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Johann Georg Hamann

'''Johann Georg Hamann''' (1730-1788) lived and worked in Prussia, in the context of the late German Enlightenment. Although he remained outside ‘professional’ philosophical circles, in that he never held a University post, he was respected in his time for his scholarship and breadth of learning. His writings were notorious even in his own time for the challenges they threw down to the reader. These challenges to interpretation and understanding are only heightened today.

 

Johann Georg Hamann (1730-1788) lived and worked in Prussia, in the context of the late German Enlightenment. Although he remained outside ‘professional’ philosophical circles, in that he never held a University post, he was respected in his time for his scholarship and breadth of learning. His writings were notorious even in his own time for the challenges they threw down to the reader. These challenges to interpretation and understanding are only heightened today.

Nevertheless an increasing number of scholars from philosophy, theology, aesthetics and German studies are finding his ideas and insights of value to contemporary concerns. His central preoccupations are still pertinent: language, knowledge, the nature of the human person, sexuality and gender and the relationship of humanity to God. Meanwhile, his views, which in many respects anticipate later challenges to the Enlightenment project and to modernity, are still relevant and even provocative.

Nevertheless an increasing number of scholars from philosophy, theology, aesthetics and German studies are finding his ideas and insights of value to contemporary concerns. His central preoccupations are still pertinent: language, knowledge, the nature of the human person, sexuality and gender and the relationship of humanity to God. Meanwhile, his views, which in many respects anticipate later challenges to the Enlightenment project and to modernity, are still relevant and even provocative.

==Life==

 

1. Life

Johann Georg Hamann was born in Königsberg in 1730, the son of a midwife and a barber-surgeon. He began study in philosophy and theology at the age of 16, changed to law but mainly read literature, philology, and rhetoric, but also mathematics and science. He left university without completing his studies and became the governor to a wealthy family on a Baltic estate. During this time he continued his extraordinarily broad reading and private research. He took up a job in the family firm of a friend from his Königsberg days, Christoph Berens, and was sent on an obscure mission to London, in which he evidently failed. He then led a high life until he ran out of friends, money and support. In a garret, depressed and impoverished, he read the Bible cover to cover and experienced a religious conversion.

Johann Georg Hamann was born in Königsberg in 1730, the son of a midwife and a barber-surgeon. He began study in philosophy and theology at the age of 16, changed to law but mainly read literature, philology, and rhetoric, but also mathematics and science. He left university without completing his studies and became the governor to a wealthy family on a Baltic estate. During this time he continued his extraordinarily broad reading and private research. He took up a job in the family firm of a friend from his Königsberg days, Christoph Berens, and was sent on an obscure mission to London, in which he evidently failed. He then led a high life until he ran out of friends, money and support. In a garret, depressed and impoverished, he read the Bible cover to cover and experienced a religious conversion.

Hamann had a profound influence on the German ‘Storm and Stress’ movement, and on other contemporaries such as Herder and Jacobi; he impressed Hegel and Goethe (who called him the brightest head of his time) and was a major influence on Kierkegaard. His influence continued on twentieth century German thinkers, particularly those interested in language. His popularity has increased dramatically in the last few decades amongst philosophers, theologians, and German studies scholars around the world.

Hamann had a profound influence on the German ‘Storm and Stress’ movement, and on other contemporaries such as Herder and Jacobi; he impressed Hegel and Goethe (who called him the brightest head of his time) and was a major influence on Kierkegaard. His influence continued on twentieth century German thinkers, particularly those interested in language. His popularity has increased dramatically in the last few decades amongst philosophers, theologians, and German studies scholars around the world.

2. Writings

 

==Writings==

Hamann's writings are all short; he was not given to extensive treatises. They are also usually motivated by something very specific: someone else's publication, or particular circumstances and events. When responding to these, he presupposes considerable knowledge on the part of the reader; typically his responses to the work of others involves adoption of their terminology and style, blending into mimicry and parody as a rhetorical and argumentative device. Moreover, woven into these writings is an extraordinary breadth and quantity of citations and allusions; and by no means are these all clear and obvious. Thus, when he chooses, his essays are a tapestry of multicolored threads of the ideas, language, and imagery of thinkers, be they ancient, biblical, or contemporary. These are woven across a woof of a love of irony, which as ever adds a layer of interpretative complexity.

Hamann's writings are all short; he was not given to extensive treatises. They are also usually motivated by something very specific: someone else's publication, or particular circumstances and events. When responding to these, he presupposes considerable knowledge on the part of the reader; typically his responses to the work of others involves adoption of their terminology and style, blending into mimicry and parody as a rhetorical and argumentative device. Moreover, woven into these writings is an extraordinary breadth and quantity of citations and allusions; and by no means are these all clear and obvious. Thus, when he chooses, his essays are a tapestry of multicolored threads of the ideas, language, and imagery of thinkers, be they ancient, biblical, or contemporary. These are woven across a woof of a love of irony, which as ever adds a layer of interpretative complexity.

His principal writings include: Biblische Betrachtungen [Biblical Reflections], Gedanken über meinen Lebenslauf [Thoughts on the Course of my Life], Brocken [Fragments], Sokratische Denkwürdigkeiten [Socratic Memorabilia], Wolken [Clouds], Kreuzzüge des Philologen [Crusades of the Philologian], a collection of essays including Aesthetica in Nuce, Versuch über eine akademische Frage [Essay on an academic question], and Kleeblatt Hellenistischer Briefe [Cloverleaf of Hellenistic Letters]; Schriftsteller und Kunstrichter [Author and Critic], Leser und Kunstrichter [Reader and Critic], Fünf Hirtenbriefe [Five Pastoral Letters], Des Ritters von Rosencreuz letzte Willensmeynung über den göttlichen und menschlichen Urprung der Sprache [The Knight of the Rose-Cross' Last Will and Testament on the divine and human origin of language], Philologische Einfälle und Zweifel [Philological Ideas and Doubts], Hierophantische Briefe [Hierophantic Letters], Versuch einer Sibylle über die Ehe [Essay of a Sibyl on Marriage], Konxompax, Metakritik über den Purismum der Vernunft [Metacritique of the Purism of Reason], Golgotha und Scheblimini [Golgotha and Scheblimini], Fliegender Brief [Flying Letter].

His principal writings include: Biblische Betrachtungen [Biblical Reflections], Gedanken über meinen Lebenslauf [Thoughts on the Course of my Life], Brocken [Fragments], Sokratische Denkwürdigkeiten [Socratic Memorabilia], Wolken [Clouds], Kreuzzüge des Philologen [Crusades of the Philologian], a collection of essays including Aesthetica in Nuce, Versuch über eine akademische Frage [Essay on an academic question], and Kleeblatt Hellenistischer Briefe [Cloverleaf of Hellenistic Letters]; Schriftsteller und Kunstrichter [Author and Critic], Leser und Kunstrichter [Reader and Critic], Fünf Hirtenbriefe [Five Pastoral Letters], Des Ritters von Rosencreuz letzte Willensmeynung über den göttlichen und menschlichen Urprung der Sprache [The Knight of the Rose-Cross' Last Will and Testament on the divine and human origin of language], Philologische Einfälle und Zweifel [Philological Ideas and Doubts], Hierophantische Briefe [Hierophantic Letters], Versuch einer Sibylle über die Ehe [Essay of a Sibyl on Marriage], Konxompax, Metakritik über den Purismum der Vernunft [Metacritique of the Purism of Reason], Golgotha und Scheblimini [Golgotha and Scheblimini], Fliegender Brief [Flying Letter].

