Jg Hamann 17301788013654 Mbp

J.

G.

HAMANN: A

Study

in

Christian

Existentialism

An

introduction to the

thought

of

the great

eighteenth

century

thinker

with

selections

from

his

writings

by

RONALD GREGOR

SMITH

,called the Ifigfciam of the

Nanh*

,

Woags

inthe

Ike

of tbiotaswfaichstart?withPwesdIn'the_171^,centuryand which

paves thewayfortEetOTtettrialisf:nKKvaneot ofoastperiod.

He

intod of

4e

i order,

fo

A

e

^

rst time.

j#

one

of

*

e

cV^4

nen^/

existential-o

T^f * *IB* *" * JJv^1 ^

""-ivj3*5 IStS. -"''

-*.

,-r

In

₁₇₃₀

and

lived cut his life

in the

Age

of

Reason. Yet

he was

not of that age.

He

was

of

another

tradition, the of

mo

^' rn

He

was

firstdiscovered

y

who

coming

across

is in the

work

thought

Kierkegaard,

debt

to

him

5

_only

to

be

recognized.

Gregor

who

is

Pro-essor of Divinity at

_Glasgow

Um-'ersity, introduces this selection

o

iamanifs

ivritings

with a

biograph-cai

aad

critical essay

which

places

ianaaiiifs

work

in context for the

nodem

reader.

The

selections

them-eles

_{present the} penetrating in-ight of this

remarkable

man.

^A

xreatthiaker^

Hamaxua

isthe

"miss-iig link"

between

the

thought

of Pascal

and

Kierkegaard.

**1

am

inclinedto-_{say thai}

Hamann

h

the only

mmlhor jy

whoto

ILierke-^m$

pti>fo0Bdly infibencei fotortti

Oeo^g Hamantt

died before

'tibe

end

of tjbte eightetath century,

but

in

_Oermaf

he

was one

of the

HKM&

decisive ira0eoibe of the nine-teemth.

He

was

better Itted to lead

Kw*egad

out of |uft

doubt

and

_despair

in

tftat 'be

b^d

gone

Aroagli a

like

xperiaacn

|

And

fee

-$K$ teo^&

cQH^nial

to

^r

hero

*iot_orfy

im0us

but

amusing.

He

was

as witty

and

ironi-cal asS^ren Kierkegaard."

WALTER

LOWRIE

_{(from Kierkegaard)}

ROAM

ID

GREGOR

SMITH

J.

G.

HAMANN

1730-1788

Study

in Christian Existence

WITH

SELECTIONS

FROM

HIS

WRITINGS

HARPER

&

BROTHERS

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

A

to-day andto-morrowrumthe_{danger of}

beingforgotten

the_day

afterto-morrow.

HAMANN

tOF. H. _JACOB!

CONTENTS

Frontispiece

Preface page

n

CHRISTIAN EXISTENCE

1. _Introductory 17

2. Outline

_ofHamanns

_Life 25

3. Faith 39 4.

The

Word

64

5. History 88 6. Fruition 103

SELECTED

WRITINGS

Biblical_Reflections

117

Thoughtsabout

my

Life 139

Fragments 159

SocraticMemorabilia 175

A

_Clover-leaf

_of

Hellenistic Letters 185

The

Wise

Men

_from

theEastinBethlehem 189

jEsthetica in

Nuce

195

New

_Apology

oftheletter

h by

_itself 201

Review

_ofKanfs

_{CritiqueofPure}

Reason and

_Metacritique

ofthePurism of

Reason

207

Golgotha

and

Scheblimini 223

A

_FlyingLetterto

_Nobody

whom

_Everybody

Knows

233

Letters

and

Miscellaneous _Writings

237

Bibliography

261

PREFACE

THE

HAMANN

specialist will

know

of

the difficulty

of

securing

even

some

of

the standard source books.

The

_bibliography

attached to _{the present stndy contains} several

which

I

was

able

only

to consult at various times

from

University libraries in Britain

_{and Germany.}

A

_{very thorough, and}

indeed

_model,

bibliography

of

Hamanniana

is

now

available inthefirst

volume

of

the

new

commentaries,

Hamanns

Haiiptschriften erklart.

