Theodor Lipps

This book is the first comprehensive monograph devoted to the work of Theodor Lipps (1851-1914), a major figure in German intellectual life of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who is today mostly remembered as a pioneering theorist of empathy and a key figure in the history of aesthetics. Although Lipps’s thought has gained in recognition in recent years and his ideas resonate with many fields of current research, to date no systematic analysis of his work has appeared. The present monograph aims to fill this historiographical gap by revisiting the key aspects of his oeuvre, namely, his contribution to psychology, the theory of empathy, epistemology and logic, the theory of science, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, and the theory of language. Based on a careful analysis of Lipps’s writings, it pays special attention to how, in each of these eight domains, his ideas evolved from the late 1870s to the early 1910s, while placing them in their intellectual context and addressing the question of their reception and critical fortune. The book also discusses the significance and topicality of Lippsian thought in light of recent advances in philosophy and science, especially in affective science, social cognition, and aesthetics.