This book investigates Hegel's interpretation of the mystical philosophy of Jakob Boehme (1575-1624), considered in the context of the reception of Boehme in the 18th and 19th centuries, and of Hegel's own understanding of mysticism as a philosophical approach. The three sections of this book present: the historical background of Hegel's encounter with Boehme's writings; the development of two different conceptions of mysticism in Hegel's work; and finally Hegel's approach to Boehme's philosophy, discussing in detail the references to Boehme both in published writings and manuscripts. According to Hegel, Boehme is "the first German philosopher". The reason for placing Boehme at the very beginning of German philosophy is that Hegel considers him to be a profound thinker, despite his rudimentary education. Hegel's fascination with Boehme mainly concerns the mystic's understanding of the symbiotic relation between God and his opposite, the Devil: he considers this to be the true speculative core of Boehme's thought. By interpreting Boehme, Hegel intends to free the speculative content of his thought from the limitations of the inadequate, barbarous form in which the mystic expressed it, and also to liberate Boehme from the prejudices surrounding his writings, placing him firmly in the territory of philosophy and detaching him from the obscurity of esotericism. Combining historical reconstructions and philosophical argumentation, this book guides the reader through an important phase in German philosophy, and ultimately into an inquiry about the relationship between mysticism and philosophy itself.

When does Renaissance philosophy end, and Early Modern philosophy begin? Do Renaissance philosophers have something in common, which distinguishes them from Early Modern philosophers? And ultimately, what defines the modernity of the Early Modern period, and what role did the Renaissance play in shaping it? The answers to these questions are not just chronological. This book challenges traditional constructions of these periods, which partly reflect the prejudice that the Renaissance was a literary and artistic phenomenon, rather than a philosophical phase. The essays in this book investigate how the legacy of Renaissance philosophers persisted in the following centuries through the direct encounters of subsequent generations with Renaissance philosophical texts. This volume treats Early Modern philosophers as joining their predecessors as 'conversation partners': the 'conversations' in this book feature, among others, Girolamo Cardano and Henry More, Thomas Hobbes and Lorenzo Valla, Bernardino Telesio and Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes and Tommaso Campanella, Giulio Cesare Vanini and the anonymous Theophrastus redivivus.

When does Renaissance philosophy end, and Early Modern philosophy begin? Do Renaissance philosophers have something in common, which distinguishes them from Early Modern philosophers? And ultimately, what defines the modernity of the Early Modern period, and what role did the Renaissance play in shaping it? The answers to these questions are not just chronological. This book challenges traditional constructions of these periods, which partly reflect the prejudice that the Renaissance was a literary and artistic phenomenon, rather than a philosophical phase. The essays in this book investigate how the legacy of Renaissance philosophers persisted in the following centuries through the direct encounters of subsequent generations with Renaissance philosophical texts. This volume treats Early Modern philosophers as joining their predecessors as 'conversation partners': the 'conversations' in this book feature, among others, Girolamo Cardano and Henry More, Thomas Hobbes and Lorenzo Valla, Bernardino Telesio and Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes and Tommaso Campanella, Giulio Cesare Vanini and the anonymous Theophrastus redivivus.

This book investigates Hegel's interpretation of the mystical philosophy of Jakob Boehme (1575-1624), considered in the context of the reception of Boehme in the 18th and 19th centuries, and of Hegel's own understanding of mysticism as a philosophical approach. The three sections of this book present: the historical background of Hegel's encounter with Boehme's writings; the development of two different conceptions of mysticism in Hegel's work; and finally Hegel's approach to Boehme's philosophy, discussing in detail the references to Boehme both in published writings and manuscripts. According to Hegel, Boehme is "the first German philosopher". The reason for placing Boehme at the very beginning of German philosophy is that Hegel considers him to be a profound thinker, despite his rudimentary education. Hegel's fascination with Boehme mainly concerns the mystic's understanding of the symbiotic relation between God and his opposite, the Devil: he considers this to be the true speculative core of Boehme's thought. By interpreting Boehme, Hegel intends to free the speculative content of his thought from the limitations of the inadequate, barbarous form in which the mystic expressed it, and also to liberate Boehme from the prejudices surrounding his writings, placing him firmly in the territory of philosophy and detaching him from the obscurity of esotericism. Combining historical reconstructions and philosophical argumentation, this book guides the reader through an important phase in German philosophy, and ultimately into an inquiry about the relationship between mysticism and philosophy itself.