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Friedrich Schlegel Emergence of Romantic Philosophy Friedrich Schlegel and the Emergence of Romantic Philosophy Elizabeth Millán-Zaibert Friedrich Schlegel and the Emergence of Romantic Philosophy SUNY series, Intersections: Philosophy and Critical Theory Rodolphe Gasché, editor Friedrich Schlegel and the Emergence of Romantic Philosophy ማሜምሞ ELIZABETH MILLÁN-ZAIBERT State University of New York Press Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2007 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press, 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 12210-2384 Production by Judith Block Marketing by Michael Campochiaro Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Millán-Zaibert, Elizabeth. Friedrich Schlegel and the emergence of romantic philosophy / Elizabeth Millán-Zaibert. p. cm. — (SUNY series in intersections—philosophy and critical theory) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-7083-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Schlegel, Friedrich von, 1772–1829. 2. Romanticism—Germany. I. Title. B3086.S54M55 2007 193—dc22 2006021934 10987654321 For Leo and in memory of my grandmother (1916–2005) Contents ማሜምሞ Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Philosophy and Early German Romanticism 1 The Literary Dimensions of Early German Romanticism 5 Defining Romanticism 10 Schlegel’s Antifoundationalism 18 Overview 20 1. Finding Room for the Romantics between Kant and Hegel 25 Idealism: From Misconceptions to Post-Kantian Variations 28 Searching for the Unity of Thought and Being: Idealist Jäger versus Romantic Spürhunde 32 Frank’s Romantic Realists versus Beiser’s Romantic Idealists 38 On Why Schlegel Is Not Hegel 44 Romantic Skepticism 48 2. Searching for the Grounds of Knowledge 53 Jacobi’s Salto Mortale 54 Schlegel’s Reaction to the Salto 57 Reinhold’s Elementarphilosophie 62 Aenesidemus and the Shift from Principle to Fact of Consciousness 65 Fichte’s Move from Fact to Act of Consciousness 68 viii Contents 3. Fichte’s Wissenschaftslehre: A Tendency to Be Avoided? 71 The Foundations of Fichte’s Wissenschaftslehre 72 The Clash between Schmid and Fichte 75 Fichte and Schlegel on Critical Philosophy 79 Fichte’s Mystical Errors 86 The Spirit versus the Letter of Fichte’s Philosophy 91 4. Niethammer’s Influence on the Development of Schlegel’s Skepticism 95 Niethammer’s Skepticism 97 Niethammer’s Appeal to Common Sense 101 Schlegel’s Philosophical Debut 109 Schlegel’s Critique of Niethammer’s Appeal to Common Sense 111 Schlegel’s Historical Taxonomy 114 5. Critique as Metaphilosophy: Kant as Half Critic 117 Revolution, Scientific Method, and Kant’s Critical Project 120 Critiquing the Critical Philosopher 122 Away from Kant: Schlegel’s Historical Turn 127 6. Philosophy in Media Res 133 The Wechselerweis and the Search for Truth 134 Philosophy “in the Middle”: Between Fichte and Spinoza 137 Destroying the Illusion of the Finite: Schlegel’s Critique of the Thing 141 Wilhelm Meister: Schlegel’s Model of Coherence 150 7. The Aesthetic Consequences of Antifoundationalism 159 The Modern Spirit of Romanticism 160 Understanding, Misunderstanding, and Irony 165 Irony and the Necessity of Poetry 170 Notes 175 Bibliography 231 Index 249 Acknowledgments ማሜምሞ y work on Schlegel began in 1993 when I was a graduate student Mat the State University of New York, Buffalo. The present book is a rather distant relative of my first attempts to come to terms with Schlegel’s unconventional philosophy. I am grateful to many people who have helped me to develop work in a field that has only recently appeared on the radar screens of philosophers. Manfred Frank, with whom I first began my studies not only of Friedrich Schlegel’s work, but also of the entire ro- mantic constellation, shaped my philosophical development in important ways, and I hope that in the pages of this book, he can read the debt I have to him. I am also grateful to the German Academic Exchange Ser- vice, for the generous graduate fellowship they provided so that I could begin my initial explorations of early German romantic philosophy. Rodolphe Gasché has supported my work from the beginning in many ways, and I am thankful for his support, not only in helping me to develop some of my views but also in helping me find venues to publish my work. I am also grateful to Jorge Gracia, who, while far removed philosophically from figures such as Kant and Schlegel, helped me develop my interests in German philosophy. Newton Garver read the entire manuscript in an earlier form and offered comments that much improved the current work. Barry Smith’s work has always been a source of philosophical insights for me, and despite (perhaps because of) our philosophical differences, I always learn from him. Peter Hare’s comments on an earlier version of the manuscript led me to rethink some of my