When

measured

_against this _{bibliography,}

with

its

_accompanying

detailed historical _study

of

Hamann

_{interpretation,} the _present

work

is

no

more

than an

_{essay in}

modern

_{interpretation,}

and

a signpost tothe extraordinaryrichfield

which

stillawaits

cultiva-tion.

For

instance, the relations

of

Hamann

to the British empiricists, the truth

and

the defect in his

view of

Kant, his relation to Luther, his

views

on

_{education (with} their influence

on

Nicolovius, then

on

Wilhelrn

von

_{Humboldt, and}

_through

him

on

thePrussian educational _system), areall

clearly topics

of

the_greatestinterest,

which

arehere

only

indicated.

But

even

with

the actual texts to

hand

both

in Nadler's

definitive edition

of

the

works and

in theold

and

_precious

Roth

edition _(still in

spite

of

lacunte

and

some

arbitrariness in the editing the

more

congenial edition to handle) the difficulty

of

making

adequate

translations

can be

appreciated

only

by

those

who

have

triedtheir

hand

_{at translating}

Hamann

_{unfortunately}

for

me,

_only

a

few

_people.

_My

friend,

Mr.

Stanley

Godman,

kindlylet

me

consulttranslations

he

had

made

of

selections

from

the Biblical _Reflections

and of

the _Fragments,

and

I

have been

helped

by

seeing the quotations

only

too

few

translated

by

Canon

Walter Lowrie and

Professor_J.

C.

_O'Flaherty in their respectivestudies.

It is

common

for translators to

lament

their difficulties, thus

indirectly praisingtheir

achievement

and

atthe

same

time

trying

to soften the

hard

critic.

But

on

thisoccasionI

am

ableto

summon

Goethe

to

_my

aid.

He

wrote

of

_being "_fatigued

and

led_astray

by

so

many

riddles

"

in

Hamann's

_language;

he

remarked

that in_{reading Golgatha}

und

Schebliminiit

was

not always

_{possible to}

followthe author thefirsttime;

and

concluded

his

account

_(ina

letter to Charlotte

von

Stein, 17

September,

1784)

with

the

words:

"

on

_{peut bien}affirmerla

paradox qu'on

ne Fentend

pas par

Fentendement."

In thetask

of

_going

_through

thetexts,

and

helping toselectas well as translate,

my

wife has

been tremendously

_patient

and

helpful.

The

whole

task has

been

_greatly eased

_by

the notable labours

of

_{Professor Josef Nadler,}

who

in addition to

_providing

a

most

comprehensive biography and

a completely

documented

edition

of

the

Werke

has _{recently (1957) published}

an

additional sixth

volume,

which

is

_nothing

less _{than a highly}

_compressed

com-mentary,

concordance

and

dictionary

of

allthe difficultallusions to_persons

and

literature

which

fill

Hamann's

_writings.

Once

the

more

elaborate Schreiner-Blanke

commentaries

on

the chief

texts are _complete,

Hamann

will

have

_emerged

as

much

as possible

from

obscurity.

The

most

instructive

and

rounded

_study

of

Hamann's

life

and

thought

might

well

have been

that

of

the

Danish

scholar

_Tage

Schack.

_Only

twelve

out

of

the

_planned

_twenty-one

_chapters

were

_completed

before his _{tragic death,} in

April, 1945, in the service

of

the_{truth, during the}

German

_occupation

of

Denmark.

As

it is, the published _chapters

_{provide an}

_illuminating

_study

of

Hamann

in

our time

and

for

our

time. This

work

is

unfor-tunately

not

availableinEnglish,

and

in dedicating

my

study

to 12

PREFACE

his

_memory

I

wish

to indicate

_my

debtto

him.

_My

_onlyserious

point

of

difference

with

him

concerns the

measure

in

which

he

interprets

Hamann

in terms

of

Kierkegaard.

