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Lectures on Modern Idealism Josiah Royce Books



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Lectures on Modern Idealism Josiah Royce Books

Josiah Royce (1855 -- 1916) was an American idealist philosopher who studied in Germany in his youth and was heavily influenced by German idealism. Although Royce's idealism is largely rejected in contemporary American philosophy, there is much to be learned from his work and from Royce's relationship to his contemporaries, William James, Charles Peirce, and John Dewey. I wanted to read this book, "Lectures on Modern Idealism" in part due to the upcoming centenary of Royce's death. The book is based on a series of ten lectures Royce delivered in 1906 at Johns Hopkins University under the title "Aspects of Post-Kantian Idealism." The lectures were unpublished during Royce's life, but Royce had written a note stating that they were "worth publishing". In 1919, Royce's student, the philosopher Jacob Lowenberg (1882 -- 1969), edited and published these lectures as the first of a volume of Royce's posthumous works. This was a wise decision as these lectures deserve to be preserved and read. Lowenberg's own introduction to these lectures, written in light of Royce's strong support for the allies and condemnation of Germany in WW I, is also worth reading.

Royce developed his own philosophical idealism over his life, and he was also a careful student of the history of philosophy. Early in his career, in 1892, Royce published a book, "The Spirit of Modern Philosophy" in which he explored aspects of the history of philosophy between Spinoza and Schopenhauer and also presented philosophical ideas of his own. Royce wrote in an engaging, non-technical style, full of biographical information and other asides, for lay readers. The 1906 lectures published in this book are more limited in scope in that they begin with Kant and focus on Hegel. The lectures were intended for an audience with a substantial background in philosophy and explore their subject matter with considerably more depth, difficulty, and technical detail than do the 1892 lectures. Royce, for the most part, limits the lectures to an exposition of the thought of the idealist philosophers he considers. Only in the final lecture does Royce suggest his own development of the idealist position. With respect to the goal of the lecture series, Royce states:

"My purpose will be to help you look at the world, for a time, with the eyes of some one or another of the representative idealists; and to show, by illustrations, why it was that these men viewed things as they did. The early idealists of our post-Kantian period often seem, to the novice, to resemble, according to Hegel's well-known phrase, men who had resolved to try to walk about on their heads. I want to help you to see why these men thought it worth while to view the world in this inverted way."

Royce succeeds admirably in his goal in explaining some of the considerations that led German philosophers from Kant to Hegel to think as they did. The book is thought through from the inside. Some of the discussions in this book bring idealism to life. In particular, Royce devotes two of his ten chapters to Hegel's "Phenomenology of Mind". His discussion captures the human fascination of the work and its many insights into individuals and cultures buried in its murky prose.

The first two of the lectures discuss Kant and his first Critique. The pivotal third lecture discusses how tensions in Kant's Critique led to the development of the critical idealist teachings about the Absolute and about the dialectical method. Two lectures are devoted to Schelling and four to Hegel. Of the Hegel lectures, two explore the Phenomenology while the remaining two discuss developments in Hegel's latter writings. Royce offers his own brief thoughts on the value and development of idealism in the final lecture, in which he sketches a theory of interpretation that is developed further in a later book, "The Problem of Christianity." Thus, these "Lectures on Modern Idealism" also are valuable for those readers interested in the development of Royce's thought. In explaining some of the reasons for the decline of idealism, Royce offers important comments on the nature of philosophical thinking. He says, for example, in commenting on the rigidity in idealistic thinking after Hegel:

"Hardly anything in fact is more injurious to the life of scholarship in general, and especially of philosophy, than the too strict and definite organization of schools of investigation. The life of academic scholarship depends upon individual liberty. And above all does the life of philosophy demand the initiative of the individual teacher as well as that of the individual pupil. A philosophy merely accepted from another man and not thought out for one's self is as dead as a mere catalogue of possible opinions. Philosophical formulas merely repeated upon the credit of a master's authority lose the very meaning which made the master authoritative."

The book emphasizes throughout the communal character of idealism. This position is important for many reasons, not the least of which is the tendency to solipsism with which idealism is often charged. But more importantly, this book presents a social idealism and an idealism of community that Royce developed in his subsequent works. When I studied philosophy as an undergraduate many years ago, German philosophy following Kant was not much taught. Royce's book offers a excellent exposition of Kant and his idealistic successors which explains these thinkers in their own terms. The book is also valuable for understanding Royce and his relationship to both idealism and to American pragmatism. This book is an important work of a still unduly neglected American thinker. This is a newly published offprint edition and the quality of the print and text is good.

Robin Friedman

Product details

  • Paperback 286 pages
  • Publisher Leopold Classic Library (February 2, 2016)
  • Language English
  • ASIN B01BDLR0T8

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Lectures on Modern Idealism Josiah Royce Books Reviews


This is an excellent introduction to German Idealism, by a famous American philosopher, who is known for clarity of expression with reference to sometimes difficult philosophical concepts, and as a popularizer of philosophy. I think this is written clearly enough, so that any person with an interest in philosophy could benefit from it. Royce's focal point, I would say, is the early "transcendental" philosophy of Schelling, how it develops from Fichte's teachings, and how it differs from Schelling's slightly younger (and to Schelling's chagrin), considerably more famous contemporary, Hegel. Royce tries to show how the idealistic systems of Fichte, Schelling and Hegel, are historical reactions to Kant's attempts to eliminate speculative metaphysics, and how these thinkers resuscitate speculative metaphyscis by building upon Kant's own ethical and aesthetic systems. Royce , here, focuses on the early Schelling and the early Hegel (as author of the Phenomenology of Spirit/Mind (Geist)). I found the section on Hegel somewhat general, but the early sections on Kant, and on Schelling, especially, very helpful and clear, indeed, one of the clearest expositions of Schelling that I've read. Might I add the following personal note -

