Review of Robert Pippin’s The Culmination: Heidegger, German Idealism, and the Fate of Philosophy

After helping to inaugurate the Anglophone Hegelian revival, Pippin offers a striking reassessment of that revival in The Culmination: Heidegger, German Idealism, and the Fate of Philosophy. Pippin’s main claim is that Heidegger “understood the Idealist tradition and its significance better than anyone had hitherto.” However, this claim overlooks the depth of Schelling’s understanding of German idealism and the strength of his critique of Hegel. Schelling mounts a formidable critique of Hegel that anticipates crucial aspects of Heidegger’s critique, including aspects missing from Pippin’s account. I rehearse the development of Pippin’s pursuit of a defensible account of Hegel’s argument for the speculative identity of thought and being. I then present Pippin’s post-idealist turn in The Culmination by summarizing the book. Finally, I demarcate the Schellingian lacuna in Pippin’s endorsement of Heidegger’s critique of Hegel.