Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #264720 in Books
• Published on: 1991-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

An examination of the human qualities worth cultivating
Goethe, Kant, Hegel is the first book of the Discovering the mind trilogy. This trilogy was Kaufmann's final work. The ideas discussed in this book are not new to his work but rather make it more complete. All of Kaufmann's work taken together forms an organic seamless whole.

In this book as with his others Kaufmann is interested in uncovering, exploring, defining and evaluating what is the essence of being human. He also extends this search beyond mere identifying to an exploration of what he considers are the human qualities worthy of cultivation and represent the best of humanity. To my knowledge his approach of a philosophical study of individuals breaks some original ground and because Kaufmann is building on previous work he is hugely successful in this task. This book should be a classic, recognized for its pioneering effort toward discovery of the mind (Kaufmann's definition of mind here is a "term for feeling and intelligence, reason and emotion, perception and will). Not only is it scholarly (in the best sense of the word) but it has a clear vision that Kaufmann is able to communicate clearly.

It is not enough for Kaufmann to present compelling reasons why life is most meaningful when meaning and purpose come from within, nor that the autonomous life (he discusses autonomy at length in Without guilt or Justice) is the key to finding that meaning. Kaufmann knows that even a dictator and tyrant can become such a person. Kaufmann goes on to articulate his vision of morality (a theme developed in his earlier work- The Faith of a Heretic). In this and the two subsequent volumes he shows us what attributes of these various men of varying greatness he sees as most representative of both qualities which give personal meaning to that individual but also elevate for us all the human spirit, as well as those qualities that do not. In Goethe, Kant, Hegel, Kaufmann rigourously illuminates that interior terrain into the minds of each of these men taking us on a journey of understanding. While it's clear that Kaufmann's vision (what is it to be human) is his own, the seeds of that vision can be found in his profound empathy of Goethe , Nietzsche(vol.ll), and Freud(vol.lll). In fact, implicit to reading this work is that we come to understand Kaufmann's mind as well. The book also provides us with the tools to be our own explorers and thus continue the contribution. In Goethe, Kant, Hegel, Kaufmann quotes from a letter written by someone who knew Goethe. In reading the attributes ascribed to Goethe one cannot help but feel that the description is just as apt of Kaufmann.

"He is violent in all of his emotions but often has a great deal of self-control. His way of thinking is noble; free of prejudices, he acts as he feels without caring whether others like it, whether it is the fashion, whether the way one lives permits it. All compulsion is hateful to him... He is not what one calls orthodox. But not from pride or caprice or to make an impression. About certain very important issues he speaks to few and does not like to disturb others in their calm ideas...I wanted to describe him, but it would become too lengthy, for there is much that could be said about him. He is, in one word, a very remarkable human being."

This book is well worth reading.

final work of a great humanist
Ever since I tried to read it in college, philosophy has repelled me, or rather, I was unwilling to make the effort to get through the classic texts because they were so poorly written and abstruce. Nonetheless, I always felt that this area was a hole in my learning and that I should have made more effort in it. As such, it was an enormous pleasure to find Kaufmann: he writes with an enormous clarity and grace, and to my delight, he is as disgusted with the poor writing style of modern philosphers as was I. And he had the authority to say it, which I could never claim!

This volume introduces the reader to three great minds, which Kaufmann sees as leading to the great psychologists if the 20C. First, with Goethe, we find a man who broke new ground in the investigation of human psychology, bringing a poets depth and eloquence to bear. It is so exciting and well written that Kaufmann makes the reader want to learn German and then specialize in Goethe. He is seen as an ideal of bringing poetry to the study of the mind, a tradition that waited until Freud to be renewed. Second, he examines Kant, whom he respects but sees as a rather dry intellect, and alas, as the one who began the tradition of sloppily and hastily written modern philosophy. But his critique goes much farther than that as we see Kant turn the mind into something abstract, immutable, and that neither evolves nor reflects the context into which it is born. This sets philoophical inquiry into psychology, in my interpretation, on a long and infertile road that took the poetry out of the study of the mind. Finally, with Hegel, Kaufmann sees the reintroduction of certain notions of evolution and context, but still in a way that lacks poetry.

This is a fascinating interpretation and it is so beautifully written that many will enjoy as did I. Warmly recommended.

Read after having read at least Kant and Hegel
The theme of this book is in contrasting the two great antipodes and of German culture: Kant and Goethe. The part for Goethe is 43 pages, Kant 110 pages and Hegel 71 pages.

This is not a scholastic introduction to the philosophies or philosophical systems of Kant or Hegel, rather it's everything else. (For an introduction, I can recommend German Philosophers: Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche.) You could say it's an attempt to relate these philosophers to the whole of German culture (and Goethe), or that it's an overview, and on Kant's part, an argument against their views on life.

So for this reason you should've read at least Kant before picking it up. (I hadn't.)