- Department of Philosophy
DePaul University
2352 N. Clifton Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
Elizabeth Millan Brusslan
DePaul University, Philosophy, Faculty Member
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Millán Brusslan situates her discussion of the world soul in debates about the limits of reason and the domain of faith in the post-Kantian period. She focuses upon Schlegel’s critique of Jacobi’s foundationalist notion of reason grounded... more
Millán Brusslan situates her discussion of the world soul in debates about the limits of reason and the domain of faith in the post-Kantian period. She focuses upon Schlegel’s critique of Jacobi’s foundationalist notion of reason grounded in faith. Jacobi and Fichte’s central roles in the development of Romantic thought are highlighted. The Jacobi-Mendelssohn Debate was a powerful philosophical springboard for Schlegel, who developed some of his central Romantic views in response to the debate. Schlegel’s critique of Jacobi’s salto mortale and of Fichte’s “world soul of cognition” gave rise to the German Romantic conception of a world soul of nature, which was part of a project to lend freedom to nature itself as part of the humble acceptance of the limits of human domination and mastery of the natural world. The manifestation of the divine in nature became a key element in the Romantic conception of the world soul.
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This chapter details Goethe’s influence on the development of early German Romantic philosophy. It explores some of the reasons why Goethe became a leading literary influence on early German Romantic philosophy. The unique literary style... more
This chapter details Goethe’s influence on the development of early German Romantic philosophy. It explores some of the reasons why Goethe became a leading literary influence on early German Romantic philosophy. The unique literary style of the early German Romantics is presented; in particular, their fusion of literary and philosophical approaches to central philosophical issues is explored. The modern spirit that unified Goethe and Schlegel is presented as the motivation for Schlegel’s turn to Goethe’s work. Finally, Schlegel’s analysis of Wilhelm Meister is presented as a Romantic ideal of art.
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German Idealism is notoriously difficult to define: Is it a cultural movement, or a dedication to a certain set of philosophical positions? Should it be considered in terms of chronology and geography? Should it be defined by the... more
German Idealism is notoriously difficult to define: Is it a cultural movement, or a dedication to a certain set of philosophical positions? Should it be considered in terms of chronology and geography? Should it be defined by the unfavorable gaze of its detractors, and thereby, at least if we follow G. E. Moore, overcome? Is it a movement that begins, say, with the publication of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (1781), includes Fichte’s Science of Knowledge (1794) and Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), and then ushers in the work of figures such as Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829), and Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860)?1 The other articles in this collection shed light on the looming issue of what German Idealism is, so I can leave this particular quixotic chase to others. I will assume for the sake of my story that German Idealism was, at the very least, shaped by a set of critical responses to Kant’s work, responses that preserved Kant’s view of system and the unity of reason, yet sought to overcome some of the troubling dualisms left in the wake of his critical work (in particular the one between intellect and sense).2 While not all post-Kantian paths led to Hegel, Hegel, dubbed by Rudiger Bubner as “the absolute professor of Berlin,”3 was certainly a central figure of German Idealism. In what follows, a contrast between Hegel’s philosophical convictions and those of Friedrich Schlegel and Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis) will be marked in order to clarify some of the differences between German Idealism and another recalcitrant (at least in terms of its definition) movement, early German Romanticism.4
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This introduction to a special emphasis on "uncertainty" in German Romanticism in The Germanic Review explores how uncertainty was used as a poetic and philosophical tool around 1800. It first sets up the historical... more
This introduction to a special emphasis on "uncertainty" in German Romanticism in The Germanic Review explores how uncertainty was used as a poetic and philosophical tool around 1800. It first sets up the historical context for the appropriation of uncertainty by underscoring the philosophical interest in challenging the foundations of knowledge. It then focuses on German Romanticism, using the writings of Novalis and Friedrich Schlegel as its primary reference point for an analysis of the poetic and philosophical implications of uncertainty. The authors argue that the work of these two writers presents a philosophical engagement with uncertainty as a problem in its own right and a desire to connect uncertainty to important romantic concepts such as chaos and hypothesis. The introduction concludes with an emphasis on Schlegel’s contributions to the problem of uncertainty.
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I discuss the views of nature presented by Friedrich Schlegel and Alexander von Humboldt and discuss the role of freedom therein and the political ramifications of their views of nature.
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Research Interests: Humanities and Art
I discuss the views of nature presented by Friedrich Schlegel and Alexander von Humboldt and discuss the role of freedom therein and the political ramifications of their views of nature.
