DOCSLIB.ORG

Romanticism and the Rise of German Nationalism Author(S): Hans Kohn Reviewed Work(S): Source: the Review of Politics, Vol

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Romanticism and the Rise of German Nationalism Author(S): Hans Kohn Reviewed Work(S): Source: the Review of Politics, Vol Romanticism and the Rise of German Nationalism Author(s): Hans Kohn Reviewed work(s): Source: The Review of Politics, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Oct., 1950), pp. 443-472 Published by: Cambridge University Press for the University of Notre Dame du lac on behalf of Review of Politics Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1404884 . Accessed: 03/02/2013 23:40 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Cambridge University Press and University of Notre Dame du lac on behalf of Review of Politics are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Review of Politics. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded on Sun, 3 Feb 2013 23:40:52 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Romanticism and the Rise of German Nationalism By Hans Kohn I ROMANTICISM, though in its beginninglittle concernedwith politics or the state, preparedthe rise of German nationalism after 1800. It was an aestheticrevolution, a resort to imagination, almost femininein its sensibility;it was poetrymore deeply indebted to the spirit of music than the poetry of the eighteenthcentury had been, rich in emotionaldepth, more potent in magic evocation. But Germanromanticism was and wishedto be more than poetry. It was an interpretationof life, nature and history- and this philosophic characterdistinguished it from romanticismin other lands. It was sharplyopposed to the rationalismof the eighteenthcentury; it mobil- ized the fascinationof the past to fight againstthe principlesof 1789. In that indirectway romanticismcame to concernitself with political and social life and with the state. It neverdeveloped a programfor a modernGerman nation-state, but with its emphasison the peculiarity of the Germanmind it helpedthe growthof a consciousnessof Ger- man uniqueness. It started as a movementof intellectuals,many of them of the type of unsettledbohemians who are often found in the vanguardof movementsof culturalrenovation which coincidewith the beginning of social change. They were the spiritualchildren of the Storm and Stresswhich had precededthem by thirtyyears, and they werein ardent oppositionto the mature Goethe who had long outgrownhis brief Storm and Stress period. They admiredhim as a creativeman of letters,as the embodimentof the princelyartist, but his conceptof the individualthey rejected. Goethe's goal of education was the well- roundedharmonious individual, the "Persinlichkeit,"the personality which willinglysubordinated itself to bindingforms and to the obliga- tion of universallaw, which rejoicesin measure,symmetry and pro- portion,which acknowledges the limits of the humanand the humane. The romanticindividual, on the other hand, regardedhimself not as 443 This content downloaded on Sun, 3 Feb 2013 23:40:52 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 444 THE REVIEW OF POLITICS a representativeof the universalorder, but as unique,rejecting limits imposedby measureor societyand demandingfull freedomfor his creativegenius.1 But the romanticist,feeling himself hemmed in by the societywhich he foundaround or ratherbeneath himself, did not acceptthe titanicloneliness of the Stormand Stress.He wasdrawn longinglytowards a communityof like-mindedindividuals who would live a full life accordingto theirinnermost emotions. The complexity and anguishof this searchfor a communitywere heightened by the underlyingall-demanding subjectivism; the uniqueindividual longed for a total self-assertionof all his conflictingdesires and yet felt the tragicneed for fulfillmentin the miracleof a trueharmonious union in whichall the conflictingopposites of life wouldbe reconciled,of a new goldenage whichseemed accessible to the magicpower of the artist. Art becameto the romanticiststhe newreligion. In theirquest for the miraculousthe romanticistsfound the ration- alismand commonsense of the eighteenthcentury shallow and super- ficial. The decisiveforce of the individual,according to the roman- ticists,resided in his sentimentswhich distinguished him fromothers andrendered him unique among men. The strengthof the individual's desiresin whichhis trueego expresseditself validated them; the pas- sionof longingestablished the rightto its object.The morepassionate manwas, the morefully he lived. Passionwas the prerogativeof the artist, poet, seer who obeyeddeep impulsesin his innermostself. While this discoveryof the irrationalenriched poetry and the under- standingof man, it carried,as Goetherecognized, a