: If the mind actively constructs and organizes our reality, how do we know a real world exists outside our heads?
Beiser traces how different thinkers attempted to overcome subjectivism between 1781 and 1801: German idealism: the struggle against subjectiv...
Frederick Beiser's landmark book, German Idealism: The Struggle Against Subjectivism, 1781–1801 , completely reframes the classic narrative of post-Kantian philosophy. Traditionally, German Idealism is taught as a continuous retreat into human consciousness, culminating in a radical, self-contained subjectivism. Beiser argues the exact opposite: it was an intense, deliberate struggle to escape the "egocentric predicament" and prove the reality of the external world. : If the mind actively constructs and organizes