Clara

F. W. J. Schelling, Fiona Steinkamp

Description

This is the first English translation of Schelling's novel, most likely written after the death of his first wife, Caroline, the former wife of August Wilhelm Schlegel. Although only a fragment, Clara remains unique. Part novella, part philosophical tome, its central theme is the connection between this world and the next. Schelling masterfully weaves together his knowledge of animal magnetism, literary techniques, and his doctrine of the potencies to make his philosophy accessible to all.

Steinkamp addresses the main issues concerning the dating of the work—many commentators have deemed Clara to be a sketch for Schelling's The Ages of the World or an outline for the third, missing book of that work—and provides a short biography of Schelling with particular emphasis on events claimed to play a role in the conception of Clara, such as the deaths of both Caroline and her daughter, Auguste. She also shows how passages in Clara are strikingly similar to the content of Schelling's touching letters mourning Caroline, written to Pauline, the daughter of Caroline's best friend and the woman who would become his second wife. Clara, strongly influenced by the Romantic movement, is an early illustration of Schelling's attempt to unite his positive and negative philosophy.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION by Fiona Steinkamp

Clara—Introducing the Text

Situating Clara—The Ages of the World and Bruno

Dating of Clara

Schelling—Biographical Details xvii

Schelling's Early Years
Caroline—Background
Schelling and Auguste
Schelling and Caroline
Schelling's Letters and Their Similarity to Clara
Schelling and Pauline

Who is Clara?

Closing Remarks

Biographical Sources Used

Notes about the Translation

Edition Translated
Translation Difficulties
Footnotes and Endnotes
Numbering of Sections
Acknowledgments

CHRONOLOGY

C L A R A
or, On Nature's Connection to the Spirit World

INTRODUCTION

I [11]

II [27]

III [40]

IV [86]

V [92]

Spring [175]

Sketch [275]

APPENDIX

German Single Editions of Clara
Translations of Clara
Selected Works with Substantial Discussions of Clara
English Translations of Schelling

NOTES

GLOSSARY

German-English
English-German

REFERENCES

INDEX

Sujets

• Philosophy

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9780791488454
• Langue: English

Extrait

Clara

SUNY SERIES IN C ONTEMPOR ARY C ONTINENTAL P HILOSOPHY

Dennis J. Schmidt editor

F . W. J . S C H E L L I N G

T r a n s l a t e d , w i t h a n i n t r o d u c t i o n , b y F i o n a S t e i n k a m p

Clara

or,O N N ATURE ’ S C ONNECTION TO THE S PIRIT W ORLD

S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W Y O R K P R E S S

Published by

State Universit y of New York Press, Albany

© 2002 State Universit y of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise whitout the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State Universit y of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Michael Compochiaro

Librar y of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, 1775–1854. [Clara, English] Clara, or, On nat ure’s connection to the spirit world / F.W.J. Schelling ; translated, with an introduction, by Fiona Steinkamp. p. cm. — (SUNY series in contemporar y continental philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5407-X (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5408-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Spiritualism (Philosophy) 2. Philosophy of nature. I. Title: Clara. II. Title: On nat ure’s connection to the spirit world. III. Title. IV. Series.

B2894.C42 E5 2002 129—dc21

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

2002066903

C ONTENTS

GENER AL INTRODUCTION by Fiona Steinkamp Clara—Introducing the Text Sit uatingClara—The Ages of the WorldandBruno Dating ofClara Schelling—Biographical Details Schelling’s Early Years Caroline—Background Schelling and Auguste Schelling and Caroline Schelling’s Letters and Their Similarity toClara Schelling and Pauline Who is Clara? Closing Remarks Biographical Sources Used Notes about the Translation Edition Translated Translation Difficulties Footnotes and Endnotes Numbering of Sections Acknowledgments CHRONOLOGY

