The Poetic Imagination in Heidegger and Schelling [Hardcover]

The imagination is a decisive, if underappreciated, theme in German thought since Kant. In this rigorous historical and textual analysis, Christopher Yates challenges an oversight of traditional readings by presenting the first comparative study of F.W.J. Schelling and Martin Heidegger on this theme.

By investigating the importance of the imagination in the thought of Schelling and Heidegger, Yates' study argues that Heidegger's later, more poetic, philosophy cannot be understood properly without appreciating Schelling's central importance for him. A key figure in post-Kantian German Idealism, Schelling's penetrating attention to the creative character of thought remains undervalued. Capturing the essential manner in which Heidegger's ontology and Schelling's idealism intersect,The Poetic Imagination in Heidegger and Schellinglikewise presents an introduction to better understanding Heidegger's later thought. It reveals how his engagement with Schelling encouraged Heidegger to recover and refine the imagination as a poetic, as opposed to reductive and dogmatic, collaborator in the life of truth.

Tracing the theme of imagination in new readings of these major thinkers, Yates' study not only acknowledges Schelling's provocative place in post-Kantian German Idealism, but demonstrates as well the significance of Schelling's philosophical focus and style for Heidegger's own concentration on the creative vocation of human artistry and thought.

List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Kantian Breakthrough
2. Production and Artistry in Schelling's Philosophy of Identity
3. Imagination and Ground in Schelling'sFreiheitsschrift
4. Heidegger on Schelling's Impulse and Poetizing Impasse
5. Heidegger's H?lderlin, and the Aletheiac Imagination
Conclusion
Endnotes
Selected Bibliography
Index

Christopher Yates is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Grove City College, USA.