plato and the new mythology of german idealism

P l a t o a n d t h eN e w M y t h o l o g y o f G e r m a n

I d e a l i s m

Ta e -Ye o u n K e u mH a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y

First I will speak of an idea here that, as far as I know, has still not occurred to anyone else. We must have a new mythology, but this mythology must be in the service of the ideas; it must be a mythology of reason.

Zuerst werde ich hier von einer Idee sprechen, die, soviel ich weiß, noch in keines Menschen Sinn gekommen ist – wir müssen eine neue Mythologie haben, diese Mythologie aber muß im Dienste der Ideen stehen, sie muß eine Mythologie der Vernunft werden.

- Oldest Systematic Program of German Idealism (1795/6)

First I will speak of an idea here that, as far as I know, has still not occurred to anyone else. We must have a new mythology, but this mythology must be in the service of the ideas; it must be a mythology of reason.

Zuerst werde ich hier von einer Idee sprechen, die, soviel ich weiß, noch in keines Menschen Sinn gekommen ist – wir müssen eine neue Mythologie haben, diese Mythologie aber muß im Dienste der Ideen stehen, sie muß eine Mythologie der Vernunft werden.

- Oldest Systematic Program of German Idealism (1795/6)

First I will speak of an idea here that, as far as I know, has still not occurred to anyone else. We must have a new mythology, but this mythology must be in the service of the ideas; it must be a mythology of reason.

Zuerst werde ich hier von einer Idee sprechen, die, soviel ich weiß, noch in keines Menschen Sinn gekommen ist – wir müssen eine neue Mythologie haben, diese Mythologie aber muß im Dienste der Ideen stehen, sie muß eine Mythologie der Vernunft werden.

- Oldest Systematic Program of German Idealism (1795/6)

What is new aboutthe new mythology?

• J o h a n n G o t t f r i e d v o n H e r d e r ,

“On the New Use of Mythology” (1767) / / Vo m n e u r e r n G e b r a u c h d e r M y t h o l o g i e

• F r a n c i s B a c o n ,“ T h e W i s d om o f t h e A nc i e n t s ” ( 1 6 0 9 )/ / D e S a p i e n t i a V e t e r u m

• G i a m b a t t i s t a V i c o ,

The New Sc ience (1725) / / S c i e n z a N u o v a

• J o h a n n J o a c h i m W i n c k e l m a n n ,Thoughts on the Im i ta t ion o f G reek Works in

Pa in t ing and Scu lp tu re ( 1755) / / G e d a n k e n ü b e r d i e N a c h a h m u n g d e r g r i e c h i s c h e n W e r k e i n d e r M a l e r e i u n d B i l d h a u e r k u n s t

His tory o f Anc ien t A r t (1764) / / G e s c h i c h t e d e r K u n s t d e s A l t e r t u n s ( 1 7 6 4 )

• J o h a n n G o t t f r i e d v o n H e r d e r ,

“On the New Use of Mythology” (1767) / / Vo m n e u r e r n G e b r a u c h d e r M y t h o l o g i e

• Goethe• Fr iedr i ch Sch i l l e r

“By the time of Goethe it was possible to speak rationally of myth.”

- Christopher Jamme,“Portraying Myth More Convincingly: Critical Approahces to Myth in the Classical and

Romantic Periods,” in International Journal of Philosophical Studies 12, no. 1 (2004): 29-45, 34.

What is new aboutthe new mythology?

1. T h e N e w M y t h o l o g y

2. T h e P l a t o n i s m o f t h e G e r m a n R o m a n t i c s

3. P l a t o n i c m y t h o l o g y f o r t h e n e w a g e

1The New

Mythology

What did the German Romantics mean by the

new mythology?

T h e a r g u m e n t o f t h eO l d e s t S y s t e m a t i c P r o g r a m f o r :

• t h e a b o l i t i o n o f t h e s t a t e• a n e w m y t h o l o g y

*• The OSP calls for “an ethics” for the coming age. • Ethics as a system of all ideas• However, the state is not an idea. •“We must therefore go beyond the state!”

