Frederick C. Beiser, one of the leading scholars of German Idealism, is a Professor of Philosophy at Syracuse University. Prior to joining Syracuse, he was a member of the faculty at Indiana University, Bloomington where he received a 1999-2000 NEH Faculty Fellowship. He has also taught at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Harvard and Yale University. Beiser earned his DPhil. degree from Oxford University under the direction of Charles Taylor and Isaiah Berlin.
Beiser's first book, The Fate of Reason: German Philosophy from Kant to Fichte (Harvard, 1987) was widely influential in revising the commonly held, but notorious accounts of German Idealism. In this book, Beiser sought to reconstruct the background of German Idealism through the narration of the story of the Spinoza or Pantheism controversy. Consequently, a great many figures, whose importance was hardly recognized by the English speaking philosophers, were given their proper due. Beiser has also written on the German Romantics and 19th century British philosophy.
This book wasn't really for me - I don't mean it was a bad book. My grade reflects its usefulness to me, rather than is a general review, which I do not think I am qualified to give.
I think it was pretty good, just it was not what I was after. I wanted an introduction to romanticism and was lent this by a friend who is a philosophy professor. It's really not an introduction, although to be fair it does not claim to be. However, given this long caveat, I did get something from the book and did learn a fair bit about romanticism.
This volume focuses on the very early days of romanticism and really only a few years from about 1797 to 1804 (from memory, the exact dates are in the book introduction). It is a collection of essays by the author, on the same topic, but not originally written as a book, so there is some degree of repetition. The bits I learnt from were clear, but I would imagine hard for anyone without any formal philosophical background. Occasionally, it went over my head, but that points back to my opening point that I am not really the intended reader of this book.
The only annoying thing is that the author uses frequently German language phrases and words without explaining them. Perhaps, they would be clear to anyone who was familiar with romanticism, but I felt it would have been easier with more explanation as some of the terms were critical to understanding the book.
Wondeful, but difficult. If you can get through this you'll have a good foundation for really understanding German Idealism, which makes it a gift that keeps on giving. It helps to have a background in reading Kant to understand it, though.
Thrilling stuff from Beiser as usual. I particularly enjoyed Beiser's account of how, rather than Jacobi's Briefe , it was Herder's Gott, Einige Gespr盲ch that influenced Schlegel, Schelling and von Hardenberg's idiosyncratic reinterpretation of Spinoza. This then leads to an interesting discussion around internal and external teleology.
Frederick C. Beiser鈥檚 The Romantic Imperative: The Concept of Early German Romanticism (2003) offers a lucid and rigorous examination of the philosophical foundations of early German Romanticism, an intellectual movement often overshadowed by its artistic and literary dimensions. Beiser鈥檚 work succeeds in rehabilitating Romanticism as a coherent and systematic philosophical project, challenging the reductive view that it is merely a reactionary retreat into emotion or an aestheticized form of irrationalism.
Beiser situates early German Romanticism within its historical and philosophical context, particularly its relationship to German Idealism and its reaction to the perceived limitations of Kantian philosophy. The Romantics鈥攆igures such as Friedrich Schlegel, Novalis, and H枚lderlin鈥攕ought to address the dichotomy between reason and imagination, as well as the tension between systematization and individuality. Beiser argues that Romanticism is better understood as a continuation of the Enlightenment鈥檚 project of reason, albeit through a broader and more holistic lens. For the Romantics, the ultimate aim was a synthesis of art, science, and philosophy鈥攁 goal they referred to as 鈥減rogressive universal poetry鈥� (progressive Universalpoesie).
One of Beiser鈥檚 most valuable contributions is his emphasis on the philosophical depth of Romanticism, which he contrasts with the prevailing tendency to conflate Romanticism with sentimentality or subjective idealism. Beiser dismantles these misconceptions by highlighting the movement鈥檚 intellectual rigor and its engagement with key philosophical issues, such as the nature of self-consciousness, the relationship between freedom and necessity, and the role of art in achieving human self-realization. Central to this project is the Romantic concept of irony, which Beiser interprets not as mere playfulness but as a dynamic and self-critical mode of thought that reflects the incompleteness of human understanding.
Beiser also demonstrates how early German Romanticism was deeply influenced by Spinoza, Fichte, and Schelling, among others. He portrays Romanticism as a critical response to Fichtean subjectivism and its potential solipsism, proposing instead a more relational view of the self and its connection to the world. The Romantic emphasis on Bildung (self-cultivation) and Streben (striving) reflects this relational ethos, with the human quest for knowledge and unity framed as an infinite and open-ended process.
Structurally, the book is concise yet comprehensive, balancing historical analysis with philosophical exposition. Beiser鈥檚 prose is clear and accessible, though it demands familiarity with the intellectual currents of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century German thought. His erudition is evident in his ability to synthesize a wide range of primary and secondary sources, and his engagement with contemporary scholarship enriches the text.
However, one limitation of the book is its relative brevity, which occasionally leaves certain topics underexplored. For example, while Beiser adeptly examines the philosophical core of Romanticism, his treatment of its broader cultural and political implications could have been expanded. The book also assumes a level of prior knowledge that may render it less accessible to readers unfamiliar with German Idealism or Romantic aesthetics.
Despite these minor shortcomings, The Romantic Imperative is an indispensable resource for scholars and students of German philosophy, Romanticism, and intellectual history. Beiser succeeds not only in clarifying the philosophical ambitions of early German Romanticism but also in demonstrating its relevance to enduring debates about reason, creativity, and human flourishing. In doing so, he affirms the movement鈥檚 significance as a critical juncture in the history of Western thought.
In sum, Beiser鈥檚 The Romantic Imperative is a masterful work that reclaims early German Romanticism as a serious and sophisticated philosophical enterprise. Its nuanced exploration of Romantic thought challenges readers to reconsider the movement鈥檚 legacy and to appreciate its contributions to the development of modern philosophy.