Perfektionismus der Autonomie

The volume, with contributions in German and English, is an anthology of essays examining the concept of autonomy-perfectionism in historical and systematic perspective.

Following Kant‘s critique of earlier perfectionist ethical systems (particularly those of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Christian Wolff), a new theory-type emerges, differing from previous conceptions because it aims not at the cultivation of happiness (eudaimonia), but at the advancement of freedom, the conditions for its exercise, and the determination of the legitimate limits of state intervention. The collected essays analyze a range of ethical and political arguments advanced 414especially in the late 18th and 19th centuries, offering interpretations of Kant, Herder, Fichte, Schiller, Hegel, the Left Hegelians, and Marx. Other authors, including Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Adorno and recent critical theory, are also addressed.