T h e a r g u m e n t o f t h eO l d e s t S y s t e m a t i c P r o g r a m f o r :

• t h e a b o l i t i o n o f t h e s t a t e• a n e w m y t h o l o g y

*• The state is not one of the ideas that make up the ethics, but other ideas are.• These ideas are subordinate to higher idea: beauty• In the service of the idea of beauty, philosophy must become aesthetic, l ike poetry.• “The philosophy of the spirit is an aesthetic philosophy.”

T h e a r g u m e n t o f t h eO l d e s t S y s t e m a t i c P r o g r a m f o r :

• t h e a b o l i t i o n o f t h e s t a t e• a n e w m y t h o l o g y

*• Similarly in the service of the ideas, we must have a new mythology• Just as philosophy must become aesthetic in accordance with the highest idea,• Ideas themselves should be made “aesthetic, i .e. mythological”• “mythology must become philosophical … philosophy must become mythological”

• t h e a b o l i t i o n o f t h e s t a t e• a n e w m y t h o l o g y

“… through reason itself the overthrow of all superstition…”

“…absolute freedom of all sprits, which carry the intellectual world in themselves…”

“…the highest act of reason is an aesthetic act since it comprises all ideas…”

“Monotheism of reason and the heart…”

• Fr i e d r i c h S c h l e g e l , “Dialogue on Poesy” (1799) / / Gesprach über d ie Poes ie

Poetry befriends and bonds all those who love it with indissoluble ties.

Al le Gemüter, die s ie l ieben, befreundet und bindet Poesie mit unauflösl ichen Banden.

• Fr i e d r i c h S c h l e g e l , “Dialogue on Poesy” (1799) / / Gesprach über d ie Poes ie

Reason is unitary and is the same in everyone; but just as each person has his own nature and his own love, so too does he carry his own poesy inside himself.

Die Vernunft is t nur eine und in a l len dieselbe: wie aber jeder Mensch seine eigne Natur hat und seine eigne Liebe, so trägt auch jeder seine eigne Poesie in s ich.

• Fr i e d r i c h S c h l e g e l , “Dialogue on Poesy” (1799) / / Gesprach über d ie Poes ie

Our poesy … lacks a midpoint as mythology was for the poetry of the ancients, and modern poetic art’s inferiority to classical poetic art can be summarized in the words: we have no mythology.Es feh l t . . . unsrer Poes ie an e inem Mi t te lpunkt , w ie es d ie Mytho log ie fü r d ie der A l ten war, und a l l e s Wesen t l i che , wor in d ie moderne D ich tkuns t der an t iken nachs teh t , l äß t s i ch in d ie Wor te zusammenfassen : Wi r haben ke ine Mytho log ie .

• Fr i e d r i c h S c h l e g e l , “Dialogue on Poesy” (1799) / / Gesprach über d ie Poes ie

Our poesy … lacks a midpoint as mythology was for the poetry of the ancients, and modern poetic art’s inferiority to classical poetic art can be summarized in the words: we have no mythology.Es feh l t . . . unsrer Poes ie an e inem Mi t te lpunkt , w ie es d ie Mytho log ie fü r d ie der A l ten war, und a l l e s Wesen t l i che , wor in d ie moderne D ich tkuns t der an t iken nachs teh t , l äß t s i ch in d ie Wor te zusammenfassen : Wi r haben ke ine Mytho log ie .

unity in diversity

the new mythology provides

• A shared “midpo in t” o f poet ry and o f poets• Parallel in Greek

mythology (canonical)• Diverse poetry grounded in

it (poetry draws from mythology)

• Diverse poetry arrive at it (poetry bui lds up material for mythology)

• Celebrates diverse individuality of poetry and its poets

• Community-building

the new mythology is

• F. W. J . S c h e l l i n g , System of Transcendental Idealism (1800) / / Sys tem des t ranscendenta len Idea l i smus