C L A R A or,On Nature’s Connection to the Spirit World INTRODUCTION 3 I [11] 9 II [27] 21

v

vii vii x xiii xvii xvii xix xx xxiii xxviii xxxi xxxiii xxxv xxxvi xxxvii xxxvii xxxviii xxxix xxxix xxxix xli

vi

III [40] IV [86] V [92] Spring [175] Sketch [275]

C ONTENTS

APPENDIX German Single Editions ofClara Translations ofClara Selected Works with Substantial Discussions ofClara English Translations of Schelling

NOTES

GLOSSARY German-English English-German

REFERENCES

INDEX

31 63 67 79 83

85 85 85 85 86

8

9

97 97 101

107

111

G ENER AL I NTRODUCTION

F S IONA TEINK AMP

Clarais unique in the philosophical literat ure. It is a discussion told as a stor y, its ver y struct ure ref lects its content, and it has a woman as one of its central char- acters. Unfort unately, the work remains as only a fragment, but it is imbued with many Romantic themes and can be read on a variet y of levels. This lends the dis- cussion a certain beaut y.Clarais possibly Schelling’s only work that aims to make his thought more accessible and that act ually succeeds in doing so, even if, ironi- cally, Schelling never told anyone about the text. I will attempt throughout my in- troduction to keep to the spirit ofClara; I will leave more technical treatments for scholarly journals. In order to help readers orient themselves more easily when first reading the text, I will begin by outlining the general arguments and struc- t ure ofClara. Schelling’s introduction is not included in this overview as it is so different in character from the rest of the discussions.

CLARA—INTRODUCING THE TEXT

Clarahas three main characters—the priest, the doctor, and Clara. Each takes its t urn at being the persuasive or leading element and each can be understood metaphorically. The priest represents arguments in favor of the mind or spirit, the doctor speaks in favor of nat ure and the corporeal, and Clara is personalit y or the soul. Appropriately, she is also the only main character with a name. The first section begins in the autumn on All Souls’ Day with the priest and the doctor coming into town to pick up Clara. Its purpose is to introduce the topic of the discussions that follow. This is also ref lected by the scene—the festival in cel- ebration of the dead; the autumnal, natural transition into winter. As indicated in Schelling’s introduction, the work starts with the assumption that there is a spirit world. Schelling is not speaking to those who are not prepared to start out from this presupposition. Another assumption that runs throughout is that man is not a purely physical being—man also has a nonphysical aspect to his nature. From these t wo assumptions Schelling argues that a link from the physical to the spiritual can be found—the arguments in the first section are based on these t wo suppositions.

vii

viii S TEINK AMP The priest argues that the spiritual plays too small a role in this life. He main- tains that this life is too one-sided and that the spirit life needs to be made a part of it, a reminder that there is a spirit life and that the deceased are part of our larger family. The clergyman, a minor character who appears only in this section and who represents Kant (Grau 1997), argues that death should be seen as a com- plete separation from this life and that the deceased are dead in regard to this world. The clergyman maintains that the t wo worlds are completely separate and this life cannot act on the other. Moreover, he claims that we cannot properly con- ceive of the other (spirit) world because the spirit ual aspect of man is tainted by the physical. Man can only follow his conscience, which comes from the Divine and is a proof of immortalit y. This is his dut y in life. Clara argues that there is a link, communication, bet ween this world and the next one. The doctor offers the view that man needs to start out from this world if he is to gain knowledge of the next one. If he proceeds in any other fashion, he will only be speculating. It is the doctor who remarks on the likenesses bet ween the generations in the pict ures at the cloister and who works from this nat ural similarit y to the idea of the transmi- gration of souls. Thus, the characters in this section provide four arguments about a spirit world and its relation to this life: the spirit world enters this life; the t wo worlds are kept completely separate; there is interaction bet ween this life and the next; man can learn about the next life from looking carefully at this one. Only the clergyman argues against tr ying to find any connection bet ween the t wo and, predictably, given thatClarais about nat ure’s connection to the spirit world, the three main characters disagree with the clergyman. This first section, therefore, sets the scene for the rest of the discussions. Notably, in this introductor y piece these characters have been separated and are getting together to ret urn home. Likewise, later inClaraulated that the three elements (body, spirit, andit is post soul) that were originally one have become separated; their ultimate aim is to reunite. The second section is a conversation bet ween the doctor and Clara, with the doctor’s thoughts dominating this section. This makesClaraconsistent with the doctor’s injunction in the first section that we should look first at this life be- fore discussing the next one. The conversation begins with Clara complaining about the destructive power of nat ure. That is, she has lost her connection to na- t ure. The doctor argues—in a Platonic st yle dialogue—that nat ure is essentially creative andascreative, it can’t be destructive. Thus, there must be something foreign to nat ure that restricts it and that causes it to destroy; this foreign body can’t be God, so it must be man. Clara asks for another st yle of argument, one that shows a development rather than one that uses deductive logic. The quest for a new form of argument is another theme that runs throughoutClara. The doctor asks to be permitted t wo assumptions—(1) that the nat ural and the spiri- t ual worlds are to be contrasted and (2) that man is the t urning point bet ween the t wo worlds. Given these assumptions, nat ure has to find its connection to the spirit ual through man. However, currently man is not directly connected to

