Survival and criticism of the Enlightenment of Idealism

The German idealists believed that a philosophica1 reflexion was not possible independently of the enlighted critic, and, though keeping far from certain aspects of that critic, they generally accepted the results of the rationalist shake in the field of religion, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, natural sciences and such social sciences as economy and law. The German Enlightment had certainly departed from the French Enlightment, and vitalism had confronted to mechanicism; nevertheless, this first revision of Enlightment had not weakened its principles. The German idealists proceeded further, proclaiming the primacy of freedom beyond reason and the fundamenta1 character of ethics. The author analyzes that process on the basis of a commentary of The oldes programm of the system of German idealism and of Hegel's works