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The eighteenth-century German physicist, philosopher, and aphorist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-99) is well known for his objection to the substantial view of the self, but his thoughts on idealism and the relationship of his views to the positions of his philosophical predecessors are less familiar. I argue that Lichtenberg's empiricism leads him to maintain a form of idealism according to which objects for us are only representations, and I show how this position relates to his linguistic idealism and his coherentist theory of truth. Seen in this light, Lichtenberg makes an important, if unacknowledged, contribution to the history of German philosophy distinct from later German idealism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the German philosopher Samuel Freiherr von Pufendorf's view on God's imposition of morality on humans. An overview of God's moral powers, including His ability to impose obligations regarding sociability and in the recognition of equal dignity and human rights, is provided. The influence of the philosopher Hugo Grotius on the Pufendorf's philosophy is discussed. An overview of Pufendorf's divine command theory of ethics, including aspects which concern authority, recognition and accountability, is presented.

The article discusses German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's book "Phenomenology of Spirit" and its relation to philosopher Benedictus de Spinoza's view of sensuous experience and to the Eleusinian mysteries. Particular focus is given to the first chapter of Hegel's aforementioned book, titled "Sense Certainty," in relation to Spinoza's notion of substance, or that which stands beyond sensuous objects and experience. An overview of Hegel's thought experiments regarding the senses and sensuous experience is also provided. The article examines the role that pantheism and Christianity play in "Sense Certainty."

The article discusses the ways in which German philosopher Gottlob Ernst Schulze contested the representationalist thought of philosopher Karl Leonhard Reinhold in his work "Aenesidemus." Schulze's influence on the German philosopher Johann Fichte and German Idealism in general is detailed as well. The author explains Schulze's thoughts on Reinhold's understanding of general consciousness and representation, as well as Fichte's acceptance of Reinhold's definitions of self-consciousness and the self.