G ENER AL I NTRODUCTION ix the spirit ual but progresses to the spirit ual only through death. He is in the ex- ternal world and has t urned toward nat ure. Thus, if the t wo worlds are not cur- rently united within man, it must be because man has t urned his back on the spirit ual and has thus hindered nat ure from progressing. A discussion of chance, necessit y, and freedom follows. The section ends with the thought that the more man understands the limitations of his current life, the more he will appreciate the signs of the next one within it. The third section takes place at Christmas (also to be understood metaphor- ically) and this time the priest offers his views. Clara sometimes feels as if the spir- it ual world is already embracing her, but she cannot hold onto this state for ver y long. She always ends up ret urning to this life. That is, she cannot retain her con- nection to the spirit ual. The priest maintains that we cannot remain in a spirit ual state because our present world is imperfect. It is not possible to have a proof of the hereafter because proofs are always indirect. He argues that if the whole per- son survives death and if the whole person comprises body, spirit, and soul, then the transition into the spirit world is merely a change in balance bet ween these three elements. Appropriately, at this point the doctor comes in and all three elements are again present. Not surprisingly, the doctor contends that this life is better than the next one because it has a bodily element that the spirit ual life lacks. The priest explains that it is not just that body, spirit, and soul have a different balance in the next life, but also that the new balance is better; it is a progression. Then, as if united and in equal balance, all characters discuss magnetic sleep and clairvoy- ance. Clara speaks about dying and going over into the spirit world—the transi- tional viewpoint; the doctor speaks about magnetic sleep and being transferred through that into a different realm—the physical viewpoint; and the priest, playing a lesser role, speaks about clairvoyant abilities as an indication that even this life has its spirit ual side. Like Clara’s feeling that the spirit ual world is embracing her already, this balance and unit y bet ween the characters does not last long, and the three characters then discuss ghosts—the spirit life. Clara is horrified by the idea of ghosts, but the priest speculates that there are many intermediate realms be- t ween this life and the other world and that those who grasp on to the external world in this life will be in agony when the bodily life is taken away from them. The fourth section champions the need for philosophy to be presented in a more accessible form, one where characters are used to bring the ideas to life. The following section takes place bet ween winter and spring as the three characters climb a hill. The priest thinks that the spirit ual and the nat ural are not really opposed, and once on top of the hill he wonders what the spirit world might be like. He believes that originally spirit and nature were one. Similarly, only when the old Protestant woman is on top of the hill does she confess that she had made a vow to the Catholic St. Walderich to save her son from death. Thus, all conver- sations on top of the hill represent belief or, more precisely, different beliefs com- ing together. On coming back down the hill, the three main characters discuss the effect that belief has on the world. The approach now is not one from nat ure to