Philosophy was born and nourished by poetry in the infancy of knowledge, and with it all those sciences it has guided toward perfection. We may thus expect them, on completion, to flow back like so many individual streams into the universal ocean of poetry from which they took their source. Nor is it in general difficult to say what the medium [Mittelglied] for this return of science to poetry will be; for in mythology such a medium existed, before the occurrence of a breach now seemingly beyond repair…

• A shared “midpo in t” o f poet ry and o f poets

• A midpo in t between h i s to r i ca l s tages o f human knowledge ( sc iences and poet ry )

the new mythology is

• A shared “midpo in t” o f poet ry and o f poets

• A midpo in t between h i s to r i ca l s tages o f human knowledge ( sc iences and poet ry )

• The appara tus o f the o rgan i c s ta te

the new mythology is

• Fr i e d r i c h S c h l e g e l , “Dialogue on Poesy” (1799) / / Gesprach über d ie Poes ie

Mythology has one great advantage. What otherwise eternally flees consciousness can be seen here sensually-spiritually and held fast … This is actually the point: because of the highest, we do not depend so entirely on our mind alone. Einen großen Vorzug ha t d ie Mytho log ie . Was sons t das Bewußtse in ew ig fl ieh t , i s t h ie r dennoch s inn l i ch ge i s t ig zu schauen , und fe s tgeha l ten . . . Das i s t der, daß w i r uns wegen des Höchs ten n i ch t so ganz a l l e in au f unser Gemüt ver la ssen .

• A s ha r ed “m i d p o i n t” o f p oe t r y a nd o f p oe t s

• A m i d p o i n t b e tw ee n h i s to r i c a l s ta g es o f hum a n k now l ed g e

• Th e a p p a r a tu s o f the o r g a n i c s ta te

• A w ay o f g r a sp i n g kn ow l e d g e tha t e s c a p e s c ons c i ou s r e a s on

the new mythology is

“O ld es t Sy s tema t i c P r og ra m o f Germ an Id ea l i sm ” (17 95 /6 ) / / D a s ä l t e s t e S y s t e m p r o g r a m m d e s d e u t s c h e n I d e a l i s m u s

Finally, the idea that unites all others, the idea of beauty, taking the word in a higher Platonic sense.

Zuletzt d ie Idee, d ie a l le vereinigt , die Idee der Schönheit , das Wort in höherem platonischen Sinne genommen.

unity in diversity

the new mythology provides

( t h r o u g h t h e h i g h e s t i d e a l )

( a p p r o x i m a t i o ns o f t h e

h i g h e s t i d e a l )

2The Platonism of

the German Romantics

How do the German Romantics’ Platonism relate to their

conception of the new mythology?

This is what it is to go aright, or be led by another, into the mystery of Love: one goes always upwards for the sake of this Beauty, starting out from beautiful things and using them like rising stairs: from one body to two and from two to all beautiful bodies, then from beautiful bodies to beautiful customs, and from customs to learning beautiful things, and from these lessons he arrives in the end at this lesson, which is learning of this very Beauty, so that in the end he comes to know just what it is to be beautiful.

- Symposium, 211c-d

• Fr i e d r i c h S c h l e g e l , “Dialogue on Poesy” (1799) / / Gesprach über d ie Poes ie

For Plato, on the other hand, representation and its perfection and beauty are not means, but rather an end in themselves. That is why, strictly speaking, his form is already thoroughly poetic.Dem P la to h ingegen i s t d ie Dars te l lung und ih re Vo l l kommenhe i t und Schönhe i t n i ch t Mi t te l , s ondern Zweck an s i ch . Darum i s t s chon se ine Form, s t reng genommen , durchaus poe t i s ch .

