After Herder Philosophy of Language in the German Tradition

Philosophy of language has for some time now been the very core of the discipline of philosophy. But where did it begin? Frege has sometimes been identified as its father, but in fact its origins lie much further back, in a tradition that arose in eighteenth-century Germany. Michael Forster explores that tradition. He also makes a case that the most important thinker within that tradition was J. G. Herder, and shows that Herder and his tradition are in many wayssuperior to dominant trends in more recent philosophy of language: deeper in their principles and broader in their focus.

Michael Forster has taught at the University of Chicago since 1985, where he served for ten years as chairman of the Philosophy Department and is currently the Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor in Philosophy and the College. He is the author of six books on German philosophy, including German Philosophy of Language: From Schlegel to Hegel and beyond (OUP, 2011), and many articles on German philosophy and ancient philosophy. Thematically, his main interests are philosophy of language (broadly construed) and epistemology (especially skepticism).

Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART I: HERDER
1. Johann Gottfried Herder
2. Herder's Philosophy of Language, Interpretation, and Translation: Three Fundamental Principles
3. Gods, Animals, and Artists: Some Problem Cases in Herder's Philosophy of Language
4. Herder's Importance as a Philosopher
5. Herder on Genre
6. Herder and the Birth of Modern Anthropology
7. The Liberal Temper in Classical German Philosophy: Freedom of Thought and Expression
PART II: HAMANN
8. Johann Georg Hamann
9. Hamann's Seminal Importance for the Philosophy of Language?
PART III: SCHLEIERMACHER
10. Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher
11. Schleiermacher's Hermeneutics: Some Problems and Solutions
12. Herder, Schleiermacher, and the Birth of Foreignizing Translation
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