For

Hamaiin

cannot

be

_subjected to wholesale_{systeniatisation.}

He

will

_{always be}

_enigmatic,

and

_illuminating in snatches, like

lightning flashing across a rich

and

mysterious landscape. It is this consideration

which

has

_persuaded

me

_along

with

more

humdrum

considerations

of

_{the space}

and

sizethat

can

be

_expected

of an

_English introduction to _give

_nothing

more

than

an

ex-tended anthology of

his_writings in _English.

The

task

of

_putting the

whole of

Hamann

into _English is

virtually impossible;

but

even

ifit

were

_done, it is doubtful

whether

it

would

be

produc-tive.

But

_perhaps

others

with

otherinterests, _{especially literary}

and

_{philosophical,} will

now

be

_encouraged

to delve into the material

which

awaits

them.

Lastly, it is

my

pleasant

duty

to

thank

the

Maurice

Trustees

who

invited

me

to deliverthe F.

D.

Maurice

Lecturesfor₁₉₅₈at

King's College,

London.

The

present study is

an

_enlarged

version

of

those lectures. I

have

_happy

recollections

of

the kindness

and

_hospitality

of

the Senate

of

_{King's College,}

especially

of

the

Dean,

the

Rev.

Sidney

Evans.

University of

Glasgow

,

R.

G.

S.

INTRODUCTORY

JOHANN GEORG

HAMANN

Is

not

well

known

in the

English-speaking

world.

There

is

no

full study

of

his life

and

work

in English.

A

pamphlet

by

the

American

Kierkegaard

scholar,

the late

Walter

Lowrie,

_published in _I950,1

and

a _study

of

Hamann's

views

on

_language

_by

the

American

scholar, Professor

J.

C.

O'Flaherty,

2

are the

_{only independent}

_productions

known

to

me.

These,

with

a handful

of

articles in learned _journals,

constitutethetotal

of

Hamanniana

in_English. In_{other languages} thereis a certain trickle

of

interest,

while

in

German

theinterest

has

been

more

intimate

and

more

_complicated. Since the

time

of

Goethe's _respectful

but

somewhat

_desultory

and

distant

ack-nowledgment

of

Harnann's

greatness,

and

Hegel's brilliant

review

of

the firstedition

of

Hamann's

works,

3

German

interest

in

_Hamann,

_though

_{often one-sided,} has

never

_quite died

down.

In

our

own

time,

with

the _publication for the first time

of

the

complete works,

4

and

the

work

inprogress

both

on

a

complete

edition

of

the letters, 5

and

on

a series

of

commentaries

on

the

main

texts,6 it is

even

possible to speak

of

asmallrenaissance

of

Hamann.

1_{Hamann an}

Exisfetttialtat,Princeton, 1950. 2

Unity and Language,ChapelHill,1952.

a

SeeSamtlkhe Werke,ed.Glockner,vol. 20, 1930.

4

Ed.J.Nadler, Vienna,in five_{volumes, 1949-53.}

A

sixthvolume, 1957, consistsof

anindexwhichisatthesametime a splendid dictionaryofHamann'sideasandallusions.

(HereafterquotedasNT,etc.)

^JohtmnGeorgHamannBriefwechsel,editedby

W.

Ziesemer and A.Henkel,ineight volumes, ofwhich volumes I-fflhaveso far_appeared, Wiesbaden1955, 1956, 1957* (HereafterquotedasBI,etc.)

6

J.G.HamannsHauptschriften erklart, ed. F.BlankeandL Schreiner, toappear in

eightvolumes,ofwhichIandVIIhave beenpublished, Gutersloh, 1956.

J.

The

_{present essay,}

and

the translation

of

_parts

of

the _writings

and

letters, arcintendedasaprovisional

remedy

for the English-speaking world.

My

particular theological interests are

bound

to

be

reflected in

_my

treatment;

but

I

_hope

I

have avoided

too tendentious

an

_approach. Certainly,

Hamann's

interests

were

not narrow.

He

has

been

called "

thefirst Christian Literal

"

or

man

of

letters, 1

and whatever

the _description is intended to Include, at least it excludes

_any

idea

of

a _professional

system-builder.

