German Romantic Philosophy: "Underhand Theology"?

Abstract

Friedrich Nietzsche generalized his attack on Christianity to include German philosophy, which he called an "underhand theology." He was referring primarily to the post-Kantian philosophy of German Romantic thinkers educated at the famous Tübingen theological seminary. This essay tests Nietzsche's characterization by examining the jointly conceived "Oldest Systematic Program of German Idealism" and other early works by three of the most famous seminarians from the school: F. W. J. Schelling, G. W. F. Hegel, and poet Friedrich Hölderlin, who shared quarters and ideas in the seminary in the final decade of the eighteenth century.