Book review: Jena 1800 by Peter Neumann

This is our review of Peter Neumann's recent book Jena 1800: Die Republik der freien Geister [Jena 1800: the Republic of free Spirits] (Sielder, 2018) on the literary and philosophical culture of German Romanticism (reissued 2020 as Sternstunden: Jena 1800 und der Aufbruch in die Moderne).

Jena 1800: Die Republik der freien Geister

Peter Neumann. München: Siedler, 2018.

The purpose of this review is to recommend Neumann's Jena 1800 to German learners and readers who want to explore the literary and intellectual background of post-Kantian German transcendental philosophy.

The author skilfully situates his leading characters in a particular place and time - the opening of the court theatre at Weimar, the Schlegel's apartment in Leutragasse, or the university auditorium - and then transitions seamlessly to accounts of their thoughts and literary projects, based on letters, published works and later reminiscences. The effect is as easy to read as a novel, but highly informative. Much but not all of the content is substantiated in notes: one cannot identify the Scottish member of Fichte's circle from the endnotes for example, though there is enough information for those who wish to pursue John Brown's medical philosophy further.

In the opening chapters we learn of the founding of the court theatre of Weimar, where the plays of Goethe and Schiller were performed, including Faust, Wallenstein, Maria Stuart and translations from Shakespeare. Goethe's role as a patron of scientific scholarship and literature is sketched. The enthusiastic reception of Schiller's inaugural lecture on World History at Jena University is described. This is contrasted with the young philosopher Schelling's uncertain early reputation as a lecturer. In the wake of Kant's system of mitigated skepticism, Fichte had advocated a theory of the self-creation of man through free acts whose rational structure expressed itself in morality. Schelling had at first adopted these ideas, but then rejected the dualism of mind and matter implicit in them for a monistic interpretation of man as part of nature. His early writings, such as System of Transcendental Idealism (1800) are highly abstract and formulaic, often conveying little about their stated subject matter. It is not surprising if he struggled to put them across in lectures.

We learn next of the symphilosophieren (philosophical conversations) of the Schelling brothers, Wilhelm and Friedrich, their partners Caroline and Dorothea and invited guests at their Leutragasse apartment. This is presented as initially idyllic. However, the personal dynamics resulted in the divorce of Caroline from Wilhelm Schlegel and her marriage with the young Friedrich Schelling. The story seems to me to typify the tendency of romanticism to warp public institutions such as marriage in the cause of emotional authenticity and the acting out of blind passions. The main social effect in this case was the broadening of the grounds for divorce. This damaging tendency was noticed at the time and led to the transition from romantic literature, such as Wilhelm Schlegel's novel Lucinde (1799), to the classicism of Goethe's later writings.

Portrait of Friedrich Schlegel (1801) by Franz Gereis

The main literary output of this group at the time was the short-lived review Athenaeum (1798-1800). They went on to add to Schiller's translations of Shakespeare, lecture on literature and write studies of India. One book under discussion was Friedrich Schleiermacher's Speeches on Religion to its Cultured Despisers (1799). Schleiermacher was also a member of the Schlegels' circle of friends. His theory of religion as based in feeling was later opposed by Hegel, though in both authors there was a weak basis in Scripture.

There is a chapter on the Atheismusstreit [Atheism quarrel] that led to Fichte's leaving Jena for Berlin in 1799. Fichte lectured in Jena on his Wissenschaftslehre [Theory of Knowledge] (1794) and wrote an essay identifying God with the moral world order. A local Christian author objected to the effect of such doctrine on young minds in an educational environment. In my view, Neumann does not do justice to the issues raised by Fichte's Christian opponents. There is a relation between the ideas of God and the moral world order and the uncertainties that surround it have been discussed since Plato's Euthyphro. However, to reduce the relation one of identity leaves little room for the ideas of sin, redemption or divine transcendence that are central to the Bible and thus might well be objected to from a Christian standpoint. The issue is often represented as a party quarrel between philosophy and religion about academic freedom. However, the replacement of Christianity by philosophy in higher education has its own problems.

There is some background information on poet and novelist Friedrich Hölderlin, who listened to Fichte's lectures in Jena. After falling out with Schiller in uncertain circumstances, he took a tutorship in Frankfurt at the same time as Hegel. It was by such means that knowledge of developments in post-Kantian thought percolated back to Hegel, who arrived in Jena at the beginning of 1801 where he soon published an essay on The Difference between  Fichte's and Schelling's System of Philosophy (1801) and then, along with Schelling, the Critical Journal of Philosophy (1802-03). Schelling at the time was dealing with the death of Auguste, the daughter of his wife Caroline (formerly Schlegel), then a thrice-married widow, from her first marriage. Thus we learn the background why Schelling was happy to see Hegel, his former flatmate from Tübingen seminary, to take his mind from his troubles. The significance of Hölderlin for Hegel is also identified in recent scholarship by Christophe Jamme and Yoichi Kubo.

Caroline Schelling

There are two chapters on Friedrich von Hardenburg (Novalis), the author of poetry and a novel who went on to work in the mining industry. Novalis proposed some kind of innovation in religion grounded in Christianity, though apparently without success. He died at a young age. The long-lived poet, Ludwig Tieck, whose reminiscences are cited by Neumann, was also part of the group. The philosopher Jacobi is identified as an influence from the previous generation.

The book ends, somewhat predictably, with the dramatic irruption of French troops into Jena in October 1806, prior to the battle of Jena and Auerstadt and the famous story of Hegel's manuscript of the Phenomenology of Spirit, which was almost lost. It was at this time that the Holy Roman Empire came to an end. The account of Napoleon's military exploits is an interruption, rather than bringing the literary fervour to a natural close.

A particular strength of the book is not only the information on the trials and accomplishments of the individual characters, but the sense it communicates of their relations to each other and of their joint creation of a common literary culture. It is for this reason, as well as for the information it contains, that the book would be appropriate reading for those studying the Goethezeit who wish to learn more of the philosophical theories of post-Kantian transcendentalism.

Finally, in light of Neumann's account,  the philosophical writings of Friedrich Schlegel may be worth reviewing on their own account.

[2021 Update: An English translation is due out in November 2021: Jena: the Republic of Free Spirits (Macmillan, 2021).]