On Robert Pippin's transformation from defending Hegelian idealism to exploring Heidegger's poetic thinking
Sebastian Gardner's review of Robert Pippin's The Culmination presented balanced commentary, with reservations at the conclusion. Gardner first noted that late Schelling had already pursued similar philosophical ground ahead of Heidegger. The Culmination examines Heidegger's assessment of German idealism spanning Kant through Hegel—so why overlook this central thinker?
The second critique carried greater weight: what if Sinn and Seyn fail to correspond? Gardner questions whether we can confirm that Seyn's actual requirement is for Sinn without Kant and Hegel's frameworks. He asks whether Seyn itself genuinely poses questions in the rigorous sense.
Gardner's dismissal feels incomplete. Why not more seriously engage Pippin's undertaking? Few living philosophers—perhaps only Habermas or Longuenesse—grasp the implications of theorizing beyond Kant-Hegelian traditions as thoroughly as Pippin does across five decades of scholarship. The more compelling question asks: whither is Pippin, who once defended "thinking thinking thinking" as intelligible and truthful, now venturing into poetic reflection and the incomprehensible?
I'd argue The Culmination addresses something else entirely. The book remains brief and shallow regarding Kant, Hegel, and Heidegger specifically. It culminates in Heidegger's poetic thinking concept—sparse treatment compared to Pippin's voluminous prior work analyzing Kant and Hegel intricacies.
As standalone scholarship, The Culmination cannot rival his remarkable Hegel's Idealism or his philosophical masterwork Hegel's Realm of Shadows. Yet examining Pippin's complete arc and body of work, this book emerges as the most significant he has produced. Similar to novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans—who transitioned from decadence and pessimism toward Catholic conversion—Pippin undertakes his own philosophical transformation.
His forthcoming work, Robert Bresson: Cinematic Style as Philosophy, suggests Pippin is returning to himself. The Culmination appears designed to grant himself permission to think and compose differently. Throughout his career, before and after this book, Pippin remains fundamentally a philosopher devoted to art—particularly cinema.