BOUTERWEK (Friedrich).
Idee einer Apodiktik. Ein Beytrag zur menschlichen Selbstverständigung und zur Entscheidung des Streits über Metaphysik, kritische Philosophie und Skepticismus.
A lovely copy of the rare first edition of the ‘magnum opus’ by the German philosopher Friedrich Bouterwek (1766-1828), ‘a reworking and improvement of Kant’s philosophy in a realistic direction (as opposed to Fichte’s idealistic turn), seeking to defend critical philosophy against scepticism’ (Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers).
Bouterwek’s Idea of an Apodictic (1799) ‘seeks to offer the foundation of all philosophy: of experience, of proofs and of reality, thereby refuting what Bouterwek considered the strongest form of scepticism, Pyrrhonism. It tries to do so in a realistic fashion, and Bouterwek sharply distinguishes his project from Fichte’s Wissenschaftslehre. The Apodictic consists of three parts: a Logical, a Transcendental and a Practical Apodictic, concerning thought, knowledge and free action respectively. Later in his life Bouterwek came to realize that his Apodictic could not truly stand up to scepticism, as it could never be proved that virtuality was the foundation of absolute reality. Under the influence of Jacobi he established a different system, building on feeling and faith in order to secure the existence of an external reality’ (Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers).