claims regarding Schlegel’s epistemology. Ronald Hauser led me to my first encounter with Wilhelm Meister and many other German literary treasures, and I will be ever grateful for the path he opened for me to the literary side of German Romanticism. ix x Acknowledgments In 2001 I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the NEH Summer Institute on Kant and early German Romanticism that was organized by Jane Kneller and Karl Ameriks. The discussions I had there helped me to clarify some of the points that I develop in the present volume. To Karl Ameriks I owe a special debt, for his encouragement of my work has been unflagging. At the NEH Institute I met Fred Beiser and Bob Richards, two thinkers whose work has been invaluable to the field of early German Romanticism and whose intellectual generosity is a true gift. Fred read my dissertation on Schlegel and sent me comments that led me to rethink several of my claims and to work harder to sharpen some of my points. The influence of his work is evident in the following pages, and I hope that my criticism of some aspects of his arguments does not overshadow the great admiration I have for his work. Bob Richards has been most supportive, and our discussions of Schlegel and other themes related to early German Romanticism have certainly helped me to sharpen my views. Thom Brooks read the entire manuscript, and his comments were of great value. Versions of some of the chapters were presented at conferences or talks. Given the generous support of the Alexander von Humboldt Foun- dation, I was able to spend the 2004–05 academic year in Leipzig, Ger- many. I am grateful for the kind reception I received from the Department of Philosophy at the Universität Leipzig, and for the comments I received at a talk I gave there. The arguments I develop in chapter 1 were shaped considerably by those comments. My host in Leipzig was Pirmin Stekeler- Weithofer, and I thank him for his support. Chapter 3 developed out of a talk I gave for the North American Fichte Society, and I am grateful to Dan Breazeale, Tom Rockmore, and Arnold Farr for organizing that meeting and to the participants there for their comments. My views on Schlegel’s reception of Kant came into focus as I prepared a talk for the North American Kant Association Session on Kant and Romanticism at the Ameri- can Philosophical Association’s Central Division Meeting in 2002. I thank Karl Ameriks for organizing that talk and Jane Kneller and Peter Foley for discussion that helped me to develop the material that became chapter 5 of the present book. Some of the ideas developed in chapter 7 were first developed for an article (“Romanticismo e postmoderno: variazioni incompresse sulla critica della modernità”) that Nectarios Limantis and Luigi Pastore invited me to write for their collection Prospettive sul Postmoderno (Milano: Mimesis, 2006). I would also like to offer thanks to Bärbel Frischmann, a fellow Schlegel scholar. Her work and friendship have shaped my work. I would also like to thank the students in the graduate seminars I have taught at the Universidad Simón Bolívar, in Caracas, Venezuela and at DePaul Univer- Acknowledgments xi sity in Chicago, for the many stimulating discussions which have helped me look in new directions and develop my ideas. Though distance separates us, I am deeply thankful for the friendship and support of my work from Rafael Tomás Caldera, Victor Krebs, Fabio Morales, and the late Luis Castro Leiva. My gratitude also extends to the editorial staff at SUNY Press, in particular to the production editor, Judith Block, and to Marilyn Semerad, director of production, for their expertise in guiding the manuscript to its final form. I also wish to acknowledge David Prout, who prepared a thorough and detailed index, which contributes greatly to the usefulness of the book. I am also grateful for a grant from the University Research Council of DePaul University which helped cover the costs associated with the final preparation of the manuscript My first philosophical investigations began by my grandmother’s side, and they continue with the most supportive partner in all of my Symphilosophie, my husband and fellow philosopher, Leo, who has con- tributed to this book in more ways than I can properly acknowledge. Introduction ማሜምሞ Philosophy and Early German Romanticism he value of early German Romanticism as a literary movement has Tbeen generally accepted.1 The growing interest in the movement by philosophers is a more recent phenomenon; it is no overstatement to claim that there is currently a renaissance of interest in the philosophical dimensions of early German Romanticism.2 Stanley Cavell, Frederick Beiser, and Andrew Bowie were among the first brave souls in the Anglophone world to dare ascribe philosophi- cal importance to early German Romanticism.
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