threatto the 1 See on "personality"and "individuality" Fritz Strich, Dichtung und Zivilisation (Munich, 1928), p. 35, and his Deutsche Klassik und Romantik (Munich, 1922). See on romanticismin general the articles by Arthur O. Lovejoy, Goetz A. Briefs and Eugene N. Anderson in Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. II, No. 3 (June, 1941). On the political implications see Paul Kluckhohn, Persinlichkeit und Gemeinschaft, Studien Zur Staatsauffasungder deutschen Romantik, (Halle, 1925); Carl Schmitt, Politische Roman- tik, 2nd ed. (Munich, 1925); Jakob Baxa, Einfihrung in die romantischeStaatswissen- schaft (Jena, 1923); Gesellschaft und Staat im Spiegel deutscher Romantik, ed. by Jacob Baxa (Jena, 1924); Kurt Borries, Die Romantik und die Geschichte (Berlin, 1925); Andries David Verschoor, Die iltere deutsche Romantik und die Nationalidee, (Amster- dam, 1928); Gottfried Salomon, Das Mittelalter als Ideal in der Romantik (Munich, 1922); Reinhold Aris, History of Political Thought in Germany from 1789 to 1815 (London, 1936), pp. 205-341; Josef Kmrner,Die Botschaft der deutschen Romantik an Europa (Augsburg, 1933). Two more general works are Julius Petersen, Wesenbestim- mung der deutschen Romantik (Leipzig, 1926), and Henri Brunschwig, La Crise de l'Etat Prussien a la fin du XVIIIe siecle et la genese de la mentalite romantique (Paris, 1947). On the differencebetween English and German romanticismsee Hoxie N. Fair- child, "The Romantic movement in England," part of a symposium on romanticismin PMLA, vol. 55 (March, 1940), pp. 1-60. This content downloaded on Sun, 3 Feb 2013 23:40:52 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROMANTICISM AND GERMAN NATIONALISM 445 rationalorder of law and societyif it luredman to lose oneselfin it insteadof challenginghim to controlit. The desiredeasily appeared to poeticimagination as the indispensableto be achievedat any cost; everythingcould be turnedinto an instrumentof full self-realization or self-enjoyment.The idealcommunity of the utopiandream refused to acceptthe hard limitationsof realityimposed in the interestsof equalfellow-men; it promisedto uniteall in an organicway in which everybodywould be fully himselfwithout any limitationsand yet at the sametime fully part of the whole in a lovingembrace without conflictor friction. In such a perfectcommunity individual and societywere no longerin needof legaland constitutionalguarantees in theirrelationship; individual and communitybecame two sidesof the one perfectlife whichwould be all in all, far beyondand above all legaldistinctions and the needfor them.The anarchicindividualism found its complementin the total community.Both these extremes existedoutside the real societywith its necessaryadjustments and compromises;they led a "purelife" in the imaginationof the romantic artists. To mistakeimagination for desirablereality was boundto spelldanger to the freeindividual and to a societybased on law. The romanticmovement began as an artisticrevolt against eighteenthcentury culture which seemed not to satisfythe soul and not to warmthe heart. This apparentlyuninspired and uninspiring civilizationseemed inflated with philistine pride in the recentprogress of men. The romanticistsfound thereneither chivalry nor poetry, neithermiracle nor mystery.French rationalism had contemptuously. lookeddown upon the past and especiallyupon the MiddleAges. The romanticistsfound in thesevery periods the wondrousfairyland which they missedin the present.Repelled by theircontemporary world,they discovered inspiration and beautyin history. On this roadto the pastthey followed Justus M6ser and Herder, the forerunnersof Germannationalism.2 But Moser was a practical statesman,and his love of the ruralfreeholders of the MiddleAges was rootedin his nativesoil and in his personalexperience. Herder's vision was infinitelybroader; like the romanticistshe saw creative forcesat workin everyphenomenon of natureand history, a dynamic pantheismof organicgrowth, yet all theseforces were held withina 2 Hans Kohn, The Idea of Nationalism, pp. 413ff, This content downloaded on Sun, 3 Feb 2013 23:40:52 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 446 THE REVIEW OF POLITICS contextof enlightenedhumanitarianism and rationalmorality, rejected by the romanticists.But thoughMoser and Herdervalued the past, they livedin the presentand wishedto go forward;the romanticists succumbedto the lureof historyand wishedto enrichthe presentby revivingthe past. Theyfelt it so overflowingwith poetry, so venerable with legendand prophecy,that theycould not studyit withrational detachment;it seemedto themimpenetrable to the analyticalapproach of scholarlyreason; it couldbe
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Illuminati Conspiracy Part One: a Precise Exegesis on the Available Evidence
