Spinoza and German Idealism: A Metaphysical Dialogue

FAIN: FA-56218-11

Yitzhak Y. Melamed
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD 21218-2608)

I am applying for an NEH Fellowship in order to have a research leave that would allow me to complete my book on Spinoza and German Idealism. Spinoza had a crucial role in the formation of the philosophy of German Idealism. Each of Kant's major followers--Maimon, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel--had at least a definite and substantial Spinozistic period in his philosophical development. Spinoza's monistic rationalism was the major source of inspiration for the German Idealists' attempts to overcome the Kantian dualisms of intuitions versus concepts and appearances versus things-in-themselves. I intend and hope that the final product of this project will be a groundbreaking book which will significantly advance our understanding of German Idealism and modern philosophy.

Associated Products

Spinoza’s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought (Book)
Title: Spinoza’s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought
Author: Yitzhak Y. Melamed
Abstract: xx
Year: 2013
Publisher: New York: Oxford University Press
Type: Single author monograph
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

“The Causes of Our Belief in Free Will: Spinoza on Necessary, Innate, yet False Cognitions (Article)
Title: “The Causes of Our Belief in Free Will: Spinoza on Necessary, Innate, yet False Cognitions
Author: Yitzhak Y. Melamed
Abstract: This paper discusses Spinoza’s critique of free will, though our brief study of this topic in the first part of the chapter will aim primarily at preparing us to address the main topic of the chapter, which is Spinoza’s explanation of the reasons which force us to believe in free will. At times, Spinoza seems to come very close to asserting the paradoxical claim that we are not free to avoid belief in free will. In the second part of the chapter I will closely examine Spinoza’s etiological explanation of how we come to form the belief in free will. In the third part, I will raise and respond to a crucial objection to Spinoza’s explanation of the formation of our belief in free will. I will then turn to examine Fichte’s intriguing claim that Spinoza’s position on the issue of free will suffers from an internal contradiction, as evinced in Fichte’s suggestive remark: “Spinoza could not have been convinced of his own philosophy. He could only have thought of it; he could not have believed it [Er konnte seine Philosphie nur denken, nicht sie glauben].”
Year: 2016
Primary URL: https://www.academia.edu/19675256/_The_Causes_of_Our_Belief_in_Free_Will_Spinoza_on_Innate_Necessary_and_yet_False_Cognitions_in_Yitzhak_Y._Melamed_ed._Spinoza_s_Ethics_A_Critical_Guide_Cambridge_Cambridge_University_Press_forthcoming_
Format: Other
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

“ ‘Omnis determinatio est negatio’ – Determination, Negation and Self-Negation in Spinoza, Kant, and Hegel” (Article)
Title: “ ‘Omnis determinatio est negatio’ – Determination, Negation and Self-Negation in Spinoza, Kant, and Hegel”
Author: Yitzhak Y. Melamed
Abstract: The issue of negation and the possibility of self-negation stand at the very center of the philosophical dialogue between the systems of Spinoza and Hegel, and in this paper I will attempt to provide a preliminary explication of this foundational debate between the two systems. In the first part of the paper I will argue that the “determination is negation” formula has been understood in at least three distinct senses among the German Idealists, and as a result many of the participants in the discussion of this formula were actually talking past each other. The clarification of the three distinct senses of the formula will lead, in the second part of the paper, to a more precise evaluation of the fundamental debate between Spinoza and Hegel (and the German Idealists in general) regarding the possibility (or even necessity) of self-negation. In this part I will evaluate the validity of each interpretation of the determination formula, and motivate the positions of the various participants in the debate.
Year: 2012
Primary URL: https://www.academia.edu/784234/_Omnis_determinatio_est_negatio_Determination_Negation_and_Self-Negation_in_Spinoza_Kant_and_Hegel
Format: Other
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

The Autobiography of Solomon Maimon (Book)
Title: The Autobiography of Solomon Maimon
Author: Solomon Maimon
Editor: Yitzhak Y. Melamed
Abstract: This is the first complete English translation of Salomon Maimon's Autobiography.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691163857/the-autobiography-of-solomon-maimon
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 978-0691163857
Translator: Paul Reitter
Copy sent to NEH?: No

Interview at Kan Tarbut - Israel's Cultural Radio (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Interview at Kan Tarbut - Israel's Cultural Radio
Abstract: Long interview on Spinoza and the ban on Spinoza at the Portuguese Jewish synagogue in Amsterdam.
Date: 12.05.21
Primary URL: https://omny.fm/shows/gam-ken-tarbut/0c697a60-5371-4a4e-9c59-adf500e5d9bf?fbclid=IwAR3YlhxeTmx5vGwCCXHwoR9FqQrGdVWIvTOHzOdki6L3CQl9yoL8lEyfqus
Format: Radio

Interview with BBC World News (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Interview with BBC World News
Abstract: Interview with BBC world news on the ban on Spinoza.
Date: 12/01/2021
Primary URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172xv5gstr4416?fbclid=IwAR2nzjWi5AItz1S8h8c3enn-0vHmEuDs1VMxh6uXgdeCzNT1hIMd6SgnELE
Format: Radio

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