3. Metacritique

 

==Metacritique==

At the end of his life, Hamann chose to designate his authorship as “Metacritique”, a word he coined for his engagement with Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Instead of creating a systematic theology, or an epistemology, he seems to have seen his work as one that examines the foundations and nature of philosophical and theological critique itself. Rather like the late Wittgenstein, his work was deconstructive; he belongs in the camp of philosophers whom Richard Rorty has described as “edifying and therapeutic” rather than “constructive and systematic” (Rorty, 5-6). He brings to any issue in philosophy not a constructive account, but an approach, a set of convictions, something akin to ethical principles. He anticipated Rorty's emphasis on the curative aspects of this task; at the end of his life, he wanted his collected works to be published under the title “Curative Baths” (“Saalbadereyen” — a reference to healing practices of the time and an allusion to his father's profession.) Each volume was to be called a ‘Tub’. This project was sadly never realized, not even under a more conventional title.

At the end of his life, Hamann chose to designate his authorship as “Metacritique”, a word he coined for his engagement with Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Instead of creating a systematic theology, or an epistemology, he seems to have seen his work as one that examines the foundations and nature of philosophical and theological critique itself. Rather like the late Wittgenstein, his work was deconstructive; he belongs in the camp of philosophers whom Richard Rorty has described as “edifying and therapeutic” rather than “constructive and systematic” (Rorty, 5-6). He brings to any issue in philosophy not a constructive account, but an approach, a set of convictions, something akin to ethical principles. He anticipated Rorty's emphasis on the curative aspects of this task; at the end of his life, he wanted his collected works to be published under the title “Curative Baths” (“Saalbadereyen” — a reference to healing practices of the time and an allusion to his father's profession.) Each volume was to be called a ‘Tub’. This project was sadly never realized, not even under a more conventional title.

These metacritical issues, for Hamann, principally include language, knowledge, and the nature of the human person. Hamann also, most urgently and most controversially (then as now), did not believe that any of these issues can be answered outside a theological perspective; that is, without reference to God as humanity's creator and dialogue partner.

These metacritical issues, for Hamann, principally include language, knowledge, and the nature of the human person. Hamann also, most urgently and most controversially (then as now), did not believe that any of these issues can be answered outside a theological perspective; that is, without reference to God as humanity's creator and dialogue partner.

4. Relation

 

==Relation==

A second feature of Hamann's approach is a tendency which Goethe saw as holism. This is perhaps not the best way to describe Hamann's insight, as Hamann characteristically emphasised the brokenness of human experience, and fragmentariness of human knowledge: “Gaps and lacks … is the highest and deepest knowledge of human nature, through which we must climb our way up to the ideal — ideas and doubts — the summum bonum of our reason” (ZH 3, 34:33-35). Hamann essentially disliked attempts to isolate the phenomenon under consideration from other aspects with which he felt it to be intimately connected; this precludes a deep and true understanding of our existence. Taken as far as he did, this means that philosophy of language must include a discussion of God, and a discussion of God must make reference to sexuality and vice versa.

A second feature of Hamann's approach is a tendency which Goethe saw as holism. This is perhaps not the best way to describe Hamann's insight, as Hamann characteristically emphasised the brokenness of human experience, and fragmentariness of human knowledge: “Gaps and lacks … is the highest and deepest knowledge of human nature, through which we must climb our way up to the ideal — ideas and doubts — the summum bonum of our reason” (ZH 3, 34:33-35). Hamann essentially disliked attempts to isolate the phenomenon under consideration from other aspects with which he felt it to be intimately connected; this precludes a deep and true understanding of our existence. Taken as far as he did, this means that philosophy of language must include a discussion of God, and a discussion of God must make reference to sexuality and vice versa.

Thus in “Essay of a Sibyl on Marriage”, which he takes as an opportunity to write about sex, a proper understanding of human sexuality and erotic enjoyment cannot be understood without seeing humanity as the creature of God, made in God's image. He plays with the Christian idea of God as a Trinity to depict a trinity of woman-man-God in the moment of lovemaking; and reworks the account of the creation of Adam in Genesis to describe the act of coitus itself. The woman on perceiving her lover in his excitement sees ‘that rib’ and cries out in enthusiastic appropriation, ‘That is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!’ The man then ‘fills the hole of the place with flesh’ (as Genesis describes God doing with Adam after the creation of Eve). In doing so the lover also acknowledges that the origin of a man is in woman's body: the ‘Sibyl’ describes this moment of lovemaking as ”he entered in whence he once came forth.” Indeed, as Christ was born of a woman, the salvation of humanity proceeds from a woman's sexual body; the vagina is also described as the place that the Saviour came forth as the body's healer (the German language permits Hamann here to pun on ‘healer’ and ‘saviour’). This inclination to combine topics more often kept separate (such as ‘the concept of God’ and ‘having sex’) is salient throughout his work.

Thus in “Essay of a Sibyl on Marriage”, which he takes as an opportunity to write about sex, a proper understanding of human sexuality and erotic enjoyment cannot be understood without seeing humanity as the creature of God, made in God's image. He plays with the Christian idea of God as a Trinity to depict a trinity of woman-man-God in the moment of lovemaking; and reworks the account of the creation of Adam in Genesis to describe the act of coitus itself. The woman on perceiving her lover in his excitement sees ‘that rib’ and cries out in enthusiastic appropriation, ‘That is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!’ The man then ‘fills the hole of the place with flesh’ (as Genesis describes God doing with Adam after the creation of Eve). In doing so the lover also acknowledges that the origin of a man is in woman's body: the ‘Sibyl’ describes this moment of lovemaking as ”he entered in whence he once came forth.” Indeed, as Christ was born of a woman, the salvation of humanity proceeds from a woman's sexual body; the vagina is also described as the place that the Saviour came forth as the body's healer (the German language permits Hamann here to pun on ‘healer’ and ‘saviour’). This inclination to combine topics more often kept separate (such as ‘the concept of God’ and ‘having sex’) is salient throughout his work.

5. The Union of Opposites

 

==The Union of Opposites==

Hamann's tool for conceiving the interrelation of these dimensions of human life increasingly was the Principle of the Union of Opposites. He writes approvingly of this principle to his friends; particularly after his encounter with Kant's new epistemology, claiming to value it more than the principles of contradiction and of sufficient reason, and indeed more than the whole Kantian Critique (ZH 5, 327:12ff; ZH 4, 462:7-8). Contradictions and apparent oppositions fill our experience:

Hamann's tool for conceiving the interrelation of these dimensions of human life increasingly was the Principle of the Union of Opposites. He writes approvingly of this principle to his friends; particularly after his encounter with Kant's new epistemology, claiming to value it more than the principles of contradiction and of sufficient reason, and indeed more than the whole Kantian Critique (ZH 5, 327:12ff; ZH 4, 462:7-8). Contradictions and apparent oppositions fill our experience:

    Yes, daily at home I have the experience that one must always contradict oneself from two viewpoints, [which] never can agree, and that it is impossible to change these viewpoints into the other without doing the greatest violence to them. Our knowledge is piecemeal — no dogmatist is in a position to feel this great truth, if he is to play his role and play it well; and through a vicious circle of pure reason skepsis itself becomes dogma (ZH 5, 432:29-36). (This is in the context of a discussion of Kant.)

Yes, daily at home I have the experience that one must always contradict oneself from two viewpoints, [which] never can agree, and that it is impossible to change these viewpoints into the other without doing the greatest violence to them. Our knowledge is piecemeal — no dogmatist is in a position to feel this great truth, if he is to play his role and play it well; and through a vicious circle of pure reason skepsis itself becomes dogma (ZH 5, 432:29-36). (This is in the context of a discussion of Kant.)