    http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/Illuminati.htm Illuminati Conspiracy Part One: A Precise Exegesis on the Available Evidence - by Terry Melanson, Aug. 5th, 2005 Illuminati Conspiracy Part Two: Sniffing out Jesuits A Metaprogrammer at the Door of Chapel Perilous In the literature that concerns the Illuminati relentless speculation abounds. No other secret society in recent history - with the exception of Freemasonry - has generated as much legend, hysteria, and disinformation. I first became aware of the the Illuminati about 14 years ago. Shortly thereafter I read a book, written by Robert Anton Wilson, called Cosmic Trigger: Final Secret of the Illuminati. Wilson published it in 1977 but his opening remarks on the subject still ring true today: Briefly, the background of the Bavarian Illuminati puzzle is this. On May 1, 1776, in Bavaria, Dr. Adam Weishaupt, a professor of Canon Law at Ingolstadt University and a former Jesuit, formed a secret society called the Order of the Illuminati within the existing Masonic lodges of Germany. Since Masonry is itself a secret society, the Illuminati was a secret society within a secret society, a mystery inside a mystery, so to say. In 1785 the Illuminati were suppressed by the Bavarian government for allegedly plotting to overthrow all the kings in Europe and the Pope to boot. This much is generally agreed upon by all historians. 1 Everything else is a matter of heated, and sometimes fetid, controversy. It has been claimed that Dr. Weishaupt was an atheist, a Cabalistic magician, a rationalist, a mystic; a democrat, a socialist, an anarchist, a fascist; a Machiavellian amoralist, an alchemist, a totalitarian and an "enthusiastic philanthropist." (The last was the verdict of Thomas Jefferson, by the way.) The Illuminati have also been credited with managing the French and American revolutions behind the scenes, taking over the world, being the brains behind Communism, continuing underground up to the 1970s, secretly worshipping the Devil, and mopery with intent to gawk.
    [Show full text]
  • Franz Von BAADER's (1765 – 1841) Conception of Evolution in the Context of Contemporary Earth Sciences
    Berichte der Geologischen Bundesanstalt ISSN 1017-8880, 101, Wien 2013 FRANZ, Inge Inge F RANZ Franz von BAADER's (1765 – 1841) Conception of Evolution in the Context of Contemporary Earth Sciences Inge FRANZ, Brockhausstraße 8, Leipzig Franz Xaver von BAADER (1765 - 1841) was a fully qualified physician who studied at the Freiberg Uni- versity of Mining and Technology from 1788 to 1792. He first gained practical mining experience in England and Scotland, besides he was active in his home province of Bavaria from 1796 onwards. Already in Freiberg, he published articles about technical innovations in mining. Following rationali- sation measures in Bavarian mining (including the mergers of several administrative departments), he was retired temporarily in 1820. He turned his attention primarily towards the humanities, but also continued to discuss problems relating to medicine and natural sciences. A comprehensive theory of evolution was only arrived at around the mid-nineteenth century. In the manner of a geological resume, BAADER, during his final year, emphasised his actualistic (uniformistic) directedness, the core themes of which he centred round the category of time: developmental- theoretical positions, especially those philosophical and scientific ones that were orientated on dy- namics. But how did the young BAADER approach evolutionist thinking? Here are some distinctive milestones. The existing level of knowledge starting from about the beginning of the 18th century until the end of that century is first outlined with examples that had some influence on BAADER's thinking. These begin with the universal scholar Gottfried Wilhelm LEIBNIZ (1646 - 1716), who presented essen- tial developmental-historical and conceptual, deterministic-dynamic substantiations, geologically applying these to include mining.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ontology of Evil: Schelling and Pareyson
