Visual Turn

Between ca. 1860 and 1920, Neo-Kantianism was the leading philosophy not only in Germany but in Great Britain and many other countries. It was an attempt to modernize Kant's philosophy in light of fundamental new scientific developments. In the 20th century Neo-Kantianism, having lost touch with the sciences, was superseded by neo-empiricism, naturalism (materialism) and analytical philosophy. The last Neo-Kantian who sought to preserve the close dialogue with the sciences while still adhering to Kant's >critical method< was Ernst Cassirer of the Marburg School. The present book proposes to show that due to recent scientific developments in vision science, epigenetics, artificial intelligence and other fields, Neo-Kantianism is today well positioned to regain its status as a leading force in philosophy. To this end, the first part of the book offers a critical in-depth review, from today's perspective, of empiricism, naturalism and analytical philosophy as well as a reconstruction of rationalism, also within in Kant's >critical Idealism