Ideas from 'Logological Fragments I' by Novalis [1798], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Philosophical Writings' by Novalis (ed/tr Stoljar,M.M.) [SUNY 1997,0-7914-3272-6]].

green numbers give full details    |     back to texts     |     unexpand these ideas


1. Philosophy / C. History of Philosophy / 1. History of Philosophy
The history of philosophy is just experiments in how to do philosophy
                        Full Idea: The history of philosophy up to now is nothing but a history of attempts to discover how to do philosophy.
                        From: Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 01)
                        A reaction: I take post-Fregean analytic metaphysics to be another experiment in how to do philosophy. I suspect that the experiment of Husserl, Heidegger, Derrida etc has been a failure.
1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 1. Philosophy
Philosophy only begins when it studies itself
                        Full Idea: All philosophy begins where philosophizing philosophises itself.
                        From: Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 79)
                        A reaction: The modern trend for doing metaphilosophy strikes me as wholly admirable, though I suspect that the enemies of philosophy (who are legion) see it as a decadence.
5. Theory of Logic / L. Paradox / 2. Aporiai
A problem is a solid mass, which the mind must break up
                        Full Idea: A problem is a solid, synthetic mass which is broken up by means of the penetrating power of the mind.
                        From: Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 04)
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 4. Using Numbers / c. Counting procedure
Whoever first counted to two must have seen the possibility of infinite counting
                        Full Idea: Whoever first understood how to count to two, even if he still found it difficult to keep on counting, saw nonetheless the possibility of infinite counting according to the same laws.
                        From: Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 84)
                        A reaction: Presumably it is the discerning of the 'law' which triggers this. Is the key concept 'addition' or 'successor' (or are those the same?).
7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / h. Dasein (being human)
Novalis thought self-consciousness cannot disclose 'being', because we are temporal creatures
                        Full Idea: Novalis came to think that the kind of existence , or 'being', that is disclosed in self-consciousness remains, as it were, forever out of our reach because of the kind of temporal creatures we are.
                        From: report of Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798]) by Terry Pinkard - German Philosophy 1760-1860 06
                        A reaction: It looks here as if Novalis kicked Heidegger's Dasein into the long grass before it even got started, but maybe they have different notions of 'being', with Novalis seeking timeless being, and Heidegger, influenced by Bergson, accepting temporality.
11. Knowledge Aims / C. Knowing Reality / 3. Idealism / d. Absolute idealism
Poetry is true idealism, and the self-consciousness of the universe
                        Full Idea: Poetry is true idealism - contemplation of the world as contemplation of a large mind - self-consciousness of the universe.
                        From: Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], vol 3 p.640), quoted by Ernst Behler - Early German Romanticism
                        A reaction: It looks like the step from Fichte's idealism to the Absolute is poetry, which embraces the ultimate Spinozan substance through imagination. Or something...
19. Language / F. Communication / 4. Private Language
Every person has his own language
                        Full Idea: Every person has his own language. Language is the expression of the spirit.
                        From: Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 91)
                        A reaction: Nice to see someone enthusiastically affirming what was later famously denied, and maybe even disproved.
22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / b. Defining ethics
Morality and philosophy are mutually dependent
                        Full Idea: Without philosophy there is no true morality, and without morality no philosophy.
                        From: Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 21)
                        A reaction: Challenging! Maybe unthinking people drift in a sea of vague untethered morality, and people who seem to have a genuine moral strength are always rooted in some sort of philosophy. Maybe. Is the passion for philosophy a moral passion?
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 7. Existential Action
Life isn't given to us like a novel - we write the novel
                        Full Idea: Life must not be a novel that is given to us, but one that is made by us.
                        From: Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 99)
                        A reaction: The roots of existentialism are in the Romantic movement. Sartre seems to have taken this idea literally.
25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 5. Education / c. Teaching
If the pupil really yearns for the truth, they only need a hint
                        Full Idea: If a pupil genuinely desires truth is requires only a hint to show him how to find what he is seeking.
                        From: Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 02)
                        A reaction: The tricky job for the teacher or supervisor is assessing whether the pupil genuinely desires truth, or needs motivating.