Abstract

This penultimate volume of Copleston's monumental history covers the nineteenth century German philosophers and some of their non-German dependents, such as Kierkegaard, and their contemporary heirs, such as Heidegger. Copleston's usual clarity and sympathy win out even when treating such recalcitrant thinkers as Hegel, Fichte, Nietzsche and Schleiermacher. His interpretations are always reasonable and credible, and often illuminating. Unfortunately, they are not as dialectical as the originals, and a good deal is lost in the translation from system to exposition.--W. G. E.