Realism and unphilosophie in F. H. Jacobi

Abstract

The thesis aims at investigating F. H. Jacobi's so-called Unphilosophie, vivid philosophy, Philosophie des Nichtwissens, or realism; synonyms of a philosophy of action, inseparable from life itself, which stars at the firm conviction (belief) that the external things, you and I ("without you, no me") exist. Life's content is nothing but history, understood as the way men act and feel in a certain period of time: human action in the real world. In order to understand such Unphilosophie, one must glance at the whole jacobian universe, in which the representation (Darstellung) of history concerns theory (epistemology) and literature (ethics, moral), two slightly different perspectives, which nonetheless combined form philosophy as a whole, that is as "mind and heart". It is further remarkable how Jacobi's philosophical project influenced the German Enlightenment, and had its repercussion amongst many contrasting thinkers, such as Fichte, F. Schlegel and the romantics, Schelling, W. von Humboldt, Herder, Goethe and particularly Jean Paul Richter. Jean Paul takes part in the anti-enlightenment and anti-idealistic movement as well and, like Jacobi ("the guardian of his belief"), considers literature a "practical proof of philosophy", a kind of concrete salto mortale. (AU)