Introduction

Theme: German Idealism

Abstract

Scholarly research during recent decades have seen a new, deeper and more multifaceted image of German Idealism, the powerful intellectual current that dominated German philosophy at the end of the 18th and for a few decades into the 19th century. Its most important theoretical starting point consisted of Kant’s critical philosophy while its three most prominent representatives were Fichte, Schelling and Hegel. The latest research has deepened our understanding of these four philosophers, while at the same time it has shredded a light on a great many other, less well-known thinkers, who in some cases have proven to be of the utmost importance for the development of idealism. The main part of this new scholarship has been carried out in Germany, but not exclusively. The history of idealism in Sweden was quite short, but the issue has, nevertheless, attracted many Swedish scholars of today; it is now time to manifest this branch of intellectual history.