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This excellent collection is the most complete anthology of Latin American philosophers in English available today. Leading philosophers from several different Latin American countries and from various periods in the history of Latin... more
This excellent collection is the most complete anthology of Latin American philosophers in English available today. Leading philosophers from several different Latin American countries and from various periods in the history of Latin American thought are included. Though the main focus is upon the rich contemporary period, several key texts from the colonial and independent period are included to provide the reader with some historical background. Dividing the work into four major sections - Colonial Beginnings and Independence, Philosophical Anthropology, Values, and The Search for Identity - the editors complement their selections with introductions to the themes covered in each section and brief biographies of each author. An up-to-date bibliography provides the reader with information on the latest work done in the field, both in English and Spanish.
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In this essay I discuss Friedrich Schlegel's critique of Kant's notion of democracy and the progressive spirit of romantic political thought.
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In this chapter, I present an analysis of Schlegel's critique of Kant's concept of republicanism as developed in Schlegel's essay, On the Concept of Republicanism (1796). Details of Kant's... more
In this chapter, I present an analysis of Schlegel's critique of Kant's concept of republicanism as developed in Schlegel's essay, On the Concept of Republicanism (1796). Details of Kant's "Perpetual Peace" and "What is Enlightenment?" essays are discussed to give a portrait of Schlegel's romantic critique of Kant's political views.
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Poetry was central to the work of both Friedrich Schlegel and Schopenhauer. I analyze the role poetry played in each thinker’s work, arguing that in both thinkers we find the development of a kind of aesthetic humanism born of their deep... more
Poetry was central to the work of both Friedrich Schlegel and Schopenhauer. I analyze the role poetry played in each thinker’s work, arguing that in both thinkers we find the development of a kind of aesthetic humanism born of their deep respect for the role of poetry in philosophy.
My recent collection with Judith Norman, __Brill's Companion to German Romantic Philosophy__, came out in November, 2018. Here is the introduction that Judith Norman and I co-wrote.
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Research Interests: Philosophy and De Gruyter
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In this chapter, I present an analysis of Schlegel's critique of Kant's concept of republicanism as developed in Schlegel's essay, On the Concept of Republicanism (1796). Details of Kant's "Perpetual Peace" and "What is Enlightenment?"... more
In this chapter, I present an analysis of Schlegel's critique of Kant's concept of republicanism as developed in Schlegel's essay, On the Concept of Republicanism (1796). Details of Kant's "Perpetual Peace" and "What is Enlightenment?" essays are discussed to give a portrait of Schlegel's romantic critique of Kant's political views.
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An account of Fichte's influence on early German Romanticism and the departures of the early German Romantics from elements of Fichte's thought.
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Over the next ten weeks, we will study the philosophical importance of black aesthetics in the areas of music, song, and poetry. We will address the historical circumstances of oppression and injustice that shaped the lives and work of... more
Over the next ten weeks, we will study the philosophical importance of black aesthetics in the areas of music, song, and poetry. We will address the historical circumstances of oppression and injustice that shaped the lives and work of the thinkers that we shall study. Our discussion will be framed by the Harlem Renaissance, a rich period heralded by Alain Locke (1886-1954) as a "fresh spiritual and cultural focusing"-a period of renewed race-spirit. We will study some of the key texts of this important aesthetic movement. The volume edited by Locke, The New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance, will take us to readings on music, song, and poetry.
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En este artículo, la autora realiza algunas críticas a las tesis planteadas por Pereda sobre las lecciones formales que puede enseñarnos Wittgenstein para curar algunos males de la tradición filosófica en América Latina; y también sobre... more
En este artículo, la autora realiza algunas críticas a las tesis planteadas por Pereda sobre las lecciones formales que puede enseñarnos Wittgenstein para curar algunos males de la tradición filosófica en América Latina; y también sobre la utilidad que tiene la noción de «parecido de familia» que usa José Medina para delinear las características de la identidad étnica.
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Research Interests: Aesthetics and Symposium
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My recent collection with Judith Norman, __Brill's Companion to German Romantic Philosophy__, came out in November, 2018. Here is the introduction that Judith Norman and I co-wrote.
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Over the next ten weeks, we will study the philosophical importance of black aesthetics in the areas of music, song, and poetry. We will address the historical circumstances of oppression and injustice that shaped the lives and work of... more
Over the next ten weeks, we will study the philosophical importance of black aesthetics in the areas of music, song, and poetry. We will address the historical circumstances of oppression and injustice that shaped the lives and work of the thinkers that we shall study. Our discussion will be framed by the Harlem Renaissance, a rich period heralded by Alain Locke (1886-1954) as a "fresh spiritual and cultural focusing"-a period of renewed race-spirit. We will study some of the key texts of this important aesthetic movement. The volume edited by Locke, The New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance, will take us to readings on music, song, and poetry.