Baumgarten and Kant on Metaphysics

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.

• Courtney D. Fugate and John Hymers: Introduction 1: Brandon C. Look: Baumgarten's Rationalism 2: Angelica Nuzzo: Determination, Determinability, and the Structure of Ens: Baumgarten's Ontology and Beyond 3: Clemens Schwaiger: Baumgarten's Theory of Freedom: A Contribution to the Wolff-Lange Controversy 4: Gary Hatfield: Baumgarten, Wolff, Descartes, and the Origins of Psychology 5: Corey W. Dyck: Between Wolffianism and Pietism: Baumgarten's Rational Psychology 6: Rudolf A. Makkreel: Baumgarten and Kant on Clarity, Distinctness, and the Differentiation of our Mental Powers 7: John Hymers: Contradiction and Privation: Baumgarten and Kant on the Concept of Nothing 8: Courtney D. Fugate: Baumgarten and Kant on Existence 9: Paul Guyer: Baumgarten, Kant, and the Refutation of Idealism 10: Henry E. Allison: Freedom of the Will in Baumgarten and Kant's ML1 11: Jeffrey Edwards: Wolff, Baumgarten, and the Principle of Thoroughgoing Determination in Kant's Opus postumum

Fugate attempts to place the study of Baumgarten's relation to Kant on a more solid foundation by clarifying some basic concepts of Baumgarten's metaphysical work and by showing that many of Kant's criticisms against him were more of a program than based on solid arguments. This move reflects the claim that seems to drive the whole volume, namely, that a serious investigation of Baumgarten's work can help us both in better understanding the manifold background of pre-Kantian German philosophy and the undeniable revolutionary nature of Kant's achievements. This is definitely the main and very welcome contribution of the volume to the most recent trend in the history of German modern philosophy.