Baumgarten's Elements of First Practical Philosophy : A Critical Translation With Kant's Reflections on Moral Philosophy

Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb; Kant, Immanuel; Fugate, Courtney D. (EDT); Hymers, John (EDT)

ISBN 10: 1350276170 / ISBN 13: 9781350276178

Published by Bloomsbury Academic, 2021

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Baumgarten's Elements of First Practical Philosophy : A Critical Translation With Kant's Reflections on Moral Philosophy
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1350276170
• ISBN 13: 9781350276178
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

This book presents the first English translation of Alexander Baumgarten’s Initia Philosophiae Practicae Primae, the textbook Kant used in his lectures on moral philosophy. Originally published in Latin in 1760, the Initia contains a systematic, but original version of the universal practical philosophy first articulated by Christian Wolff. In his personal copy, Kant penned hundreds of pages of notes and sketches that document his relation to this earlier tradition. Translating these extensive elucidations into English, together with Kant’s notes on the text, this translation offers a complete resource to Kant’s reading of the Initia. To facilitate further study, first-time translations of elucidatory passages from G. F. Meier and Wolff are also included, alongside a German-English-Latin glossary. The translators’ introduction provides a biography of Baumgarten, a discussion of the importance of the Initia, its relation to Wolff’s and Meier’s universal practical philosophy and its role in Kant’s lectures. By shedding new light on the arguments of Kant’s mature works and offering insights into his pre-Critical moral thought, Elements of First Practical Philosophy reveals why Baumgarten's work is essential for understanding the background to Kant’s philosophy.

About the Authors

Alexander Baumgarten (1714-1762) was among the first to teach the controversial philosophy of Christian Wolff (1679-1754). By order of the king, he moved to Frankfurt on the Oder in 1739, where he remained until his death in 1762. His most influential philosophical works are Metaphysics (1739), Philosophical Ethics (1740) and Aesthetics (2 Vols, 1750 and 1757). Today Baumgarten is also regarded as a central founder of modern aesthetics.

Courtney D. Fugate is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University, USA.

Pablo Muchnik is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Emerson College, USA.

John Hymers is Associate Professor of Philosophy at La Salle University, USA. He is the co-editor and translator of Metaphysics: A Critical Translation (Bloomsbury, 2012), Preparation for Natural Theology (Bloomsbury, 2016) and Baumgarten's Elements of First Practical Philosophy (Bloomsbury, 2020).

Lawrence Pasternack was Professor of Philosophy and Director of Religious Studies at Oklahoma State University, USA.