The Concept in German Idealism

The chapter focuses on the two main thinkers in the German idealist tradition, Kant and Hegel. They present antithetical views about concepts ( Begriffe ): for Kant, a concept is something subjective, which results from the spontaneous activity of the mind; for Hegel, a concept is something objective, an ontological structure and activity. The contrast between the two conceptions of concept raises important and difficult questions: Why did Hegel reject Kant’s view of concepts? Why did he think, pace Kant, that they are ontological? A prior issue that must be settled here concerns Kant: whether he is a nominalist or realist concerning universals. As basic as this question seems, it has not been directly tackled by Kant scholars; and yet it is of utmost importance in order to understand the shift of the concept of concept in German idealism.