    The Ontology of Evil: Schelling and Pareyson A thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Daniele Fulvi PhD Candidate in Philosophy Western Sydney University School of Humanities and Communication Arts 2020 Acknowledgements First of all, I acknowledge the Darug, Tharawal, Cabrogal and Wiradjuri peoples as the traditional owners of the land on which this thesis has been written. Sovereignty was never ceded, and this has always been and always will be Aboriginal land. I want to sincerely thank my principal supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Diego Bubbio, for his priceless guidance over the last few years. He had the initial idea for this research project in 2015 and without his encouragement and advice I would have never had the opportunity to continue and complete my education in Australia. I also have to thank my co-supervisor, Prof. Dennis Schmidt, for his very precious support and for his tremendous insights. My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Chris Fleming and Assoc. Prof. Matt McGuire for having been part of my Confirmation of Candidature Committee. I also want to thank Assoc. Prof. Jennifer Mensch, Assoc. Prof. Dimitris Vardoulakis, Dr. Paul Alberts-Dezeew, and in general all the philosophy staff at the School of Humanities and Communication Arts of Western Sydney University, for having always been extremely friendly and available to me all the time. Special thanks also go to Dr. Wayne Peake for his immense patience and inestimable support for all the paperwork and administrative procedures I have had to complete. His help really made my life easier. Moreover, I wish to thank Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • Franz Baader Und William Godwin Zum Einfluß Des Englischen Sozialismus in Der Deutschen Romantik
    Klaus Peter Franz Baader und William Godwin Zum Einfluß des englischen Sozialismus in der deutschen Romantik Franz Baader, der Romantiker, hat früh begonnen und lange ge­ wirkt. Bereits in den 1780er Jahren, ungefähr zehn Jahre vor Friedrich Schlegel und Novalis, begann er sich mit Kant und Her­ der, mit Hemsterhuis, Lavater und Jacobi auseinanderzusetzen, mit der damaligen Moderne also, die er mit dem Katholizismus seiner Herkunft zu verbinden suchte. Der katholische Theologe Johann Michael Sailer in Ingolstadt, wo Baader Medizin studierte, und die Schriften des französischen Theosophen Louis Claude de St. Martin weckten in dieser Zeit auch bereits sein lebenslanges Interesse für die Tradition der Mystik. Und noch in den 1830er Jahren, ein halbes Jahrhundert später, durch Welten, so scheint es, von dem ausgehenden 18. Jahrhundert und der Frühromantik ge­ trennt, war er, der 1841 mit 76 Jahren starb, geistig aktiv und stellte sich den Auseinandersetzungen der Zeit. Wo sonst in der Romantik gibt es eine vergleichbare Spannweite der historischen Erfahrung und des Versuches, auf sie eingreifend zu reagieren? Die Romantiker haben ihn denn auch alle geschätzt und von ihm ge­ lernt, angefangen bei dem jungen Friedrich Schlegel bis hin zu dem späten Schelling. Wie bei keinem andern also ist bei Baader die Frage relevant nach dem Verhältnis von früh und spät, von Früh­ romantik und Spätromantik. Ich möchte mich hier auf nur einen Aspekt des umfangreichen und äußerst vielfältigen Werkes beschränken: auf Baaders Inter­ esse für soziale Fragen. Seine bekannteste Schrift auf diesem Ge­ biet ist der späte, 1835 erschienene Aufsatz mit dem barocken Titel: „Über das dermalige Mißverhältnis der Vermögenslosen oder Proletairs zu den Vermögen besitzenden Klassen der Sozietät in betreff ihres Auskommens, sowohl in materieller als in intellek­ tueller Hinsicht, aus dem Standpunkte des Rechts betrachtet".
    [Show full text]
  • Dab Denken Der Lehre
    'DAB DENKEN DER LEHRE. WALTER BENJAMIN, FRANZ JOSEPH MOLITOR AND THE JEWISH TRADITION' by Bram Mertens, Lie. Phil.(Leuven), MPhil. (Keele) Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2001 ABSTRACT This thesis is a dialectical exploration of the importance of the Jewish tradition and theology in the work of Walter Benjamin, primarily through his reading of Franz Joseph Molitor's Philosophie der Geschichte oder aber die Tradition, and secondarily through his close friendship with Gershom Scholem. It also argues that the influence of the Jewish tradition is a constant factor in Benjamin's work, transcending the conventional division between his 'metaphysical' FrUhwerk and his 'Marxist' Spiitwerk. The first chapter presents a historical-philosophical overview of the form and content of the Jewish tradition, with particular emphasis on the seminal importance of language as the medium of tradition. The second chapter offers both an exhaustive philological investigation of Benjamin's contacts with Molitor's book, on the basis of new information gathered from both Benjamin's and Scholem's diaries and correspondence, as well as a selection and discussion of some of the most salient and relevant aspects of Philosophie der Geschichte. The third and final chapter assesses the impact of the foregoing as it cuJrninates in the work of Walter Benjamin. Firstly, it focuses on the early essays Ober Sprache uberhaupt unci aber die Sprache des Menschen and Ober das Programm der kommenden Philosophie, drawing parallels between their conception of language as a medium and Jewish concepts of language and tradition as they are presented by Molitor and Scholem.
