mysticism, and the possibility of social progress. Through examining Schopenhauer's account of how and why philosophy is done, this book sheds crucial new light on a thinker whose ideas continue to both provoke and inspire.