Neo-Kantian Writings in Marburg, 1880–1889

This chapter describes Cohen’s writings on philosophy in the 1880s, specifically his work on epistemology and aesthetics. It analyzes Cohen’s Das Princip der Unendliche Methode where Cohen advocates an analysis of sensibility into intelligible units called infinitesimals. This marks the beginning of his break with Kant’s dualism between understanding and sensibility. One section considers the second edition of Kants Theorie der Erfahrung, which brought many changes in his evolving philosophy. A final section deals with Cohen’s first foray into the field of aesthetics, his book Kants Begründung der Aesthetik. Cohen’s early aesthetics is interpreted as an attempt to reinstate classical aesthetic values against romanticism.