The Persistence of Subjectivity

‘What is the fate of the Kantian ideal of the autonomous, rational, reflective individual for our own time?’ is perhaps the simplest way of summarizing the main theme of this wide‐ranging and complex book. How has the ideal been treated by a variety of post‐Kantian (particularly German) philosophers, and how is it also reflected in contemporary art and literature? To what extent is post‐Kantian suspicion about subjectivity warranted, and to what extent should this influential stance of dismissiveness itself be criticized? The author's own position on these matters is not easy to sketch, though I can start by noting that he intends to offer a qualified defence of subjectivity. He aims ‘to take issue... with what some thinkers believe has gone wrong in the development of modernity’ (p. 20). However, his own particular defence of subjectivity involves adding quite a bit of Hegel to the Kantian starting‐point. Pippin is attracted to ‘a historical and socially mediated subjectivity’, one which insists that ‘norms change’ (p. 12) – including, it seems to follow, norms tied to the ideal of subjectivity itself

Epistemology · Hegelianism · Ideal (ethics) · Modernity · Rationality · Sketch · Subject (documents) · Subjectivity · Theme (computing) · Variety (cybernetics) · Computer Science · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy · Philosophy · Philosophy, Science, and History