1st Edition
New Perspectives on Neo-Kantianism and the Sciences
This volume considers the exchange between the Neo-Kantian tradition in German philosophy and the sciences from the last third of the nineteenth century to the Great war and partly beyond.
During this period, various scientific disciplines underwent modernisation processes characterised by an increasing empirical inclination and a decline in the influence of metaphysics, the pluralisation of theories, and the historical and pragmatic revitalisation of scientific claims against philosophy. The various contributions look at the ways in which a certain ‘Kantian orthodoxy’ was influenced by these new developments and whether (and how) itself had some impact on the development of the sciences. The volume is not limited to the 'exact sciences' of mathematics and physics, which are particularly important for the Kantian tradition, but also takes into account less recognised disciplines such as biology, chemistry, technology and psychology. It is complemented by contributions that contrast Neo-Kantianism with other 'scientific philosophies' of the period in question.
New Perspectives on Neo-Kantianism and the Sciences will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working on Neo-Kantianism, 19th- and 20th-century philosophy, and the history and philosophy of science.
Editors’s Introduction: Neo-Kantianism and the Sciences
Part 1: Mathematics
1. (Neo-)Kantian Foundation of Foundatians: The Göttingen Case Volker Peckhaus
2. Cassirer on the Concept of Number: A Neo-Kantian Perspective on Dedekindian Abstraction Francesca Biagioli
3. From Magnitudes to Real Numbers. Cantor and Dedekind’s Number Extensions and Their Reception in the Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism Daniel Koenig
Part 2: Physics
4. Clouds over Classical Physics? Neo-Kantian Perspectives on Kant’s Ideal of Physics as the Fundamental Empirical Science Helmut Pulte
5. Kurd Lasswitz, the Marburg School and the Problem of Individuality in Physics Marco Giovanelli
6. Hermann von Helmholtz on the Unification of Science Gregor Schiemann
Part 3: Chemistry and Technology
7. Physical and Chemical Atomism. Helmholtz and Cassirer on Chemical Classifications Rudolf Meer
8. Cassirer on the Construction of Concepts in Chemistry Henny Blomme
9. Technology in Neo-Kantianism between Theory and Practice. A First Insight Tim-Florian Steinbach
Part 4: Biology
10. Philosophy of Biology in Neo-Kantianism Georg Toepfer
11. The Impact of Kantian Philosophy on Organic Form: Teleology, Organism, and Material Properties in Early Twentieth Century Morphology Marco Tamborini
12. From Kant to Holism: The Decline of Neo-Kantianism and the Rise of Theoretical Biology Jan Baedke, Alexander Böhm, and Stefan Reiners-Selbach
Part 5: Psychology
13. The Problem of Psychology in Neo-Kantianism: On the Relevance of Richard Hönigswald Christian Krijnen
14. Descriptive or Reconstructive Psychology. On Natorp’s Critique of Dilthey Hans-Ulrich Lessing
Part 6: The Context of other ‘Scientific Philosophies’
15. Systems after the Systems – ‘Cosmic’ Texts and Integrative Practices in Neo-Kantian Contexts Paul Ziche
16. ‘Critique de la Science’ in France: Conventionalism or/and Neo-Kantianism in Geometry? Gerhard Heinzmann
17. Factum and Region: Neo-Kantian and Phenomenological Paradigms for a Philosophy of Science Sebastian Luft
Biography
Helmut Pulte is Chair of Philosophy and History of Science at Ruhr University Bochum and co-editor in chief of the Journal for General Philosophy of Science. He authored (inter alia) Axiomatik und Empirie (2005) and co-edited Hermann von Helmholtz, Gesammelte Philosophische und Populärwissenschaftliche Schriften (3 vols., 2017) as well as The Reception of Isaac Newton in Europe (3 vols., 2019).
Jan Baedke is a Junior Professor at the Institute for Philosophy I, Ruhr University Bochum. He is author of Above the Gene, Beyond Biology: Toward a Philosophy of Epigenetics (2018) and PI of the German Research Foundation (DFG) funded research group ‘ROTO’ (‘The Return of the Organism in the Biosciences: Theoretical, Historical, and Social Dimensions’).
Daniel Koenig is a Research Assistant in History of Mathematics at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. He defended his PhD thesis at the Mathematics Department of the University of Siegen. His research is on Ernst Cassirer’s philosophy of mathematics and his philosophy of culture in general. He edited a volume Mathematics in the Tradition on Neo-Kantianism (2019).
Gregor Nickel is Professor for Functional Analysis and Philosophy of Mathematics at Siegen University. He obtained his PhD in pure mathematics in Tübingen. His publications include mathematical research papers and philosophical papers on Nicolas of Cusa. He edited a volume of Kant’s contributions to the philosophy of mathematics and volumes on interactions between mathematics and society.