Far from being a pre-condition for truth, the absence of contradiction is in Hamann's eyes a pre-condition for dogmatism. Knowledge must not proceed on the basis of unanimity and the absence of contradiction, but must proceed through the dialogue and relation of these different voices. (Hamann does not think in terms of Hegel's later dialectical synthesis.) When Hamann speaks of ‘opposition’ and contradictions, however, he does so in an ironic tone; for it is clearly his conviction that there is a fundamental unity in things, and the oppositions and contradictions that we perceive are chiefly of our own making. He insists that his perception is ‘without Manichaeism’ (ZH 5, 327:16-17). Body and mind, senses and reason, reason and passion are not truly opposed. These are contrasting elements of the same unified — unified but not homogenous — reality. Hamann tries to steer a course between Scylla and Charybdis: between the dogmatic, even tyrannical extermination of opposition and contradiction; and the elimination of contradiction through a false synthesis or fusion achieved by an apparent acceptance of antithetical realities.

Far from being a pre-condition for truth, the absence of contradiction is in Hamann's eyes a pre-condition for dogmatism. Knowledge must not proceed on the basis of unanimity and the absence of contradiction, but must proceed through the dialogue and relation of these different voices. (Hamann does not think in terms of Hegel's later dialectical synthesis.) When Hamann speaks of ‘opposition’ and contradictions, however, he does so in an ironic tone; for it is clearly his conviction that there is a fundamental unity in things, and the oppositions and contradictions that we perceive are chiefly of our own making. He insists that his perception is ‘without Manichaeism’ (ZH 5, 327:16-17). Body and mind, senses and reason, reason and passion are not truly opposed. These are contrasting elements of the same unified — unified but not homogenous — reality. Hamann tries to steer a course between Scylla and Charybdis: between the dogmatic, even tyrannical extermination of opposition and contradiction; and the elimination of contradiction through a false synthesis or fusion achieved by an apparent acceptance of antithetical realities.

The Principle of the Union of Opposites as a tactical tool, therefore, does not imply that Hamann sees the world in terms of divisions and dualism. It is his strategy for coping with the schematic antitheses abundant in Enlightenment philosophy.

The Principle of the Union of Opposites as a tactical tool, therefore, does not imply that Hamann sees the world in terms of divisions and dualism. It is his strategy for coping with the schematic antitheses abundant in Enlightenment philosophy.

    Nothing seems easier than the leap from one extreme to the other, and nothing so difficult as the union to a center. … [The Union of Opposites] always seems to me to be the one sufficient reason of all contradictions — and the true process of their resolution and mediation, that makes an end to all feuds of healthy reason and pure unreason. (ZH 4, 287:5-17)

Nothing seems easier than the leap from one extreme to the other, and nothing so difficult as the union to a center. … [The Union of Opposites] always seems to me to be the one sufficient reason of all contradictions — and the true process of their resolution and mediation, that makes an end to all feuds of healthy reason and pure unreason. (ZH 4, 287:5-17)

6. ‘Prosopopoeia’

==‘Prosopopoeia’==

Hamann used the notion of ‘Prosopopoeia’, or personification, as an image of what can happen in philosophical reflection. In a medieval morality or mystery play, the experience of being chaste or being lustful is transformed from a way of acting or feeling into a dramatic character who then speaks and acts as a personification of that quality. So too in philosophy, Hamann suggests. The philosopher distinguishes differing aspects in the phenomenon under scrutiny and exaggerates their difference. These aspects are ennobled into faculties, and through ‘prosopopoeia’ are hypostasized into entities. Thus in the act of reflecting on something, ‘reasoning’ is distinguished from ‘feeling’, and turned from a verb or gerund into a noun — ‘reason’—which is then named as a constituent of our being. Reason then becomes a thing to which we can ascribe properties. (This shows perhaps a streak bordering on nominalism in Hamann.)

Hamann used the notion of ‘Prosopopoeia’, or personification, as an image of what can happen in philosophical reflection. In a medieval morality or mystery play, the experience of being chaste or being lustful is transformed from a way of acting or feeling into a dramatic character who then speaks and acts as a personification of that quality. So too in philosophy, Hamann suggests. The philosopher distinguishes differing aspects in the phenomenon under scrutiny and exaggerates their difference. These aspects are ennobled into faculties, and through ‘prosopopoeia’ are hypostasized into entities. Thus in the act of reflecting on something, ‘reasoning’ is distinguished from ‘feeling’, and turned from a verb or gerund into a noun — ‘reason’—which is then named as a constituent of our being. Reason then becomes a thing to which we can ascribe properties. (This shows perhaps a streak bordering on nominalism in Hamann.)

Hamann's treatment of reason instead is a deconstruction, both of the prosopopoeic use of the word and the Enlightenment valuation of it. There is no such thing as reason — there is only reasoning. Reasoning, as something we do, is as fallible as we are, and as such is subject to our position in history, or own personality, or the circumstances of the moment. ‘It’ is therefore not a universal, healthy and infallible ‘faculty’ as Hamann's Enlightenment contemporaries often maintained:

Hamann's treatment of reason instead is a deconstruction, both of the prosopopoeic use of the word and the Enlightenment valuation of it. There is no such thing as reason — there is only reasoning. Reasoning, as something we do, is as fallible as we are, and as such is subject to our position in history, or own personality, or the circumstances of the moment. ‘It’ is therefore not a universal, healthy and infallible ‘faculty’ as Hamann's Enlightenment contemporaries often maintained:

    Being, belief and reason are pure relations, which cannot be dealt with absolutely, and are not things but pure scholastic concepts, signs for understanding, not for worshipping, aids to awaken our attention, not to fetter it. (ZH 7, 165:7-11)

Being, belief and reason are pure relations, which cannot be dealt with absolutely, and are not things but pure scholastic concepts, signs for understanding, not for worshipping, aids to awaken our attention, not to fetter it. (ZH 7, 165:7-11)

7. Enlightenment

==Enlightenment==

Hamann is sometimes portrayed simply as an opponent of ‘the Enlightenment’. This presupposes of course that ‘the Enlightenment’ constitutes a unified stance on a number of philosophical issues, an assumption which is questionable. The majority of Hamann scholars today see his position in a more complex way. Hamann opposed many of the popular convictions of his time. However, Hamann fought his contemporaries on many fronts; often with areas of considerable agreement with some of his opponents. One example would be the way that he deployed Hume as a weapon against Enlightenment rationalism, not least against Kant (although Hamann was the one who introduced Kant to Hume's writings in the first place). Although Hamann, as a Christian, had profound disagreements with Hume's thought in its atheistic aspects, nevertheless he used Humean skepticism in his own deconstructive writings. Hume's doubts about the reliability and self-sufficiency of reason were grist to Hamann's mill. Hume's insistence that ‘belief’ underlies much of our thinking and reasoning was adopted and deployed by Hamann, often with a linguistic sleight of hand. By using the word ‘Glaube’ (which in German includes both ‘belief’ in an epistemic sense and ‘faith’ in a religious sense), Hamann could assert that ‘faith’, not rational grounds, underlies his contemporaries' high valuation of reason. Thus even the enthusiastic advocates of impartiality and ‘reason’, who are also skeptics about ‘blind faith’, have ultimately only faith as the ground for their convictions.

Hamann is sometimes portrayed simply as an opponent of ‘the Enlightenment’. This presupposes of course that ‘the Enlightenment’ constitutes a unified stance on a number of philosophical issues, an assumption which is questionable. The majority of Hamann scholars today see his position in a more complex way. Hamann opposed many of the popular convictions of his time. However, Hamann fought his contemporaries on many fronts; often with areas of considerable agreement with some of his opponents. One example would be the way that he deployed Hume as a weapon against Enlightenment rationalism, not least against Kant (although Hamann was the one who introduced Kant to Hume's writings in the first place). Although Hamann, as a Christian, had profound disagreements with Hume's thought in its atheistic aspects, nevertheless he used Humean skepticism in his own deconstructive writings. Hume's doubts about the reliability and self-sufficiency of reason were grist to Hamann's mill. Hume's insistence that ‘belief’ underlies much of our thinking and reasoning was adopted and deployed by Hamann, often with a linguistic sleight of hand. By using the word ‘Glaube’ (which in German includes both ‘belief’ in an epistemic sense and ‘faith’ in a religious sense), Hamann could assert that ‘faith’, not rational grounds, underlies his contemporaries' high valuation of reason. Thus even the enthusiastic advocates of impartiality and ‘reason’, who are also skeptics about ‘blind faith’, have ultimately only faith as the ground for their convictions.

