Herbart's Psychology

This post summarises Herbart's contributions to philosophical psychology and his critique of Fichte's Idealism. The contrast with Hegel comes out particularly in their differing responses to Fichte. We draw from Marcel Mauxion's La Métaphysique de Herbart (1894). Above is an image of Herbart's Psychology as a Science (1824-25). We conclude our series of posts on Herbart with a link to a remarkable piano sonata which he composed in 1808.

Herbart's Philosophy of Religion

This post discusses Herbart's religious philosophy. We use Marcel Mauxion's La Métaphysique de Herbart (1894). The above picture shows the old university of Königsberg with the Cathedral in the background of the Dominsel (Cathedral island).

Herbart's Philosophy of Nature

This post summarizes Herbart's philosophy of nature. Herbart shared the project of a philosophical understanding of nature distinct though complementary in its aims and method from natural science with his contemporaries Schelling and Hegel. This is not now a common project. We draw for our account on Marcel Mauxion's La Métaphysique de Herbart (1894). The above image is of the Herbartdenkmal in Oldenburg around 1900.

Herbart's Theory of Being

This post outlines Herbart's account of being, which is characterized by the credence given to metaphysical analysis in a Leibnizian vein and the critique of Fichte’s idea of the “self creation of man”. We draw for our account on Marcel Mauxion's La Métaphysique de Herbart (1894). Above is an extract from the manuscript of Leibniz's Monadology.

Herbart on Metaphysics and Method

This post continues on from our biography of Hegel's contemporary Herbart and discusses his general view of metaphysics and method. We use Mauxion's La Métaphysique de Herbart (1894). The above is a picture of Old Königsberg, the former capital of East Prussia, where Herbart lectured as successor of Kant.

Herbart and Hegel (Part One)

This post covers the biography and principal writings of Hegel's realist contemporary, Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841). It begins a short series of posts aiming to shed light on the intellectual possibilities of Hegel's time and place through comparison with the contrasting ideas of Herbart.

Key to our Hegel Biography

Here is a key to our Hegel biography, which is based largely on Karl Rosenkranz's Hegels Leben (1844) in the French edition by Pierre Osmo. It includes links to the individual chapters. Whilst we cannot compete with the books of Walter Kaufmann, Horst Althaus, Jacques D'Hondt or Terry Pinkard, we can claim an exposition refounded on the earliest source, Karl Rosenkranz. Hegel scholarship has corrected Rosenkranz on the dating and authorship of several early manuscripts and built on his indications of Hegel's role in society, but perhaps diverged for many years from the facts he set out, particularly on the politics of the Restoration period in Berlin.