Baumgarten and Kant on Metaphysics

This volume explores the metaphysics of Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714-1762) and its decisive influence on Immanuel Kant. For over a century, scholars have recognized the significance of Baumgarten's Metaphysics, both because of its impact on Kant's intellectual development, and because of the way it fundamentally informed the work of generations of German philosophers, including Moses Mendelssohn, Thomas Abbt, Johann Gottfried Herder, Solomon Maimon, Johann August Eberhard, and arguably even Georg Friedrich Hegel. However, Baumgarten's Metaphysics has only recently become available in reliable German and English translations, so that many scholars have been excluded from the discussion and the significance of Baumgarten's work has remained largely unexplored. Thus with the appearance of these translations, interest in Baumgarten's work has surged among both. This volume aims to provide an anchor for this emerging discussion by presenting specially written essays by some of the scholars most responsible for Baumgarten's current reputation, together with some of the best young scholars in this emerging field.

Courtney D. Fugate is Associate Professor of Civilization Studies and Philosophy at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He is co-editor and translator of both Alexander Baumgarten's Metaphysics: A Critical Translation with Kant's Elucidations, Selected Notes and Related Materials (Bloomsbury, 2013) and Johann August Eberhard's Preparation for Natural Theology: With Kant's Notes and the Danzig Rational Theology Transcript (Bloomsbury 2016), and author of The Teleology of Reason: A Study of the Structure of Kant's Critical Philosophy (de Gruyter, 2014). He also has forthcoming Kant's 'Critique of Practical Reason': A Reader's Guide (Bloomsbury).

John Hymers is Associate Professor of Philosophy at La Salle University, Philadelphia, where he teaches Modern Philosophy. Most recently, he is co-editor and translator of both Alexander Baumgarten's Metaphysics: A Critical Translation with Kant's Elucidations, Selected Notes and Related Materials (Bloomsbury, 2013) and Johann August Eberhard's Preparation for Natural Theology: With Kant's Notes and the Danzig Rational Theology Transcript (Bloomsbury 2016). He earned his PhD at KU Leuven (Belgium) under William Desmond, and is the author of articles on Ludwig Feuerbach and environmental philosophy. Former managing editor of Ethical Perspectives, Hymers has also published many translations from Dutch and German.