Hamann

is

of

course

known

to students

of

German

literature

as_{the enigmaticfigure}in the

_{background of}

theSturm

and

_Drang,

that

movement

of

the _spirit

and

of

letters

which

_preceded,

and

precipitated, the

Romantic

movement

in

German

life

and

literature.

He

is also

known

to students

of

_philosophy

as a

marginal figure in the life

of Immanuel

Kant,

whose

con-temporary and

fellow-citizen

and fhend he was

in

Konigsberg.

In

more

_{recent theologicalwriting}

he

has

become

_{the object}

of

acertain

amount of

interest as

one of

the

few

writers

who

had

a

marked

influence

on

_Kierkegaard. In factit

_would,

I_believe,

be

possible to detect in the writings

of

Hamann,

in

embryonic

or

sibylline

form

at least, almost all the

_major

concerns

of

Kierke-gaajcd.

The

connections

between

the

two

will

be

apparent to

any

student

of

Kierkegaard. Perhaps iftheconnection

had

been

closer,

Kierkegaard

would

have

stood

more

in the centre

of

theologicalinterests than

he

does.

This is

not

the _place to _say

much

about

_Kierkegaard.

But

since the interest

of

_many

readers

of

Hamann may

well take its

rise, as

my

own

has done, inthe study

of

Kierkegaard,

2

perhaps a_preliminary

_judgment

is

not out

of

place.

A

typical appraisal

of

therelative

positions

of

the

two

men

isthat

of

Karlfried

Gr

under,

1

E. Hirsch, Ceschkhte derneueren_{evangehschen TTheologie,} Giitersloh, 1952, IV, 177, *_While

Kierkegaardled

me

_formallybackto Hamann,I shouldnot omitmention ofFerdinand Ebner,DasWort unddie_{Getsttgen Reditaten,Regensburg,}1921. Thiswork, thoughfragmentary and_{undeveloped, connects}Hamann's view ofthe"Wordwith a kindof_{Christian personalism.} Hisbookstillawaits atranslator.

INTRODUCTORY

iii the first

volume of

the _splendidly

_{planned commentaries}

on

Hamann's main

works.

He

writes:

That

God

in _{incomprehensible reconciling grace lowers}

him-self_(has entered into

human

life, Dasein, as

_Kierkegaard

_says)

iscentral alike for

_{Kierkegaard and}

for

Hamann.

For

Hamann

it is also,

and

_precisely, the

world

which

God

enters,

but

for

Kierkegaard

the place

of

this event is _solely the individual,

who

in the decision

of

his faith, effected

_by

_grace, rises

above

theworld,

with

which

the "

humorist

" _[in this case

_Hamann]

continues to_identify the "

idea

of

God."

1

Kierkegaard,inother

words,

reaches apoint

beyond

theworld, the point

of

_{religious passion,}in

which

theindividual faces

_God,

God

alone, in the decision

of

inwardness,

of

_pure

_{subjectivity.}

That

is

_why

itis_possiblefor

_Kierkegaard

to_saythat thereis

even

a certain

"

blasphemy

"

in

Hamann's

words,

that "

he

would

ratherhear the truth

from

a Pharisee_againsthiswillthan

from

an

angel

of

light/'

2

For Kierkegaard

there is another _stage, the

stage

of

directness,

of

the

"

single

one

"

separated

from

the

world,

which

is

_{beyond humour.}

For

Hamann

thereis

no

stage

beyond

the indirectness

of

faith,

which

is

grounded

in the

whole

life

of

the

world and

_history.

God

is

certainly transcendent, for

Hamann

asfor_{Kierkegaard; but}

Hamann

hears

and

_respondstothe

Word

as a

Word

in the _present,

which means

in the

whole

_present connection

of

life in this

world.

Hamann

therefore understands the relation to

God

not

as

something

in

and

for itself, separate

from

the

world, but

in

and

_through

the world.

He

remains a "

humorist

**; thereis for

him

no

_{religious stage}

_beyond

that

of

humour.

