Clara, or, On nature's connection to the spirit world

161 Pages·2002·0.778 MB·English, German

by  Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Von Schelling, Fiona Steinkamp

Clara
SUNY SERIESINCONTEMPORARYCONTINENTALPHILOSOPHY
Dennis J. Schmidt
editor
F. W. J. SCHELL ING
Translated, with an introduction, by Fiona Steinkamp
Clara
or, O N ’ C
N ATURE S ONNECTION
S W
TO THE PIRIT ORLD
S U N Y P
TATE NIVERSITY OF EW ORK RESS
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2002 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, 1775–1854.
[Clara, English]
Clara, or, On nature’s connection to the spirit world / F.W.J. Schelling ; translated,
with an introduction, by Fiona Steinkamp.
p. cm. — (SUNY series in contemporary 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 nature’s connection to the spirit world. III. Title. IV. Series.
B2894.C42 E5 2002
129—dc21 2002066903
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C
ONTENTS
GENERAL INTRODUCTION by Fiona Steinkamp vii
Clara—Introducing the Text vii
Situating Clara—The Ages of the WorldandBruno x
Dating of Clara xiii
Schelling—Biographical Details xvii
Schelling’s Early Years xvii
Caroline—Background xix
Schelling and Auguste xx
Schelling and Caroline xxiii
Schelling’s Letters and Their Similarity to Clara xxviii
Schelling and Pauline xxxi
Who is Clara? xxxiii
Closing Remarks xxxv
Biographical Sources Used xxxvi
Notes about the Translation xxxvii
Edition Translated xxxvii
Translation Difficulties xxxviii
Footnotes and Endnotes xxxix
Numbering of Sections xxxix
Acknowledgments xxxix
CHRONOLOGY xli
CL AR A
or, On Nature’s Connection to the Spirit World
INTRODUCTION 3
I [11] 9
II [27] 21
v
vi CONTENTS
III [40] 31
IV [86] 63
V [92] 67
Spring [175] 79
Sketch [275] 83
APPENDIX 85
German Single Editions of Clara 85
Translations of Clara 85
Selected Works with Substantial Discussions of Clara 85
English Translations of Schelling 86
NOTES 89
GLOSSARY 97
German-English 97
English-German 101
REFERENCES 107
INDEX 111
G I
ENERAL NTRODUCTION
FIONASTEINKAMP
Clarais unique in the philosophical literature. It is a discussion told as a story, its
very structure reflects its content, and it has a woman as one of its central char-
acters. Unfortunately, the work remains as only a fragment, but it is imbued with
many Romantic themes and can be read on a variety of levels. This lends the dis-
cussion a certain beauty. Clarais possibly Schelling’s only work that aims to make
his thought more accessible and that actually 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 of Clara; 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-
ture of Clara. 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
turn 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 nature and the corporeal, and Clara is personality 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 reflected 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
two 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 two suppositions.
vii
viii STEINKAMP
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 two 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 spiritual aspect of man is tainted by
the physical. Man can only follow his conscience, which comes from the Divine
and is a proof of immortality. This is his duty in life. Clara argues that there is a
link, communication, between 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 between the generations in the pictures at
the cloister and who works from this natural similarity 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 two worlds
are kept completely separate; there is interaction between this life and the next;
man can learn about the next life from looking carefully at this one. Only the
clergyman argues against trying to find any connection between the two and,
predictably, given that Clarais about nature’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 introductory piece
these characters have been separated and are getting together to return home.
Likewise, later in Clarait is postulated that the three elements (body, spirit, and
soul) that were originally one have become separated; their ultimate aim is to
reunite.
The second section is a conversation between the doctor and Clara, with
the doctor’s thoughts dominating this section. This makes Claraconsistent 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 nature. That is, she has lost her connection to na-
ture. The doctor argues—in a Platonic style dialogue—that nature is essentially
creative and ascreative, it can’t be destructive. Thus, there must be something
foreign to nature 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 style 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 throughout Clara. The
doctor asks to be permitted two assumptions—(1) that the natural and the spiri-
tual worlds are to be contrasted and (2) that man is the turning point between
the two worlds. Given these assumptions, nature has to find its connection to
the spiritual through man. However, currently man is not directly connected to
GENERALINTRODUCTION ix
the spiritual but progresses to the spiritual only through death. He is in the ex-
ternal world and has turned toward nature. Thus, if the two worlds are not cur-
rently united within man, it must be because man has turned his back on the
spiritual and has thus hindered nature from progressing. A discussion of chance,
necessity, 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-
itual world is already embracing her, but she cannot hold onto this state for very
long. She always ends up returning to this life. That is, she cannot retain her con-
nection to the spiritual. The priest maintains that we cannot remain in a spiritual
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 between 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 spiritual 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 spiritual side. Like Clara’s feeling that the spiritual world is embracing her
already, this balance and unity between 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-
tween 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 between winter and spring as the three
characters climb a hill. The priest thinks that the spiritual and the natural 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 nature to