Pollen

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Pollen is the title of a philosophical work by Novalis . It first appeared in 1798 in the early romantic magazine Athenaeum by Friedrich Schlegel and August Wilhelm Schlegel .

Style and structure

The work consists of 114 aphorisms and short essays , which were commonly referred to as fragments in Romanticism . Four fragments can be assigned to Friedrich Schlegel. The scope of the individual fragments ranges from a sentence to explanations over several pages. The style of the fragments varies greatly, from laconically pointed aphorisms and theoretical explanations to poetic, enthusiastic and seemingly mystical passages.

content

The work is one of the most important non-fictional philosophical sources of Romanticism . In contrast to other Novalis fragment collections, it is almost exclusively devoted to humanities subjects such as poetry , art theory , language , epistemology , philosophy of science , religion and metaphysics .

Magical idealism

The 16th fragment is an important testimony to magical idealism , an early romantic special form of the idealism represented by Fichte and Schelling , developed by Novalis .

" The imagination sets the future world either upwards or downwards, or in metempsychosis to us. We dream of journeys through the universe: is not the universe in us? We do not know the depths of our spirit The mysterious path goes inside. In us, or nowhere, is eternity with its worlds, the past and future. The outside world is the shadow world, it throws its shadow into the realm of light. Now, of course, it seems so dark inside, lonely, shapeless, but how different it will seem to us when this eclipse is over and the shadow body has moved away. We shall enjoy more than ever, for our spirit has lacked. "

The outside world is seen here as an obstacle that hinders man in the perfection of himself. The moving away of the outer shadow world can be understood both historically and philosophically as overcoming a superficial era and metaphysically as an indication of life after death . Both aspects are discussed in detail in the hymns to the night .

Middle religion

Middle religion is a central concept of the early romantic conception of religion. In the 74th fragment - one of the longest - Novalis deals in detail with the concept of mediator. He says there can be no direct contact with God, but a mediator is required.

" Nothing is more indispensable to true religion than a middle link that connects us with the Godhead."

According to Novalis, this middle link must be freely selectable, whereby this middle link can be an object or just an idea or a prayer . The individualistic and anti-dogmatic approach is typical of the romantic conception of religion . He advocates a pantheism in which everything "can be an organ of deity, a mediator, in that I raise it to that." This pantheism can be combined with monotheism , "so that both make each other necessary, but in different ways." In this sense God is one and all at the same time.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Novalis: Die Christenheit or Europa and other philosophical writings , Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 1996, page 103
  2. ^ Novalis: Die Christenheit or Europa and other philosophical writings , Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 1996, page 114
  3. ↑ Novalis: Die Christenheit or Europa and other philosophical writings , Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 1996, page 115
  4. ^ Novalis: Die Christenheit or Europa and other philosophical writings , Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 1996, page 116

literature

  • Novalis: Christianity or Europe and other philosophical writings , Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 1996.
  • Herbert Uerlings: Pollen. Reception and impact of the work by Novalis , Niemeyer, Tübingen 2005

Web links