Most urgently, therefore, Hamann objects to the allegation that this immaturity is ‘self-incurred’, rather than imposed on the people firstly by a despotic monarch, and secondly by intellectuals like Kant, with the ‘prattle and reasoning of those emancipated immature ones, who set themselves up as guardians’. ‘True enlightenment,’ Hamann concludes sarcastically, with an eye to the likes of Kant and Frederick, “consists in an emergence of the immature person from a supremely self-incurred guardianship.”

Most urgently, therefore, Hamann objects to the allegation that this immaturity is ‘self-incurred’, rather than imposed on the people firstly by a despotic monarch, and secondly by intellectuals like Kant, with the ‘prattle and reasoning of those emancipated immature ones, who set themselves up as guardians’. ‘True enlightenment,’ Hamann concludes sarcastically, with an eye to the likes of Kant and Frederick, “consists in an emergence of the immature person from a supremely self-incurred guardianship.”

8. Language

 

==Language==

Language is one of Hamann's most abiding philosophical concerns. From the beginning of his work, Hamann championed the priority which expression and communication, passion and symbol possess over abstraction, analysis and logic in matters of language. Neither logic nor even representation (in Rorty's sense) possesses the rights of the first-born. Representation is secondary and derivative rather than the whole function of language. Symbolism, imagery, metaphor have primacy; “Poetry is the mother-tongue of the human race” (N II, 197). To think that language is essentially a passive system of signs for communicating thoughts is to deal a deathblow to true language.

Language is one of Hamann's most abiding philosophical concerns. From the beginning of his work, Hamann championed the priority which expression and communication, passion and symbol possess over abstraction, analysis and logic in matters of language. Neither logic nor even representation (in Rorty's sense) possesses the rights of the first-born. Representation is secondary and derivative rather than the whole function of language. Symbolism, imagery, metaphor have primacy; “Poetry is the mother-tongue of the human race” (N II, 197). To think that language is essentially a passive system of signs for communicating thoughts is to deal a deathblow to true language.

For all Hamann's emphasis in his earlier writings on passion and emotion, he does not equate language with emotional expression. This became clear in his engagement with the writing of his younger friend Herder on the origin of language. Language has a mediating relationship between our reflection, one another, and our world; and as it is not simply the cries of emotion of an animal, so too it is not a smothering curtain between us and the rest of reality. Language also has a mediating role between God and us. Hamann's answer to a debate of his time, the origin of language — divine or human?—is that its origin is found in the relationship between God and humanity. Typically he has the ‘Knight of the Rose-Cross’ express this in the form of a ‘myth’, rather than attempting to work out such a claim logically and systematically. Rewriting the story of the Garden of Eden, he describes this paradise as:

For all Hamann's emphasis in his earlier writings on passion and emotion, he does not equate language with emotional expression. This became clear in his engagement with the writing of his younger friend Herder on the origin of language. Language has a mediating relationship between our reflection, one another, and our world; and as it is not simply the cries of emotion of an animal, so too it is not a smothering curtain between us and the rest of reality. Language also has a mediating role between God and us. Hamann's answer to a debate of his time, the origin of language — divine or human?—is that its origin is found in the relationship between God and humanity. Typically he has the ‘Knight of the Rose-Cross’ express this in the form of a ‘myth’, rather than attempting to work out such a claim logically and systematically. Rewriting the story of the Garden of Eden, he describes this paradise as:

    Every phenomenon of nature was a word,—the sign, symbol and pledge of a new, mysterious, inexpressible but all the more intimate union, participation and community of divine energies and ideas. Everything the human being heard from the beginning, saw with its eyes, looked upon and touched with its hands was a living word; for God was the word. (NIII, 32: 21-30)

Every phenomenon of nature was a word,—the sign, symbol and pledge of a new, mysterious, inexpressible but all the more intimate union, participation and community of divine energies and ideas. Everything the human being heard from the beginning, saw with its eyes, looked upon and touched with its hands was a living word; for God was the word. (NIII, 32: 21-30)

This makes the origin of language as easy and natural as child's play.

This makes the origin of language as easy and natural as child's play.

By the end of his life, because of his engagement with Kant, the most urgent question among the relationships that constitute language is the relationship of language to thinking or ‘reason’. In his view, the central question of Kant's first Critique, the very possibility of a priori knowledge and of pure reason, depends on the nature of language. In a passage full of subtle allusions to Kantian passages and terms, he writes:

By the end of his life, because of his engagement with Kant, the most urgent question among the relationships that constitute language is the relationship of language to thinking or ‘reason’. In his view, the central question of Kant's first Critique, the very possibility of a priori knowledge and of pure reason, depends on the nature of language. In a passage full of subtle allusions to Kantian passages and terms, he writes:

    Indeed, if a chief question does remain: how is the power to think possible?—The power to think right and left, before and without, with and above experience? then it does not take a deduction to prove the genealogical priority of language…. Not only the entire ability to think rests on language... but language is also the crux of the misunderstanding of reason with itself. (N III, 286:1-10)

Indeed, if a chief question does remain: how is the power to think possible?—The power to think right and left, before and without, with and above experience? then it does not take a deduction to prove the genealogical priority of language…. Not only the entire ability to think rests on language... but language is also the crux of the misunderstanding of reason with itself. (N III, 286:1-10)

Language is forced to take part in the ‘purification of philosophy’, as he describes it in his Metacritique of Kant: the attempt to expunge experience and tradition from rational reflection. Language itself is the final victim in this threefold ‘purification’. It is for this reason however that language can constitute the cure for philosophy. Language is the embodiment of experience and tradition; as long as the ability to think rests on language, neither ‘reason’ nor ‘philosophy’ can be pure of the empirical, of experience, and of the experience of the others to whom we relate. It itself, for Hamann, embodies a relation: it itself is a ‘union of opposites’, of the aesthetic and the logical, the bodily and the intellectual; it unites the divisions Kant's Critique creates.

Language is forced to take part in the ‘purification of philosophy’, as he describes it in his Metacritique of Kant: the attempt to expunge experience and tradition from rational reflection. Language itself is the final victim in this threefold ‘purification’. It is for this reason however that language can constitute the cure for philosophy. Language is the embodiment of experience and tradition; as long as the ability to think rests on language, neither ‘reason’ nor ‘philosophy’ can be pure of the empirical, of experience, and of the experience of the others to whom we relate. It itself, for Hamann, embodies a relation: it itself is a ‘union of opposites’, of the aesthetic and the logical, the bodily and the intellectual; it unites the divisions Kant's Critique creates.