    [Show full text]
  • Jean-Claude Wolf/ Freiburg/Schweiz Das Böse Als Ethische Kategorie
    28. April 2014 Universität Mainz Jean-Claude Wolf/ Freiburg/Schweiz Das Böse als ethische Kategorie Im ersten Teil dieser Problemübersicht werden Reduktionsversuche des Bösen behandelt. Es wurde bisher versucht, das Böse als Schwäche bzw. Mangel (1.1.), als Unwissenheit (1.2.), als Symptom von externen Faktoren wie Knappheit, Konkurrenzkampf, Geldwirtschaft und schlechten Einflüssen (1.3.) oder als Symptom von Verletzungen und Krankheit zu erklären. (1.4) Kausale Erklärungen stoßen aber immer wieder an Grenzen; es scheint so etwas wie ein irrationaler Rest, ein unerklärliches Mysterium des Bösen übrig zu bleiben. Während die Pathologisierung des Bösen reduktionistisch ist, schlagen Baader und Schelling vor, das Böse in Analogie zur Krankheit zu verstehen. Das analogische und symbolische Verstehen scheint eine grundsätzlich andere Sichtweise auf das Böse zu eröffnen. (2) Um zu verdeutlichen, dass kausale Erklärungen ihrer Intention oder Tendenz nach das Böse eliminieren, wird im zweiten Teil die symbolische Dimension des Bösen behandelt; sie ruft nicht nach Erklärung, sondern nach Deutung. Die Symbolik des Bösen macht aus der sog. säkularen Ethik eine „Tiefenethik“, indem sie die Ethik in einen größeren Sinn- und Bedeutungszusammenhang von Lebensprozessen einfügt, welche nicht nur die nüchterne Unterscheidung von Richtig und Falsch, Imperativen und Verboten, sondern auch den Umgang mit Hoffnungen und Ängsten, Gelingen und Scheitern betreffen. Zur Illustration dieser Symbolik dienen ausgewählte biblische Gestalten des Bösen wie der Teufel, Adam, Kain und Judas. Der Beitrag wird mit einem Ausblick auf das Begriffspaar Opfer/Täter abgerundet. (3) Festgefahrene Opfererzählungen lassen sich neu erzählen und verlieren damit eventuell etwas von ihrer Fatalität. 0. Einleitung Es gibt in der Aufklärung und Aufklärungstheologie (Neologie) eine Tendenz zur Reduktion des Bösen, parallel zur Abschaffung des Glaubens an den Satan, an ewige Höllenstrafen und an den Sündenfall bzw.
    [Show full text]
  • PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO the ESSENCE of HUMAN FREEDOM SUNY Series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy Dennis J
    F.F. W.J.SchellingW.J.Schelling TranslatedTranslated and with an IntroductionIntroduction andand NotesNotes byby JeffJeff LoveLove and and JohannesJohannes SchmidtSchmidt PhilosophicalPhilosophical InvestigationsInvestigations intointo thethe EssenceEssence ofof HumanHuman FreedomFreedom PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE ESSENCE OF HUMAN FREEDOM SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy Dennis J. Schmidt, editor PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE ESSENCE OF HUMAN FREEDOM F. W. J. SCHELLING Translated and with an Introduction by Jeff Love and Johannes Schmidt STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2006 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 Michael Haggett Marketing by Michael Campochiaro Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, 1775–1854. [Philosophische Untersuchungen u(ber das Wesen der menschlichen Freiheit. English] Philosophical investigations into the essence of human freedom / F.W.J. Schelling ; translated and with an introduction by Jeff Love and Johannes Schmidt. p. cm. — (Suny series in contemporary continental philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-6873-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7914-6873-9 (hardcover : alk.
