The present work is a history of ideas, cultural movements, and historical conceptual connections, rather than a history of the personalities who were the bearers of those ideas. Accordingly, this history of German idealism could only be treated pragmatically, in the sense of a pragmatics of the spirit, the essence of which will hopefully become increasingly clear throughout the entire work. (Preface to the first volume) Reprint of the first volume of the original edition from 1909.