For Hamann, in contrast to Kant, the question is therefore not so much ‘what is reason?’ as ‘what is language?’, as he writes in a letter. This is the ground of the paralogisms and antinomies that Kant raises in his Critique. Sharing Hume's empiricism and Berkeley's suspicion of universals and abstract terms, he concludes: “Hence it happens that one takes words for concepts, and concepts for the things themselves” (ZH 5, 264:34-265:1). Language then has a fundamental role to play in unmasking the philosopher's tendency to ‘prosopopoeia’. The relation of language to reason he certainly did not feel had solved, however, as he wrote to a friend:

For Hamann, in contrast to Kant, the question is therefore not so much ‘what is reason?’ as ‘what is language?’, as he writes in a letter. This is the ground of the paralogisms and antinomies that Kant raises in his Critique. Sharing Hume's empiricism and Berkeley's suspicion of universals and abstract terms, he concludes: “Hence it happens that one takes words for concepts, and concepts for the things themselves” (ZH 5, 264:34-265:1). Language then has a fundamental role to play in unmasking the philosopher's tendency to ‘prosopopoeia’. The relation of language to reason he certainly did not feel had solved, however, as he wrote to a friend:

    If only I was as eloquent as Demosthenes, I would have to do no more than repeat a single word three times. Reason is language—Logos; I gnaw on this marrowbone and will gnaw myself to death over it. It is still always dark over these depths for me: I am still always awaiting an apocalyptic angel with a key to this abyss. (ZH 5, 177:16-21)

If only I was as eloquent as Demosthenes, I would have to do no more than repeat a single word three times. Reason is language—Logos; I gnaw on this marrowbone and will gnaw myself to death over it. It is still always dark over these depths for me: I am still always awaiting an apocalyptic angel with a key to this abyss. (ZH 5, 177:16-21)

9. Knowledge

==Knowledge==

For Hamann, knowledge is inseparable from self-knowledge, and self-knowledge inseparable from knowledge of the other. We are visible, as in a mirror, in each other; “God and my neighbor are therefore a part of my self-knowledge, my self-love” (N I, 302:16-23). He writes in a letter: “Self knowledge begins with the neighbor, the mirror, and just the same with true self-love; that goes from the mirror to the matter” (ZH 6, 281:16-17). Sometimes this exploration of self-knowledge through interpersonal intimacy takes a sexual form, as in the Sibyl's Essay on Marriage (already discussed).

For Hamann, knowledge is inseparable from self-knowledge, and self-knowledge inseparable from knowledge of the other. We are visible, as in a mirror, in each other; “God and my neighbor are therefore a part of my self-knowledge, my self-love” (N I, 302:16-23). He writes in a letter: “Self knowledge begins with the neighbor, the mirror, and just the same with true self-love; that goes from the mirror to the matter” (ZH 6, 281:16-17). Sometimes this exploration of self-knowledge through interpersonal intimacy takes a sexual form, as in the Sibyl's Essay on Marriage (already discussed).

In this engagement with Kant, Hamann returns and deepens the lesson he had learnt much earlier in his reading of Hume: that belief or faith is an essential precursor for knowledge. Everything is dependent or grounded on faith; there is no privileged position for any kind or form of knowledge (a priori, scientific, etc.) In Hamann's epistemology, the hard division between ‘knowledge’ and ‘belief’ or ‘faith’ becomes eroded. Both knowledge and faith rest on a foundation of trust; neither rest on a foundation of indubitability. “Every philosophy consists of certain and uncertain knowledge, of idealism and realism, of sensuousness and deductions. Why should only the uncertain be called belief? What then are—rational grounds?” (ZH 7, 165:33-37) ‘Sensuousness’ translates Sinnlichkeit (Kant's ‘sensibility’). Belief and reason both need each other; idealism and realism are a fantasized opposition, of which the authentic use of reason knows nothing. The unity that lies in the nature of things should lie at the foundation of all our concepts and reflection (ZH 7, 165:7-17).

In this engagement with Kant, Hamann returns and deepens the lesson he had learnt much earlier in his reading of Hume: that belief or faith is an essential precursor for knowledge. Everything is dependent or grounded on faith; there is no privileged position for any kind or form of knowledge (a priori, scientific, etc.) In Hamann's epistemology, the hard division between ‘knowledge’ and ‘belief’ or ‘faith’ becomes eroded. Both knowledge and faith rest on a foundation of trust; neither rest on a foundation of indubitability. “Every philosophy consists of certain and uncertain knowledge, of idealism and realism, of sensuousness and deductions. Why should only the uncertain be called belief? What then are—rational grounds?” (ZH 7, 165:33-37) ‘Sensuousness’ translates Sinnlichkeit (Kant's ‘sensibility’). Belief and reason both need each other; idealism and realism are a fantasized opposition, of which the authentic use of reason knows nothing. The unity that lies in the nature of things should lie at the foundation of all our concepts and reflection (ZH 7, 165:7-17).

10. Interpretation and Understanding

 

==Interpretation and Understanding==

From his ‘debut’ work, Socratic Memorabilia, Hamann began to promulgate a particular view of what it means to understand something. From the beginning of that essay he emphasized the importance of passion and commitment in interpretation; undermining the more conventional assumption that objectivity and detachment are prerequisites of philosophical reflection and understanding. In Aesthetica in Nuce, wearing the authorial mask of the ‘kabbalistic philologian’, he provocatively maintained that initiation into orgies were necessary before the interpreter could safely begin the hermeneutical act. The idea that one must rid oneself of presuppositions, prejudices, and predilections in order to do justice to the subject matter he characterizes as ‘monastic rules’—i.e. an excessive asceticism and abstinence. He goes so far as to compare such individuals to self-castrating eunuchs (N II, 207:10-20).

From his ‘debut’ work, Socratic Memorabilia, Hamann began to promulgate a particular view of what it means to understand something. From the beginning of that essay he emphasized the importance of passion and commitment in interpretation; undermining the more conventional assumption that objectivity and detachment are prerequisites of philosophical reflection and understanding. In Aesthetica in Nuce, wearing the authorial mask of the ‘kabbalistic philologian’, he provocatively maintained that initiation into orgies were necessary before the interpreter could safely begin the hermeneutical act. The idea that one must rid oneself of presuppositions, prejudices, and predilections in order to do justice to the subject matter he characterizes as ‘monastic rules’—i.e. an excessive asceticism and abstinence. He goes so far as to compare such individuals to self-castrating eunuchs (N II, 207:10-20).

Fundamentally, for Hamann hermeneutics consists in perceiving the underlying relationship beneath the phenomenon in question; at the least, of course, the relationship between the author and the interpreter which requires such fidelity. Given Hamann's religious views, this at once introduces a theological dimension. Ultimately, this means that for Hamann proper hermeneutics rests on one thing: perceiving God revealed within the phenomenon, whether that be nature or history (cf. Socratic Memorabilia and Aesthetica in Nuce for examples). Even the interpretation of ourselves is a revelation of God; a recognition of whose image solves all the most complicated knots and riddles of our nature (N II, 206:32-207:2; 198:3-5).

Fundamentally, for Hamann hermeneutics consists in perceiving the underlying relationship beneath the phenomenon in question; at the least, of course, the relationship between the author and the interpreter which requires such fidelity. Given Hamann's religious views, this at once introduces a theological dimension. Ultimately, this means that for Hamann proper hermeneutics rests on one thing: perceiving God revealed within the phenomenon, whether that be nature or history (cf. Socratic Memorabilia and Aesthetica in Nuce for examples). Even the interpretation of ourselves is a revelation of God; a recognition of whose image solves all the most complicated knots and riddles of our nature (N II, 206:32-207:2; 198:3-5).

11. Humanity

 

==Humanity==

The topics examined so far all have their anthropological implications. Hamann's critique of the socio-political implications of Kant's vision of ‘enlightenment’ rests on a conviction about our social and political destiny. Hamann sees our socio-political vocation as consisting firstly in ‘criticism’ (or ‘critique’)—recognizing and appropriating, or hating and rejecting, the true vs. the false, good vs. evil, beautiful vs. ugly; and secondly in ‘politics’, which is increasing or reducing them. This is not the prerogative of the ruler; every one is at once their own ‘king’, their own ‘legislator’; but also the ‘first-born of their subjects’. It is our “republican privilege” to contribute to this destiny, “the critical and magisterial office of a political animal” (N III, 38-39).

The topics examined so far all have their anthropological implications. Hamann's critique of the socio-political implications of Kant's vision of ‘enlightenment’ rests on a conviction about our social and political destiny. Hamann sees our socio-political vocation as consisting firstly in ‘criticism’ (or ‘critique’)—recognizing and appropriating, or hating and rejecting, the true vs. the false, good vs. evil, beautiful vs. ugly; and secondly in ‘politics’, which is increasing or reducing them. This is not the prerogative of the ruler; every one is at once their own ‘king’, their own ‘legislator’; but also the ‘first-born of their subjects’. It is our “republican privilege” to contribute to this destiny, “the critical and magisterial office of a political animal” (N III, 38-39).