    [Show full text]
  • Twelve Letters from the Romantic Circle (1798-1799)
    Symphilosophie International Journal of Philosophical Romanticism Twelve Letters from the Romantic Circle (1798-1799) Friedrich Schlegel, Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg), Caroline Schlegel, August Wilhelm Schlegel Translated from the German by David W. Wood* The following twelve letters were originally written between 20 August 1798 and 20 January 1799. They have never appeared in English before. This selection revolves around the correspondence of Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg), at that time studying at the Mining Academy in Freiberg, with his friend Friedrich Schlegel in Berlin, and with August Wilhelm Schlegel and his wife Caroline Schlegel in Jena. It commences just prior to the famous meeting of the Romantic Circle in Dresden in late August 1798 and their joint visit to the city’s Art Gallery, and ends six months later with the news that their romantic journal the Athenaeum would continue to be published. Not unexpectedly, these letters mention many personal facts and events – e.g. the illness of Novalis’s second fiancée Julie, the divorce of Dorothea Veit, the financial issues of Friedrich Schlegel, and even the possible imminent death of Novalis. A key intellectual concern of the correspondence is religion – what constitutes a modern religious impulse and the idea to write a new gospel, Bible or universal book. The letters above all provide a vibrant snap-shot of the extremely multifaceted interests of the German romantics. There are numerous references to different literary, cultural, political, poetical, and natural-scientific works, as well as to older and contemporary philosophers, such as Plato, Plotinus, Spinoza, Kant, Fichte and Schelling. Indeed, according to Friedrich Schlegel, it was precisely one of the goals of his written correspondence with Novalis to generate communal philosophical reflection.
    [Show full text]
  • Concoll()Ia Tbeological Monthly
    Concoll()ia Tbeological Monthly SEPTEMBER • 1956 BOOK REVIEW All books reviewed in this periodical may be procured from or through Concordia Pub­ lishing House, 3558 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis 18, Missouri. KERYGMA UND MYTHOS, ed. Hans-Werner Bartsch. Vol.IV: Die 6kumenische Diskussion. 238 pages. Vol. V: Die Theologie Bult­ manns und die Entmythologisierung in der Kritik der katholischen Theologie. 172 pages. Hamburg-Volksdorf: Herbert Reich-Evange­ lischer Verlag, 1955. Paper. DM 10,00 per volume. Here are 16 essays, all in the German language, on Bultmann's "demythologizing" theory clamoring to be reviewed. To come to grips with anyone of them would be a sizable problem; but to wrestle with 16 may seem to be courting inevitable disaster. Yet the reviewing is not as difficult as it may seem. The essays fall into three classes: those that condemn, as do all the Roman Catholic ones, those that damn with faint, or somewhat generous, praise; and those that, at least chiefly, While the s move on ~ id extreme, 1 level, I came upon at least one humorous touch when an essayist reported on the literary debate between Bultmann and Stauffc:r, In 3n~wer to the latter's strictures, Bultmann replied that he thought the two of them might arrive at a mutually satisfactory agreement, namely, that he, Bultmann, did not know anything about Realtheologie (sponsored by Stauffer), while Stauffer was equally innocent of what was signified by "demythologizing" (IV, 34). Another initial note. The reader may nnd Bultmann's position difficult to fathom. For his and my own consolation, I quote here a remark of Karl Barth's (adverted to IV, 119), who, after saying that he has attempted to understand Bultmann and fears that he has failed, adds: "I have the impression that many, in fact, most people do not know more of this matter than I and merely act as if they knew all about it." All essayists are of the opinion that Bultmann's often expressed objec­ tive to make the Christian Gospel message relevant for the modern man is laudable and, in fact, necessary.
