The First German Philosopher ― The Mysticism of Jakob Bohme As Interpreted by Hegel

This book considers Hegel’s interpretation of Jakob Bohme’s mystical philosophy, against the background of the reception of Bohme in the 18th and 19th centuries, and of Hegel’s understanding of mysticism as a philosophical approach. The three sections of this book explore: the historical background of Hegel’s encounter with Bohme’s writings; two different conceptions of mysticism in Hegel’s work and the responses of other famous readers of Bohme (especially Schelling); Hegel’s references to Bohme both in published writings and manuscripts. According to Hegel, Jakob Bohme “is the first German philosopher”. The reason for placing Bohme at the very beginning of German philosophy is that Hegel considers the cobbler to be a profound thinker, despite a serious lack of education. Hegel’s fascination with Bohme mainly lies in the mystic’s understanding of the symbiotic relation between God and its opposite, the Devil: he considers this to be the true speculative core of Bohme’s thought. By interpreting Bohme, Hegel intends to free the speculative content of his thought from the limitations of the inadequate form in which the mystic expressed it, and also to liberate Bohme from the prejudices surrounding his writings, placing him firmly in the territory of philosophy and detaching him from the obscurity of esotericism. Through historical reconstructions and philosophical argumentation, this volume guides the reader through an important phase in German philosophy, and ultimately into an inquiry about the relationship between mysticism and philosophy itself. Scholars working on the history of philosophy, especially German Idealism and the history of ideas more broadly, including radical religion, will find this book of interest. Through its accessible style, this book will also appeal to students and a general audience with an interest in German studies, mysticism and philosophy.

Cecilia Muratori obtained a PhD in philosophy from the universities of Jena and Urbino in 2009 (‘double degree’). She was then awarded a four-year postdoctoral fellowship from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, where she worked on a project on the difference between man and the animals in Renaissance philosophy. In particularly she has explored the ethical consequences of this difference, with regard to the philosophical debate on vegetarianism. In 2013-2014 she is Ahmanson Fellow at the Harvard Center for Renaissance Studies I Tatti: her project deals with discourses on vegetarianism and on cannibalism in the Renaissance, and on their paradoxical connections. In 2008 she won first prize in the essay competition of the Schopenhauer-Gesellschaft; and in 2013 she won the prize of the Jacob-Bohme-Institut in Gorlitz for an essay on Hegel and Bohme. Among her publications: J. Bohme, Aurora nascente (chapters 1-7), translated and with an introduction by C. Muratori (Milan: Mimesis 2008); Ethical Perspectives on Animals in the Renaissance and Early Modern Period, ed. by C. Muratori and B. Dohm (Micrologus’ Library, 58); The Animal Soul and the Human Mind: Renaissance Debates, ed. by C. Muratori, (Bruniana & Campanelliana, Series Studi, 15).