Bøker av Novalis

This volume presents the first complete translation of Fichte Studies, a powerful, creative and sustained critique of Fichtean philosophy by the young philosopher-poet Friedrich von Hardenberg, who under the pen-name Novalis went on to become the most well-known and beloved of the early German Romantic writers. Anyone interested in the fate of German philosophy and literature immediately after Kant will find this collection of notes and aphorisms a treasure-trove of original contributions on the nature of self-consciousness, the relation of art to philosophy, and the nature of philosophical inquiry. There are also the beginnings of a strikingly contemporary-sounding semiotic theory. The text is translated by Jane Kneller, who also provides an introduction situating the Fichte Studies in the context of Novalis' life and work.

Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg) did not live long on the earth, but lived long enough to leave his mark on great writers and thinkers such as George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis. Though unfinished at his death, his novel, "Heinrich von Ofterdingen," with its resplendent blue flower, left an enduring mark in the imaginations of many writers of fantasy and 'romance.' The 'blue flower' signifies the deep unsatisfaction that humanity has with its own lot, its striving for the fulfillment which can only come through an encounter with the transcendent, which seems always to be just out of reach. Just out of reach, yes, but real, nonetheless.

First published in 1955, this volume contains three works by Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772-1801), the German Romantic philosopher and poet whose pseudonym Novalis was an ancient family name. It also contains a preface in English by Brian A. Rowley, which contextualizes the three works and offers a cursory description of Novalis's life.