German Idealism as Constructivism

by Tom Rockmore

German Idealism as Constructivism is the culmination of many years of research by distinguished philosopher Tom Rockmore—it is his definitive statement on the debate about German idealism between proponents of representationalism and those of constructivism that still plagues our grasp of the history of German idealism and the whole epistemological project today. Rockmore argues that German idealism—which includes iconic thinkers such as Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel—can best be understood as a constructivist project, one that asserts that we cannot know the mind-independent world as it is but only our own mental construction of it.
           
Since ancient Greece philosophers have tried to know the world in itself, an effort that Kant believed had failed. His alternative strategy—which came to be known as the Copernican revolution—was that the world as we experience and know it depends on the mind. Rockmore shows that this project was central to Kant’s critical philosophy and the later German idealists who would follow him. He traces the different ways philosophers like Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel formulated their own versions of constructivism. Offering a sweeping but deeply attuned analysis of a crucial part of the legacy of German idealism, Rockmore reinvigorates this school of philosophy and opens up promising new avenues for its study. 

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 14, 2016

Reviews

[Josip Cmrečnjak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically Tom Rockmore argues in this book against representationalism and intuitionism, and for cognitive constructionism. He argues we should read all German Idealism as concerned with epistemic questions pertaining cognitive constructionism. One controversial claim is that Schelling is not part of German Idealism tradition because of his understanding of identitiy of identity and difference. Rockmore argues Schelling stands on Spinozistic view and rehabilitates some precritical, metaphysical views about the thinking subject and the nature. Overall,very nice read, highly recommended.