Cohen, Hermann [addendum]
Philosophical research between 1960 and 2004 looked at Cohen's thought from both a historical and a theoretical viewpoint. In the age of the integration of German Jews into German society, he was the foremost advocate of the need for a meeting between the Enlightenment and Judaism.
Cohen had an important influence on various philosophical fields. Ernst Cassirer's neo-Kantian approach to human culture (1943) and J. B. Soloveitchik's neo-Kantian attitude to religion, particularly Judaism (1986), owe their method to his work. Both Husserl's and Heidegger's interpretations of Kant's transcendental philosophy, and therefore the phenomenological or existentialist concept of the self, derive from Cohen's theory of knowledge (Dussort 1963, Vuillemin 1954). Hans Kelsen's juridical positivism was inspired by Cohen's idea of "natural right" (Winter 1980). Franz Rosenzweig's philosophy of divine revelation—as a bond between a human being and God through "religious love"—stems from Cohen (Altmann 1970). Lastly, Cohen's essays on the history of philosophy influenced Leo Strauss's interpretations of Spinoza, Maimonides, and the relation between "Jerusalem" and "Athens" (Kajon 2002).
Cohen's logic has inspired examinations into the fundamental principles of mathematics and physics (Holzhey 1986). Unlike Hegelianism on the one hand and postmodernism on the other, Cohen's ethics sought the relation between reason and the facts of law, state, and history (Gigliotti 1989). His aesthetics invites a criticism of art for art's sake (Poma 1997). His philosophy of religion expresses the need for a "religion of reason" which keeps the profundity of religious life (Zac 1984).
Cohen's thought stems from both Jewish tradition and European idealism, hence its fertile, albeit problematic, character.
Bibliography
Cohen's Works
Werke "Hermann-Cohen-Archiv am Philosophischem Seminar Zürich" under the direction of Helmut Holzhey. Hildesheim, Germany: Olms, 1977–.
Works on Cohen
Altmann, Alexander. "Hermann Cohens Begriff der Korrelation." In Von der mittelalterlichen zur modernen Aufklärung: Studien zur jüdischen Geistesgeschichte, 300–317. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr, 1970.
Cassirer, Ernst. "Hermann Cohen." Social Research 10 (2) (1943): 219–232.
Dussort, Henry. L'école de Marbourg. Paris: PUF, 1963.
Gigliotti, Gianna. "Avventure e disavventure del trascendentale." Studio su Cohen e Natorp. Napoli, Italy: Guida, 1989.
Holzhey, Helmut. Cohen und Natorp. Basel-Stuttgart, Germany: Schwabe, 1986.
Kajon, Irene. Il pensiero ebraico del Novecento: Una introduzione. Roma, Italy: Donzelli, 2002. (English edition: Contemporary Jewish Philosophy: An Introduction. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005.)
Kinkel, Walter. Hermann Cohen: Einführung in sein Werk. Stuttgart, Germany: Strecken und Schröder, 1924.
Natorp, Paul. Hermann Cohen als Mensch, Lehrer, und Forscher. Marburg, Elwert: 1918.
Poma, Andrea. The Critical Philosophy of Hermann Cohen. Translated by John Denton. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997.
Rosmarin, T. W. Religion of Reason: Hermann Cohen's System of Religious Philosophy. New York: Bloch, 1936.
Soloveitchik J. B. The Halakhic Mind. New York: Seth Press, 1986.
Vuillemin, J. L'héritage kantien et la révolution copernicienne. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1954.
Winter E. Ethik und Rechtswissenschaft: Eine historisch-systematische Untersuchung zur Ethik-Konzeption des Marburger Neukantianismus im Werke Hermann Cohens. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1980.
Zac, Sylvain. La philosophie religieuse de Hermann Cohen. Paris: Vrin, 1984.
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