I had the privilege of studying philosophy with Marvin Farber, when he taught in Buffalo. His speciality was phenomenology and he was the long-time publisher of the Journal of Phenomenological Research & Review. But he was very much a student of American philosophy, and he was extremely fond of Josiah Royce, using several of his books, in different classes. Dr. Farber tried to ground phenomenology in naturalism and in common sense materialism. Like Royce, he supported issues of social justice, and in early 1970's, which was the time of the military draft and the huge anti-war movement, in the US, supported this from the perspective of the Left, and from a Marxist perspective too, in the classroom. His classes were popular with undergraduate students of all majors, as well as with philosophy grad students, I being one of the latter, at the time. I regret not studying with him more, actually, but welcome the chance here, to fondly and respectfully, remember him, in the company of another great American philosopher, Josiah Royce. .
Clearest explanation of Kant I've read so far.
Josiah Royce (1855 -- 1916) was an American idealist philosopher who studied in Germany in his youth and was heavily influenced by German idealism. Although Royce's idealism is largely rejected in contemporary American philosophy, there is much to be learned from his work and from Royce's relationship to his contemporaries, William James, Charles Peirce, and John Dewey. I wanted to read this book, "Lectures on Modern Idealism" in part due to the upcoming centenary of Royce's death. The book is based on a series of ten lectures Royce delivered in 1906 at Johns Hopkins University under the title "Aspects of Post-Kantian Idealism." The lectures were unpublished during Royce's life, but Royce had written a note stating that they were "worth publishing". In 1919, Royce's student, the philosopher Jacob Lowenberg (1882 -- 1969), edited and published these lectures as the first of a volume of Royce's posthumous works. This was a wise decision as these lectures deserve to be preserved and read. Lowenberg's own introduction to these lectures, written in light of Royce's strong support for the allies and condemnation of Germany in WW I, is also worth reading.

Royce developed his own philosophical idealism over his life, and he was also a careful student of the history of philosophy. Early in his career, in 1892, Royce published a book, "The Spirit of Modern Philosophy" in which he explored aspects of the history of philosophy between Spinoza and Schopenhauer and also presented philosophical ideas of his own. Royce wrote in an engaging, non-technical style, full of biographical information and other asides, for lay readers. The 1906 lectures published in this book are more limited in scope in that they begin with Kant and focus on Hegel. The lectures were intended for an audience with a substantial background in philosophy and explore their subject matter with considerably more depth, difficulty, and technical detail than do the 1892 lectures. Royce, for the most part, limits the lectures to an exposition of the thought of the idealist philosophers he considers. Only in the final lecture does Royce suggest his own development of the idealist position. With respect to the goal of the lecture series, Royce states

"My purpose will be to help you look at the world, for a time, with the eyes of some one or another of the representative idealists; and to show, by illustrations, why it was that these men viewed things as they did. The early idealists of our post-Kantian period often seem, to the novice, to resemble, according to Hegel's well-known phrase, men who had resolved to try to walk about on their heads. I want to help you to see why these men thought it worth while to view the world in this inverted way."

Royce succeeds admirably in his goal in explaining some of the considerations that led German philosophers from Kant to Hegel to think as they did. The book is thought through from the inside. Some of the discussions in this book bring idealism to life. In particular, Royce devotes two of his ten chapters to Hegel's "Phenomenology of Mind". His discussion captures the human fascination of the work and its many insights into individuals and cultures buried in its murky prose.

The first two of the lectures discuss Kant and his first Critique. The pivotal third lecture discusses how tensions in Kant's Critique led to the development of the critical idealist teachings about the Absolute and about the dialectical method. Two lectures are devoted to Schelling and four to Hegel. Of the Hegel lectures, two explore the Phenomenology while the remaining two discuss developments in Hegel's latter writings. Royce offers his own brief thoughts on the value and development of idealism in the final lecture, in which he sketches a theory of interpretation that is developed further in a later book, "The Problem of Christianity." Thus, these "Lectures on Modern Idealism" also are valuable for those readers interested in the development of Royce's thought. In explaining some of the reasons for the decline of idealism, Royce offers important comments on the nature of philosophical thinking. He says, for example, in commenting on the rigidity in idealistic thinking after Hegel

"Hardly anything in fact is more injurious to the life of scholarship in general, and especially of philosophy, than the too strict and definite organization of schools of investigation. The life of academic scholarship depends upon individual liberty. And above all does the life of philosophy demand the initiative of the individual teacher as well as that of the individual pupil. A philosophy merely accepted from another man and not thought out for one's self is as dead as a mere catalogue of possible opinions. Philosophical formulas merely repeated upon the credit of a master's authority lose the very meaning which made the master authoritative."

The book emphasizes throughout the communal character of idealism. This position is important for many reasons, not the least of which is the tendency to solipsism with which idealism is often charged. But more importantly, this book presents a social idealism and an idealism of community that Royce developed in his subsequent works. When I studied philosophy as an undergraduate many years ago, German philosophy following Kant was not much taught. Royce's book offers a excellent exposition of Kant and his idealistic successors which explains these thinkers in their own terms. The book is also valuable for understanding Royce and his relationship to both idealism and to American pragmatism. This book is an important work of a still unduly neglected American thinker. This is a newly published offprint edition and the quality of the print and text is good.

Robin Friedman
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