    [Show full text]
  • Hegel (1770-1731) and His Time - Timeline 1748-1841
    Hegel (1770-1731) and his time - Timeline 1748-1841 Kai Froeb, 2007 Year Hegel Other War of Austrian Succession ends Peace of Aachen Adam Smith begins to deliver public lectures in Edinburgh Montesquieu: On the Spirit of Laws 1748 Klopstock: Oden Klopstock: Messias Feb 6: Adam Weishaupt is born Jeremy Bentham is born Goethe is born 1749 Mirabeau is born The Little Ice Age (1500-1850) reaches its peak Sep 14: The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar Rousseau’s essay: Discourse on the Arts and Sciences 1750 Jul 28: Johann Sebastian Bach dies Karl August von Hardenberg is born Knigge is born Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning rod 1753 Lazare Carnot is born Beginning of the French and Indian War in North America Christian Wolff dies 1754 Feb 2: Charles Maurice de Talleyrand is born Aug 23: Louis XVI is born Karl Friedrich von Steiger is born First English dictionary is published by Samuel Johnson Nov 1: Lisbon destroyed by an earthquake Winckelmann: Gedanken über die Nachahmung der griechischen Werke in der Malerei und Bildhauerkunst 1755 (“edele Einfalt und stille Größe”) Lessing: Miss Sara Sampson Montesquieu dies Nov 2: Marie Antoinette is born Nov 17: later Louis XVIII of France is born Begin of Seven Year War (Prussia vs. Austria, England 1756 vs. France) Jan 27: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is born Pantheon built in Paris 1757 Marquis de Lafayette is born Stein is born Karl Leonhard Reinhold is born 1758 May 6: Maximilian Robespierre is born Sep 29: Horatio Nelson is born Year Hegel Other Jan 15: The British Museum opens Adam
    [Show full text]
  • Bóhme, Saint-Martin Y Kleuker. 1. Un Interesante
    UN APUNTE SOBRE LA HISTORIA DE LA TEORIA DEL LENGUAJE: BÓHME, SAINT-MARTIN Y KLEUKER. 1. UN INTERESANTE HECHO CULTURAL EUROPEO En la primera mitad del siglo XIX Franz Xaver von Baader, haciendo gala al nombre de "Boehmius redivivus" que le asignara August Wilhelm von Schlegel, funda su pensa- miento en el de Jacob Bóhme (1575-1624), el "philosophus teutonicus" (apelativo dado por su amigo el médico y alquímico Balthasar Walther), y en el de Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin (1743-1803), el "philosophe inconnu" (célebre pseudónimo de todas sus publicaciones), a quien conoce primero por la obra de Johann Friedrich Kleuker (1749- 1827). El teósofo alemán Baader, típico representante de la corriente esotérica y mistica de la filosofía romántica alemana', coincide así en su formación oculta en una interesante encrucijada: Bóhme, Saint-Martin y Kleuker 2. Dos alemanes y un francés. Bóhme, el gran pensador mistico altolusacio, maestro de maestros, influye en Saint-Martin; éste in- fluye a su vez en Kleuker y a través de él en el mundo alemán, aproximadamente siglo y medio o dos siglos después de Bóhme. Un buen ejemplo de la circularidad intelectual eu- ropea del tiempo, y de las bases misticas de la cultura occidental moderna. Aunque a no- sotros sólo nos interesarán ciertos aspectos de teoría del lenguaje de esta historia. El Magikod de Kleuker, dedicado exclusivamente a comentar sistemática y ordena- damente los dos primeros libros de Saint-Martin, es testimonio del gran influjo ejercido en Alemania por el pensamiento del francés, del cual es el mejor ejemplo precisamente I. Baader (1765-1841) no es de nuestro interés directo en este artículo, pero pertenece por derecho propio al contexto en que nos movemos.
    [Show full text]
  • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Faculty of Theology
    1 KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN FACULTY OF THEOLOGY SOPHIA, THE WISDOM OF GOD. AN EASTERN CHRISTIAN POLITICAL THEOLOGY IN THE SOPHIOLOGY OF SERGEI BULGAKOV A research paper presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Advanced Master’s Degree in Theology and Religious Studies Promoter by Prof. Dr. Jacques HAERS S.J. Radu Costin IACOB 2011 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................. III-XII Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................XIII CHAPTER I. THE HISTORY OF SOPHIA, THE WISDOM OF GOD .................................................. 1 § 1. THE SOPHIOLOGICAL CURRENTS ..................................................................................................................... 1 A. THE PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES ............................................................................................................................. 1 B. THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVES .................................................................................................................................... 5 C. THE GNOSTIC MOVEMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 8 D. THE CHRISTIAN SOPHIOLOGIES ...........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]