No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Longing for Unity: Hemsterhuis and Hegel1
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 June 2015
Abstract
Between the late 18th and early 19th century, various philosophical schools of thought developed in Germany, which exerted influence on the young Hegel. Although the origins of Hegelian ‘idealism’ have yet to be fully explored, the studies of Pöggeler, Henrich and Jamme establish clear connections with the so-called Vereiningungsphilosophie in Hölderlin's research, which was acknowledged by Hegel during his Frankfurt period. Although the intellectual relationship between Hegel and Hölderlin is still being assessed, Hemsterhuis' philosophy of unification is emerging as a key influence on Hölderlin and many of his contemporaries, including Hegel. Despite the fact that Hemsterhuis was described by August Wilhelm Schlegel as the ‘prophet of transcendental idealism’ (Schlegel 1989: I: 296), there is little critical literature to date on this topic. So the questions remain open: who was Hemsterhuis? Why did he influence Hölderlin and consequently also Hegel?
The aim of my paper is to suggest possible answers to these questions, thus I shall commence by exploring whether Hemsterhuis influenced Hegel directly — and, if so, how — or whether his influence was in any way mediated by Herder and Hölderlin. I will also attempt to compare Hemsterhuis' theories on desire, set forth in his Lettre sur ks désirs (1770), with Herder's commentary and Hegel's concept of love, which was developed firstly in the Tübingen Fragment entitled Religion is one of the most important questions (1793) and then in The Spirit of Christianity and its Fate, a work written in Frankfurt between 1798 and 1799 and published posthumously in 1907 with a title chosen by the editor Hermann Nohl. The paper is divided in two parts.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Bulletin of the Hegel Society of Great Britain , Volume 28 , Issue 1-2: number 55/56 , 2007 , pp. 143 - 167
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Hegel Society of Great Britain 2007
Footnotes
Abbreviations:
Dok= Dokumente zur Hegels Entwicklung, J. Hoffmeister ed., Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt: Frommann 1936.
ETW= G.W. F., Hegel, Early Theological Writings, trans, by T.M. Knox and R. Kroner, Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1948.
GW= G.W. F. Hegel Gesammelte Werke, in 22 vols, Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag, 1968-. ‘Es sollte eine schwere Afgabe’ (1794), vol. I; Differenzschrift vol IV.
HO= F. Hemsterhuis, Opere, C. Melica ed., Napoli: Vivarium 2001.
HTJ= Hegels Theologische Jugendschriften, H. Nohl ed., Tübingen 1907, now in GW: vol I: Frübe Schriften, F, Nicolin und G. Schüler eds.
StA= F. Hölderlin, Sämtliche Werke und Briefe, F. Beissner ed., Stuttgart: Cotta 1943-1985.
SW= J.G. Herder, Sämtliche Werke, B. Suphan ed., Berlin: Weidmann 1877-1913, now reprint Hildesheim: Olms 1967-68.
Verz=Verzeichnis der von dem Herrn Dr. Hegel und dem Dr. Herrn Seebeck hinterlassenen Bücher-Sammlungen, Berlin: C.F. Müller 1832.
Vorl= G.W.F. Hegel, Vorlesungen. Ausgewählte Nachschriften und Manuskripte, in 13 vols, Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag 1983-.