One must also remember that Hamann confessed that he could not conceive of a Creative Spirit without genitalia; indeed, he was quite happy to assert that the genitals are the unique bond between creature and Creator. So sexuality in divine-human relations has two aspects. First, as paradigm of creativity, it is the way in which our God-likeness can most strikingly be seen. Secondly, as the point of the most profound unity, it is the locus for our union both with another human being and with the divine. Provocatively, Hamann sees original sin and its rebellion as embodied not in sexuality, but in reason. Overweening reason is our attempt to be like God; meanwhile, prudery is the rejection of God's image, while trying to be like God in the wrong sense (bodilessness). (See Essay of a Sibyl on Marriage and Konxompax.) One should therefore distinguish ‘likeness to God’ from ‘being equal to God’. In the Sibyl's essay, the male version of grasping at equality with God (cf. Phil. 2:6) is the attempt to be self-sufficient, to be the God of monotheism: the sole ruler, who possesses self-existence. Instead, the encounter with the opposite sex should engender in the man an attitude of profound respect towards the woman's body, as the source of his own existence, from his mother. As the source of his own joy, lovemaking also is an acknowledgement of his own dependence, his lack of self-sufficiency and autonomy. But this dependence on another paradoxically is the Godlikeness of the Creator, the father, the one who humbles himself in self-giving (a favourite Hamannian theme in his discussion of God). Meanwhile, the woman's temptation is to an artificial innocence; a secret envy of God's incorporeality and impassibility. The defence of one's virginity is another cryptic attempt at self-sufficiency. Instead, the woman must brave the ‘tongues of fire’ in a ‘sacrifical offering of innocence’, in order to realize her Godlikeness; which is not to be found in bodilessness and the absence of passion, but in passionate creativity; in the willingness to be incarnate. Thus, if human beings are in the image of God, it is a trinitarian image of God, a mutual relation of love of ‘Father’, ‘Son’ and ‘Spirit’; found in creating, in saving, and in tongues of fire.

One must also remember that Hamann confessed that he could not conceive of a Creative Spirit without genitalia; indeed, he was quite happy to assert that the genitals are the unique bond between creature and Creator. So sexuality in divine-human relations has two aspects. First, as paradigm of creativity, it is the way in which our God-likeness can most strikingly be seen. Secondly, as the point of the most profound unity, it is the locus for our union both with another human being and with the divine. Provocatively, Hamann sees original sin and its rebellion as embodied not in sexuality, but in reason. Overweening reason is our attempt to be like God; meanwhile, prudery is the rejection of God's image, while trying to be like God in the wrong sense (bodilessness). (See Essay of a Sibyl on Marriage and Konxompax.) One should therefore distinguish ‘likeness to God’ from ‘being equal to God’. In the Sibyl's essay, the male version of grasping at equality with God (cf. Phil. 2:6) is the attempt to be self-sufficient, to be the God of monotheism: the sole ruler, who possesses self-existence. Instead, the encounter with the opposite sex should engender in the man an attitude of profound respect towards the woman's body, as the source of his own existence, from his mother. As the source of his own joy, lovemaking also is an acknowledgement of his own dependence, his lack of self-sufficiency and autonomy. But this dependence on another paradoxically is the Godlikeness of the Creator, the father, the one who humbles himself in self-giving (a favourite Hamannian theme in his discussion of God). Meanwhile, the woman's temptation is to an artificial innocence; a secret envy of God's incorporeality and impassibility. The defence of one's virginity is another cryptic attempt at self-sufficiency. Instead, the woman must brave the ‘tongues of fire’ in a ‘sacrifical offering of innocence’, in order to realize her Godlikeness; which is not to be found in bodilessness and the absence of passion, but in passionate creativity; in the willingness to be incarnate. Thus, if human beings are in the image of God, it is a trinitarian image of God, a mutual relation of love of ‘Father’, ‘Son’ and ‘Spirit’; found in creating, in saving, and in tongues of fire.

Hamann's works, including those unpublished in his lifetime, are reprinted in the collection edited by Josef Nadler:

====Hamann's works====

 

including those unpublished in his lifetime, are reprinted in the collection edited by Josef Nadler:

    * Hamann, Johann Georg. Sämtliche Werken, edited by Josef Nadler. 6 volumes. Vienna: Verlag Herder, 1949-1957). This was reprinted recently by Brockhaus in Wuppertal, 1999.

*Hamann, Johann Georg. Sämtliche Werken, edited by Josef Nadler. 6 volumes. Vienna: Verlag Herder, 1949-1957). This was reprinted recently by Brockhaus in Wuppertal, 1999.

Citations from this source, in conformity with common practice for Hamann references, are given above as: N II, 13:10. This means “Nadler's edition, volume two, page thirteen, line ten.” This same mode of reference also applies to the translations in Gwen Griffith Dickson (see below), wherein the pages are laid out in as close an approximation as possible to Nadler's edition.

Citations from this source, in conformity with common practice for Hamann references, are given above as: N II, 13:10. This means “Nadler's edition, volume two, page thirteen, line ten.” This same mode of reference also applies to the translations in Gwen Griffith Dickson (see below), wherein the pages are laid out in as close an approximation as possible to Nadler's edition.

    * Hamann, Johann Georg. Briefwechsel, edited by Walther Ziesemer and Arthur Henkel (from volume 4 on, edited by Henkel alone). 8 volumes. Wiesbaden/ Frankfurt: Insel Verlag, 1955-1975.

 

*Hamann, Johann Georg. Briefwechsel, edited by Walther Ziesemer and Arthur Henkel (from volume 4 on, edited by Henkel alone). 8 volumes. Wiesbaden/ Frankfurt: Insel Verlag, 1955-1975.

Citations from this source are given as: ZH 4 etc. as above.

Citations from this source are given as: ZH 4 etc. as above.

All translations from Hamann's works and letters in the above article are from Gwen Griffith Dickson (see below) except for the translation from the letter to Kraus, which is cited in the translation by Garrett Green, in Schmidt, James (ed.). What is Enlightenment? Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996.

All translations from Hamann's works and letters in the above article are from Gwen Griffith Dickson (see below) except for the translation from the letter to Kraus, which is cited in the translation by Garrett Green, in Schmidt, James (ed.). What is Enlightenment? Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996.

Other editions and commentaries, in German

* –––. Ausgewählt, eingeleitet und mit Anmerkungen versehen von Arthur Henkel. Frankfurt a.M.: Insel Verlag 1988.

in German

    * –––. Sokratische Denkwürdigkeiten. Aesthetica in nuce. Mit einem Kommentar hg. von Sven-Aage Jörgensen. Stuttgart: Reclam Verlag 1968. (Reclams Universalbibliothek 926/26a).

English translations and commentaries

* Blanke, Fritz and Karlfried Gründer. Johann Georg Hamanns Hauptschriften Erklärt. 8 volumes were projected, the following appeared: Gütersloh: Mohn, 1962f.

====English translations and commentaries====

    * Nisbet, H. B., ed. German Aesthetic and Literary Criticism: Winckelmann, Lessing, Hamann, Herder, Schiller, Goethe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. (Aesthetica in NuceM, translated by Joyce Crick)

Monographs and studies in English

* Schmidt, James (ed.). What is Enlightenment? Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996. (“Letter to Kraus,” translated by Garrett Green and Metacritique of the Purism of Reason, translated by Kenneth Haynes)

* Smith, Ronald Gregor. J.G. Hamann, 1730-1788. A Study in Christian Existence. With Selections from his Writings. London: Collins, 1960. (A selection of short passages)

    * Alexander, W.M., 1966, Johann Georg Haman. Philosophy and Faith. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.