• Fr i e d r i c h S c h l e i e r m a c h e r , Introduction to Plato’s Works (1804) / / E in le i tung , P la tons Werke

What is anticipated mythically more often than not appears later in its scientific form.. . . e s wäre im Ganzen mi t der h ie r vorgesch lagenen Fo lge derse lbe Fa l l , indem nach d ieser n i ch t se l ten myth i sch an t i z ip ie r t w i rd , was e rs t spä te r in se iner w i ssenscha f t l i chen Ges ta l t e r sche in t .

• Fr i e d r i c h S c h l e i e r m a c h e r, Introduction to Plato’s Works (1804) / / E in le i tung , P la tons Werke

Whoever first enters the study of Plato wil l most distinctly appreciate the gradual development and formation of the Platonic myths out of one Ground-myth …Ja wer e rs t t i e f e r in das S tud ium des P la ton e indr ing t , dem wi rd d ie a l lmäh l i che En tw ick lung und Ausb i ldung der P la ton i schen Mythen aus E inem Grundmythos . . . am deu t l i chs ten wahrnehmen läß t .

• F. W. J . S c h e l l i n g “Timaeus” (1794)

• Fr i e d r i c h H ö l d e r l i n , “Hyperion” (1797-9)

And if I spoke a warm word about ancient Greece, they yawned and declared that one had to l ive in the present; and another added with an air of significance that sti l l today, good taste had not vanished. … One quipped l ike a sailor and another puffed out his cheeks and preached maxims.

• Fr i e d r i c h H ö l d e r l i n , “Hyperion” (1797-9)

To ward off flies, that is our work in the future; and to gnaw at the things of the world as children gnaw at the dried iris root, that is our joy in the end. To grow old among youthful people seems to me a pleasure, but to grow old where al l is old seems to me worse than al l else.

• Fr i e d r i c h H ö l d e r l i n , P r e f a c e t o “Hyperion” (1797-9)

Holy Plato, forgive us! We havesinned greatly against you

Heiliger Plato, vergib! Man hatschwer an dir gesündigt

unity in diversity

the new mythology provides

( w i t h h i s t o r y a n d t h e p r e s e n t

t i m e )

( a p p r o x i m a t i o ns o f t h e

h i g h e s t i d e a l )( t h r o u g h t h e

h i g h e s t i d e a l )

• A s h a r e d “ m i d p o i n t ” o f p o e t r y a n d o f p o e t s

• A m i d p o i n t b e t w e e n h i s t o r i c a l s t a g e s o f h u m a n k n o w l e d g e

• T h e a p p a r a t u s o f t h e o r g a n i c s t a t e

• A w ay o f g r a s p i n g k n o w l e d g e t h a t e s c a p e s c o n s c i o u s r e a s o n

the new mythology is

• A w ay o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e p r e s e n t a g e

• Fr i e d r i c h H ö l d e r l i n , “Hyperion” (1797-9)

O! nonetheless, nonetheless I would be a stranger on earth, and no god would l ink me to the past anymore.

… So I came among the Germans.

3Platonic

Mythology for the New Age

t h e t a s k

• N e e d e d a n e w m y t h o l o g y

• B u t t h e y u n d e r s t o o d m y t h o l o g y i n t e r m s o f t h e o l d , i n p a r t i c u l a r P l a t o

• T h e n e w m y t h o l o g y h a s t o d o f o r t h e p r e s e n t a g e w h a t P l a t o ’ s m y t h s d i d f o r h i s a g e

unity in diversity

the new mythology provides

( w i t h h i s t o r y a n d t h e p r e s e n t

t i m e )

( a p p r o x i m a t i o ns o f t h e

h i g h e s t i d e a l )( t h r o u g h t h e

h i g h e s t i d e a l )

| equa l i ty

Mythic Platonism for the new age

• Wr i t t e n c o l l e c t i v e l y, n o t j u s t b y o n e p e r s o n

• N e e d t o b r i n g c l a s s e s t o g e t h e r

• N e e d t o d e v e l o p f u l l p o t e n t i a l o f e v e r y i n d i v i d u a l