Abstract

The conclusion locates the diverse concerns of German Idealism and phenomenology in their historical contexts. German Idealism can be interpreted as a reaction to the Scientific Revolution, resisting the temptation to reduce the thinking subject to one more material object, and instead carving out the unique features of consciousness. Its accounts of freedom and intersubjectivity also should be understood in the political context of liberal revolutions and European imperialism. By contrast, phenomenology grapples with a world marked by world war, economic upheaval, and a sense of cultural decline. Its adherents generally emphasize various forms of human finitude—including the limits of reason and freedom. Finally, the conclusion describes how the shared commitments of German Idealism and phenomenology continue to resonate in the contemporary world.