The first ever English translation of Francois Hemsterhuis' early series of philosophical letters published during the 1760s and 1770s. In this edition, the Letter on an Antique Gemstone, Letter on Sculpture, Letter on Desires and Letter on Man and his Relations are published chronologically to gradually reveal Hemsterhuis' complete systematic vision. They are supplemented with three introductions: the first by Peter Sonderen pinpoints the significance of Hemsterhuis' remarkably influential aesthetics; the second by Jacob van Sluis provides the context to his comprehensive Letter on Man and his Relations; and the third by Gabriel Trop focuses on the importance of these writings in the history of ideas, especially Herder's translation and 'Postscript' to the Letter on Desires, Diderot's commentary on the Letter on Man and his Relations and Goethe's incorporation of Hemsterhuis' definition of beauty into his aesthetic reflections.

The first ever English translation of Fran ois Hemsterhuis' philosophically ambitious and illuminating fragments, notes and correspondence Translates Hemsterhuis' fragmentary notes, treatises and letters in English for the first time, supplementing and informing the texts published in volumes 1 and 2 of the series Introduces the first translation into any language that is based on a critical and complete edition of Hemsterhuis' correspondence and unedited works Forms a scholarly edition with full apparatus and commentaries that will elucidate the meaning of Hemsterhuis' texts Includes introductory essays that cover the full range of subjects at stake in the texts by world-leading scholars of Dutch philosophy like Jonathan I. Israel and Henri A. Krop A complete edition with full scholarly apparatus and commentaries, tracing Hemsterhuis' remarkable influence on the French Enlightenment, German Idealism and German Romanticism. The first ever English translation of Fran ois Hemsterhuis' philosophically ambitious and illuminating fragments, notes and correspondence, making accessible to Anglophone readers some of the most significant texts, for a genuine understanding of his philosophy. This final volume in The Edinburgh Edition of the Complete Philosophical Works of Fran ois Hemsterhuis includes the Letter on Atheism, the Letter on Fatalism and the Letter on Optics all penned as part of his remarkable correspondence with Amalie Gallitzin as well as the unpublished dialogue, Alexis II. Also included is Hemsterhuis' philosophical responses to Plato, Spinoza and Diderot, to contemporary political events in the Dutch Republic and to the French Revolution.

The first English translation of Francois Hemsterhuis' widely influential late dialogues, which came to be entwined in contemporary philosophical debates in GermanyThe four published dialogues offer diverse treatments of non-materialist philosophy. Sophylus is concerned with providing the basic epistemological structures that Hemsterhuis believes are compatible with common sense, Socratic inquiry and Newtonian science. Aristeaus is a sustained series of reflections on arguments for the existence of God, concepts of order and chaos in the universe. Simon is closely modelled on Plato's Symposium in style, structure and content and provides the clearest statement of Hemsterhuis' late ethics and aesthetics. Finally, Alexis the favourite work of many of the German Romantics uses contemporary discussions of astronomy and optics to formulate a mythic ode to the role of enthusiasm and feeling in the constitution of wisdom. Two editorial introductions supplement these translations the first by Daniel Whistler considers Hemsterhuis' relationship with Amelia Gallitzin and how that influenced what he came to call 'our philosophy' and the second by Laure Cahen-Maurel examines the role played by Jacobi and others in the transmission of these texts and their influence on Holderlin's Hyperion and Novalis' Hemsterhuis-Studies in particular.