School of thought
Neo-Kantianism
Movement
Classification
- Period
- c. 1865-1930 CE
- Regions
- europe
- Domains
- Epistemology
Overview
Neo-Kantianism emerged in the 1860s around the rallying cry "Back to Kant!" After the collapse of speculative idealism and against the rising tide of scientific materialism, German philosophers argued that Kant's critical philosophy could provide a rigorous foundation for both the natural and human sciences. The movement became the dominant academic philosophy in Germany for over half a century.
The Marburg School, led by Hermann Cohen and Paul Natorp, focused on the epistemological foundations of natural science, reinterpreting Kant's transcendental method as an analysis of the logical presuppositions that make scientific knowledge possible. Ernst Cassirer expanded this approach with his Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, arguing that humans inhabit a world constituted through symbolic systems — language, myth, art, science — each with its own validity. The Baden School, led by Wilhelm Windelband and Heinrich Rickert, focused instead on values and the methodology of the human sciences, drawing the influential distinction between nomothetic sciences (seeking general laws) and idiographic sciences (understanding unique phenomena).
Neo-Kantianism's influence was pervasive: Husserl's phenomenology developed in dialogue with Marburg epistemology, the Vienna Circle inherited its emphasis on the logic of science, and Cassirer's 1929 debate with Heidegger at Davos marked a symbolic turning point in European philosophy.
Key ideas
- Back to Kant: A rejection of Hegelian speculative metaphysics and scientific materialism in favor of Kant's critical method, reinterpreted for the modern sciences.
- Nomothetic vs Idiographic: Windelband's distinction between sciences that seek general laws and those that study unique, unrepeatable phenomena — foundational for the methodology of the human sciences.
- Philosophy of Symbolic Forms: Cassirer's argument that human experience is constituted through diverse symbolic systems — language, myth, art, science — each forming a distinct and valid mode of world-making.
Key figures
Hermann Cohen · Paul Natorp · Ernst Cassirer · Heinrich Rickert · Wilhelm Windelband
Methods used
Renews after a break
Later connections
- Analytic Philosophy Influenced by this tradition
- Phenomenology Influenced by this tradition
References
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Neo-Kantianism
- The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms — Ernst Cassirer
- Religion of Reason out of the Sources of Judaism — Hermann Cohen