====Monographs and studies in English====

    * –––, 1997, "Petito principi minima as a leitmotif of the Enlightment according Hamann", in Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie, 39/3: 233-248.

The International Hamann-Colloquium

 

===The International Hamann-Colloquium===

The International Hamann-Colloquium meets every few years. Collections of its papers are some of the most important contributions to Hamann scholarship:

The International Hamann-Colloquium meets every few years. Collections of its papers are some of the most important contributions to Hamann scholarship:

    * Johann Georg Hamann, (Acta des Internationalen Hamann-Colloquiums in Luneberg 1976), ed. by Bernhard Gajek. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann, 1979.

* Johann Georg Hamann, (Acta des Internationalen Hamann-Colloquiums in Luneberg 1976), ed. by Bernhard Gajek. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann, 1979.

    * Johann Georg Hamann, (Acta des zweiten Internationalen Hamann-Colloquiums im Herder-Institut zu Marburg/Lahn 1980), ed. by Bernhard Gajek. Marburg: N. G. Elwert Verlag: 1983.

* Johann Georg Hamann, (Acta des zweiten Internationalen Hamann-Colloquiums im Herder-Institut zu Marburg/Lahn 1980), ed. by Bernhard Gajek. Marburg: N. G. Elwert Verlag: 1983.

    * Johann Georg Hamann und Frankreich, (Acta des dritten Internationalen Hamann-Colloquiums im Herder-Institut zu Marburg/Lahn 1982), ed. by Bernhard Gajek. Marburg: Elwert Verlag, 1987.

* Johann Georg Hamann und Frankreich, (Acta des dritten Internationalen Hamann-Colloquiums im Herder-Institut zu Marburg/Lahn 1982), ed. by Bernhard Gajek. Marburg: Elwert Verlag, 1987.

    * Hamann — Kant — Herder, (Acta des vierten Internationalen Hamann-Kolloquiums im Herder-Institut zu Marburg/Lahn 1985), ed. by Bernhard Gajek, Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang 1987.

* Hamann — Kant — Herder, (Acta des vierten Internationalen Hamann-Kolloquiums im Herder-Institut zu Marburg/Lahn 1985), ed. by Bernhard Gajek, Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang 1987.

    * Johann Georg Hamann und die Krise der Aufklärung, (Acta des fünften Internationalen Hamann-Kolloquiums im Münster i.W. 1988), ed. by Bernhard Gajek, Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang 1990.

* Johann Georg Hamann und die Krise der Aufklärung, (Acta des fünften Internationalen Hamann-Kolloquiums im Münster i.W. 1988), ed. by Bernhard Gajek, Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang 1990.

    * Johann Georg Hamann: Autor und Autorschaft, (Acta des sechsten Internationalen Hamann-Kolloquiums im Herder-Institut zu Marburg/Lahn 1992), ed. by Bernhard Gajek. Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang 1996.

* Johann Georg Hamann: Autor und Autorschaft, (Acta des sechsten Internationalen Hamann-Kolloquiums im Herder-Institut zu Marburg/Lahn 1992), ed. by Bernhard Gajek. Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang 1996.

    * Johann Georg Hamann und England: Hamann und die englischsprachige Aufklärung, Acta des Siebten Internationalen Hamann-Kolloquiums zu Marburg/Lahn 1996), ed. by Bernhard Gajek, Frankfurt am Main (u.a.): Lang, 1999.

* Johann Georg Hamann und England: Hamann und die englischsprachige Aufklärung, Acta des Siebten Internationalen Hamann-Kolloquiums zu Marburg/Lahn 1996), ed. by Bernhard Gajek, Frankfurt am Main (u.a.): Lang, 1999.

    * Die Gegenwärtigkeit: Johann Georg Hamanns, (Acta des Achten Internationalen Hamann-Kolloquiums an der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg 2002), ed. by Bernhard Gajek; Peter Lang, 2005.

* Die Gegenwärtigkeit: Johann Georg Hamanns, (Acta des Achten Internationalen Hamann-Kolloquiums an der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg 2002), ed. by Bernhard Gajek; Peter Lang, 2005.

Secondary Sources

===Secondary Sources===

    * Altenhöner, Ingrid, 1997, Die Sibylle als literarische Chiffre bei Johann Georg Hamann — Friedrich Schlegel — Johann Wolfgang Goethe. (Europäische Hochschulschriften. Reihe 1, Deutsche Sprache und Literatur, Bd. 1646). Frankfurt a.M: Peter Lang 1997.

* Altenhöner, Ingrid, 1997, Die Sibylle als literarische Chiffre bei Johann Georg Hamann — Friedrich Schlegel — Johann Wolfgang Goethe. (Europäische Hochschulschriften. Reihe 1, Deutsche Sprache und Literatur, Bd. 1646). Frankfurt a.M: Peter Lang 1997.

    * Bayer, Oswald, 1988, Zeitgenosse im Widerspruch. Johann Georg Hamann als radikaler Aufklärer. (Serie Piper 918.) München: Piper.

*Bayer, Oswald, 1988, Zeitgenosse im Widerspruch. Johann Georg Hamann als radikaler Aufklärer. (Serie Piper 918.) München: Piper.

    * Bayer, Oswald, 1998, Johann Georg Hamann: Der hellste Kopf seiner Zeit. Tübingen: Attempo.

* Bayer, Oswald, 1998, Johann Georg Hamann: Der hellste Kopf seiner Zeit. Tübingen: Attempo.

    * Cloeren, Hermann J., 1988, "Language and Thought", in Hermann Cloeren (ed.), German Approaches to Analytic philosophy in the 18th and 19th Centuries, Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 21-26.

* Cloeren, Hermann J., 1988, "Language and Thought", in Hermann Cloeren (ed.), German Approaches to Analytic philosophy in the 18th and 19th Centuries, Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 21-26.

    * Dahlstrom, Daniel, 2000, "The Aesthetic Holism of Hamann, Herder and Schiller", in Karl Ameriks (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to German Idealism., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

* Dahlstrom, Daniel, 2000, "The Aesthetic Holism of Hamann, Herder and Schiller", in Karl Ameriks (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to German Idealism., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    * Fischer, Rainer, 1996, Die Kunst des Bibellesens. Theologische Ästhetik am Beispiel des Schriftverständnisses. (Beiträge zur theologischen Urteilsbildung, Bd. 1.) Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang.

* Fischer, Rainer, 1996, Die Kunst des Bibellesens. Theologische Ästhetik am Beispiel des Schriftverständnisses. (Beiträge zur theologischen Urteilsbildung, Bd. 1.) Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang.

    * Fritsch, Friedemann, 1998, "Wirklichkeit als göttlich und menschlich zugleich. Überlegungen zur Verallgemeinerung einer christologischen Bestimmung in Hamanns Denken", in Oswald Bayer (ed.), Der hellste Kopf seiner Zeit, Tübingen: Attempo, pp. 52-79

* Fritsch, Friedemann, 1998, "Wirklichkeit als göttlich und menschlich zugleich. Überlegungen zur Verallgemeinerung einer christologischen Bestimmung in Hamanns Denken", in Oswald Bayer (ed.), Der hellste Kopf seiner Zeit, Tübingen: Attempo, pp. 52-79

    * Goethe, Johann. [1985-1991], Sämtliche Werke nach Epochen seines Schaffens, Münchener Ausgabe edited by Gerhard Sauder. 21 volumes. München: Carl Hanser Verlag.

* Goethe, Johann. [1985-1991], Sämtliche Werke nach Epochen seines Schaffens, Münchener Ausgabe edited by Gerhard Sauder. 21 volumes. München: Carl Hanser Verlag.

    * Hegel, G. W. F. [1958], "Über Hamanns Schriften", [1928] in Sämtliche Werke, edited by Hermann Glockner, vol. 20. Stuttgart: Frommann Verlag.

