German idealism is the philosophical movement arising in Germany between the late 1700s and mid-1800s. It was coming off of the heels of the enlightenment in which a devaluation was placed on organized religion and the esoteric organizations, and an emphasis was placed on rationalistic metaphysics and the scientific method. However German idealism after the works of Immanuel Kant really existed in a semi state between the enlightenment and the exiting out of the enlightenment that took place in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Although Immanuel Kant was an epistemologist, the German idealists after him were full-blown metaphysicians. Although there were transcendent metaphysicians in the enlightenment such as Leibniz with his doctrine of universal harmony, I am arguing that the German idealists in fact all dabbled in the esoteric. First of all, the German idealists shifted into a process metaphysics, which was not seen before. This takes place with, for example, Fichte’s positing of the world or Hegel’s Geist. Process metaphysics can be seen as bordering on the esoteric. In fact, Hegel drew inspiration from esoteric texts in order to come up with Geist. In addition to the process metaphysics, they further dabbled in the truly esoteric. Novalis, the Romantic, came up with his doctrine of spontaneous healing- an esoteric claim. Also, Schelling’s and Schopenhauer’s philosophy borders on the esoteric. Schelling affirms to a certain extent the reality of mythology, and Schopenhauer comes up with his conception of Will, in which an evil spirit can get caught and mess with the individual. I am not saying that that is the most central part of Schopenhauer’s philosophy, but it is a central part, nonetheless. Indeed, it is difficult for the average person to see all three parts of Schopenhauer’s philosophy: the scientific, the philosophical, and the esoteric. Thus, we see all of Fichte, Novalis, Schelling, Hegel, and Schopenhauer, who’s philosophy borders on the esoteric. Thus, we see a hinting at esotericism, in German idealism, but no new esoteric organizations.
Idealism Studies 