Classic and Romantic German Aesthetics (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy) [Paperback]

J. M. Bernstein (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521001110 | ISBN-13: 978-0521001113 | Publication Date: January 13, 2003

This volume brings together major works by German thinkers who were extremely influential in the crucial period of aesthetics prior to and after Kant. It includes the first translation into English of Schiller's Kallias Letters and Moritz's on the Artistic Imitation of the Beautiful, and new translations of some of Hölderlin's most important theoretical writings and works by Hamann, Lessing, Novalis and Schlegel. The volume features an introduction in which J.M. Bernstein places the works in their historical and philosophical context.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

This volume brings together major works by German thinkers, writing just prior to and after Kant, who were enormously influential in this crucial period of aesthetics. They include the first translation into English of Schiller's Kallias Letters and Moritz's On the Artistic Imitation of the Beautiful, and new translations of some of Hölderlin's most important theoretical writings and works by Hamann, Lessing, Novalis and Schlegel. The volume also offers an introduction in which J. M. Bernstein places the works in their historical and philosophical context.

About the Author

J. M. Bernstein is Professor of Philosophy at the New School University, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (January 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521001110
• ISBN-13: 978-0521001113
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #529,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Translation, December 3, 2008

By 

Raphael Tobar (Miami, Fl) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classic and Romantic German Aesthetics (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy) (Paperback)

This book is a collection of essential texts concerning the bridge between Neo-Classicism and, reaching its zenith, Romanticism in German Aesthetic thought. Today, I believe these texts are one of the most important in the history of ideas, because it is the first time thinkers have questioned their ethical place in society, and under what conditions the Good is, in fact, a representation of the Beautiful. This is not only a reaction to Immanuel Kant's two books, Critique of Practical Reason and Judgment, but is also a reformation of the battle to weaken Reason in the face of the rising development of technology.

The first half, Neo-Classicism, are essays by Hamann, Lessing, and Moritz. They are excellent essays that deal with reviving themes put forth by Greek Mythology, Virgil, and Homer. The last half, the romantics, Schiller, Holderlin, Novalis, and Shlegel, rethink Neo-Classicism and puts them under a new aesthetic light, which not only believe in the classical concept of perfection and beauty, but how it relates to ethics, where at its ultimate peak, all man strives to become "a work of art."

The essays may be very technical prima facie, but through reading other texts, such as Frederick Beiser's The Romantic Imperative, you understand the central concerns of the German romantics, and how these concepts are useful today.