* Hegel, G. W. F. [1958], "Über Hamanns Schriften", [1928] in Sämtliche Werke, edited by Hermann Glockner, vol. 20. Stuttgart: Frommann Verlag.

    * Hoffmann, Volker, 1972, Johann Georg Hamanns Philologie: Hamanns Philologie zwischen enzyklopädischer Mikrologie und Hermeneutik. Stuttgart (u.a.): Kohlhammer.

* Hoffmann, Volker, 1972, Johann Georg Hamanns Philologie: Hamanns Philologie zwischen enzyklopädischer Mikrologie und Hermeneutik. Stuttgart (u.a.): Kohlhammer.

    * Kleffmann, Tom, 1994, Die Erbsündenlehre in sprachtheologischem Horizont: eine Interpretation Augustins, Luthers und Hamanns. Tübingen: Mohr.

* Kleffmann, Tom, 1994, Die Erbsündenlehre in sprachtheologischem Horizont: eine Interpretation Augustins, Luthers und Hamanns. Tübingen: Mohr.

    * Merlan, Philip, 1951, "From Hume to Hamann", The Personalist 321: 11-18.

* Merlan, Philip, 1951, "From Hume to Hamann", The Personalist 321: 11-18.

    * –––, 1948, "‘Parva Hamanniana’: J. G. Hamann as Spokesman of the Middle Class", Journal of the History of Ideas, 9: 380-384.

* –––, 1948, "‘Parva Hamanniana’: J. G. Hamann as Spokesman of the Middle Class", Journal of the History of Ideas, 9: 380-384.

    * –––, 1949, "‘Parva Hamannianad’ (II) : Hamann and Schmohl", Journal of the History of Ideas, 10: 567-574.

* –––, 1949, "‘Parva Hamannianad’ (II) : Hamann and Schmohl", Journal of the History of Ideas, 10: 567-574.

    * –––, 1950, "‘Parva Hamanniana’: Hamann and Galiani", Journal of the History of Ideas, 11: 486-489.

* –––, 1950, "‘Parva Hamanniana’: Hamann and Galiani", Journal of the History of Ideas, 11: 486-489.

    * Nadler, Josef, 1949, Johann Georg Hamann. Der Zeuge des Corpus mysticum. Salzburg: Otto Müller.

* Nadler, Josef, 1949, Johann Georg Hamann. Der Zeuge des Corpus mysticum. Salzburg: Otto Müller.

    * Nebel, Gerhard, 1973, Hamann. Stuttgart: E. Klett.

* Nebel, Gerhard, 1973, Hamann. Stuttgart: E. Klett.

    * Piske, Irmgard, 1989, Offenbarung, Sprache, Vernunft. Zur Auseinandersetzung Hamanns mit Kant. Frankfurt am Main: Regensburg.

* Piske, Irmgard, 1989, Offenbarung, Sprache, Vernunft. Zur Auseinandersetzung Hamanns mit Kant. Frankfurt am Main: Regensburg.

    * Redmond, M. "The Hamann-Hume Connection", Religious Studies, 23: 95-107.

* Redmond, M. "The Hamann-Hume Connection", Religious Studies, 23: 95-107.

    * Rorty, Richard, 1979, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

* Rorty, Richard, 1979, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    * Salmony, H.A., 1958, Johann Georg Hamanns metakritische Philosophie. (Erster Band: Einführung in die metakritische Philosophie J. G. Hamanns.). Zollikon: Evangelischer Verlag.

* Salmony, H.A., 1958, Johann Georg Hamanns metakritische Philosophie. (Erster Band: Einführung in die metakritische Philosophie J. G. Hamanns.). Zollikon: Evangelischer Verlag.

    * Seils, Martin, 1957, Theologische Aspekte zur gegenwärtigen Hamann-Deutung. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

* Seils, Martin, 1957, Theologische Aspekte zur gegenwärtigen Hamann-Deutung. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

    * Swain, Charles W., 1967, "Hamann and the Philosophy of Hume", Journal of the History of Philosophy, 5 (October): 343-351.

* Swain, Charles W., 1967, "Hamann and the Philosophy of Hume", Journal of the History of Philosophy, 5 (October): 343-351.

    * Unger, Rudolf, 1963, Hamann und die Aufklärung. Studien zur Vorgeschichte des romantischen Geistes im 18. Jahrhundert. (Bd.1: Text. Bd. 2: Anmerkungen und Beilagen. 2. Aufl. Halle an der Saale: Max Niemeyer 1925.) Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.

* Unger, Rudolf, 1963, Hamann und die Aufklärung. Studien zur Vorgeschichte des romantischen Geistes im *Jahrhundert. (Bd.1: Text. Bd. 2: Anmerkungen und Beilagen. 2. Aufl. Halle an der Saale: Max Niemeyer 1925.) Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.

    * Weishoff, Axel, 1998, Wider den Purismus der Vernunft. J.G. Hamanns sakralrhetorischer Ansatz zu einer Metakritik des Kantischen Kritizismus. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.

* Weishoff, Axel, 1998, Wider den Purismus der Vernunft. J.G. Hamanns sakralrhetorischer Ansatz zu einer Metakritik des Kantischen Kritizismus. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.

    * Wessel, Leonard P., 1969, "Hamann's Philosophy of Aesthetics: its meaning for the Storm & Stress Period", Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 27 (Summer): 433-443.

* Wessel, Leonard P., 1969, "Hamann's Philosophy of Aesthetics: its meaning for the Storm & Stress Period", Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 27 (Summer): 433-443.

    * Wohlfart, Günter, 1984, Denken der Sprache: Sprache und Kunst bei Vico, Hamann, Humboldt und Hegel. Freiburg (u.a.): Alber.

* Wohlfart, Günter, 1984, Denken der Sprache: Sprache und Kunst bei Vico, Hamann, Humboldt und Hegel. Freiburg (u.a.): Alber.

    * Wühr, Paul, 1995, Ob der Magus in Norden. Selbstgespräch eines Autors mit Johann Georg Hamann. München: Renner.

* Wühr, Paul, 1995, Ob der Magus in Norden. Selbstgespräch eines Autors mit Johann Georg Hamann. München: Renner.

Other Internet Sources

===Other Internet Sources===

    * The Hamann-Homepage. This extensive site in German contains much background information, research updates, and digital versions of Hamann's writings along with an extremely thorough bibliography. The website is maintained by those involved in the International Hamann Colloquium, under the leadership of Professor Bernhard Gajek (University of Regensburg, Germany) and with the website maintained by Andre Rudolph (Leipzig).li>

* The Hamann-Homepage. This extensive site in German contains much background information, research updates, and digital versions of Hamann's writings along with an extremely thorough bibliography. The website is maintained by those involved in the International Hamann Colloquium, under the leadership of Professor Bernhard Gajek (University of Regensburg, Germany) and with the website maintained by Andre Rudolph (Leipzig).li>

    * Internationales Hamann-Kolloquium. The International Hamann Colloquium website, under the directorship of Professor Bernhard Gajek, contains bibliography and information about the colloquium meetings and publications.

* Internationales Hamann-Kolloquium. The International Hamann Colloquium website, under the directorship of Professor Bernhard Gajek, contains bibliography and information about the colloquium meetings and publications.

Related entries

===Related entries===

Berkeley, George | Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich | Herder, Johann Gottfried von | Hume, David | Jacobi, Friedrich Heinrich | Kant, Immanuel | Kierkegaard, Søren | Rorty, Richard

Berkeley, George | Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich | Herder, Johann Gottfried von | Hume, David | Jacobi, Friedrich Heinrich | Kant, Immanuel | Kierkegaard, Søren | Rorty, Richard

[[Category: General Reference]]

[[Category: General Reference]]

[[Category: Philosophy]]

[[Category: Philosophy]]