The Poem of the Understanding: Kant, Novalis, and Early German Romantic Philosophy

Abstract

In this chapter, Jane Kneller argues that in order to fully appreciate the contribution of early German Romanticism, it is necessary to recognize the important metaphysical and social commitments that this movement shared with Kant. Her focus is on their central philosophical figure, Friedrich von Hardenberg, known as Novalis. After briefly discussing both the philosophical milieu and personal circumstances of Novalis’ defining contribution to early German Romanticism, Novalis reception of Kant’s work is examined and the case is made for the influence of Kant on Novalis’ philosophical development. The chapter closes with a discussion of how Novalis adoption of Kant’s transcendental constraints on human knowledge provided the space for a profoundly new conception of the possibilities of human cognitive and social development.