E Codicibus Impressisque

The question of the end of metaphysics is generally considered as a centralissue concerning the nature and significance of philosophy as such andaccordingly as ... » 

The question of the end of metaphysics is generally considered as a centralissue concerning the nature and significance of philosophy as such andaccordingly as belonging to the realm of pure or fundamental philosophy.By contrast this book investigates to what extent the end of metaphysics mightbe related to specific influences from outside philosophy. Focusing on theperiod between 1830 and 1848 it argues that metaphysics was not so muchchallenged by internal philosophical argument but rather by a transformationof Western culture in its entirety. Metaphysics was overtaken by the modernspirit of the age. In consequence this book approaches the end ofmetaphysics as a problem of the philosophy of culture. Three historians ofculture provide an overview and analysis of the Age of Revolution by focusingupon the political revolution in France the industrial revolution in Englandand the intellectual revolution in Germany respectively. The pro clamations ofthe end of metaphysics by Auguste Comte Friedrich Engels and Otto FriedrichGruppe are shown to mirror this threefold cultural transformation. Against thisbackdrop the idea of the end of metaphysics is brought into relief as ahistorical reality during the years 1830 to 1848. The editors are members ofthe Centre for Metaphysics and Culture at the University of Antwerp. «