That

is to _say, his faith includes,

and never

gives up,

scepticism.

He

combines

believing

and

not

believing within the conditions

of

this world.

1_Hamatws

Hauptschriftenerklart,I,50.

2

Kierkegaard, Papirer, II, A, 12; Hamann, letter to _{Lindner, 12 October,} 1759,

RI497

=

BI.431.

J.

It is this less absolute _position, then,

which

distinguishes

Hamam

from

Ms

admirer

Kierkegaard.

Kierkegaard

lamented

that

Michelet

had

reduced

Hamann

to a _paragraph.

"The

system

is _hospitable,"1

and

could even

classify

and

dispose

of

Hamann's

_protest against a

system

of

life.

But

Kierkegaard

himself did

something

similar to

Hamann.

For

the intimate connections

between

the

two

should

not

obscure the factthat in

the

_{end Kierkegaard}

found

Hamann

too

much

bound

to the

world and

not

_enough

to

God.

But

in the last_analysis

Kierke-gaard

himself, desiring to

be

aloneinthe

world

with God,

thatis,

without

theworld,

was

alsoin arealsense

without

God.

Itis the

wholeness of God's

condescensionin Christ,his

_complete

_entering into the

world

_through

his

Word,

which

_engaged

Hamann's

life;

but

Kierkegaard, the great preacher

of

the

"

offence

"

of

Christianity, could

not

in the

end

live

with

it

He

wanted

"

directness/'

Hamann,

content

with

_receiving

what was

_given

in

_{and through}

the world, has scarcely

had

a hearing. It is as

though

the

immense

implications

of

his

tumultuous

insights

were

too

much,

not only

for himself,

but

also forhisreaders.

The

conviction

which

_guides the _present study is that in

Hamann we

have

a

man who

saw and

who

felt in his

own

life

the

unsolved

_{problem of}

the

modern

world

how

to

be

a

Christian infufl_integrity

of

_being:

_{by which}

I

mean

_something

more

than, _yet including, intellectual integrity.

That

Hamann

didina

measure

solve that

_problem

forhis

own

life,in

terms

of

a

positive understanding

of

the

Word

in history

and

for faith, is

the

view

_implicitinthe_{interpretation}

_given

here.

Inthe

realm

of

Christian

_{orthodoxy to-day}

thereis a

_tendency

to claim that this

_problem

has

been

solved

_along

other lines.

In _particular,

what

Paul Tillich calls

"

kerygmatic theology

"₂ proposes

an

authoritarian proclamation, claiming the assent

of

1

ConcludingUnscientificPostscript,E.T.,224. 2

Systematic Theology,Chicago, 1951,1,

4&

INTRODUCTORY

faith,

which

leads to a life

of

thorough

obedience to a specific

world-view.

On

the other

hand

there is a claim

from

the

side

of what

is

almost

a

new,

_{para-Christian,}

_orthodoxy,

which

passes

under

various

names

scientism, naturalism, materialism,

humanism

but

which

in

generalreflects a

mood

of

agnosticism tinged

with

mild, or furious, despair.

Here

the

problem

is

reduced

_by

excision

of

the Christian element,

and

integrity consists in_recognising

man's

_destiny

without

_admitting

God

or

revelation.

The two

claims are _{diametrically opposed.}

_They

unite

_only

in

_opposing

the claim

of

a

man

like

Hamann

to

have

anything

significant to say.

For

the

"

kerygmatic

"

theologian

Hamann

istooself-willed,

too

much

of

a

poet

and

an

individual,

too

much

of

an

_{existentialist (in} a sense

which

I

_hope

to

make

clear), too little

of

a dogmatist.

For

the

modern

literary critic

and

"

humanist

"

he

is

_simply

ineffective.

Thus

Professor

_Roy

Pascal writes

of

him

thathis _religion

"

transparently betrays his unwillingness or incapacity to face

up

to the tasks

of

active

and

practicallife.'* 1 _It

is _necessaryto _{say categorically,} in_opposition tothis

_judgment,

thatalltheevidence

shows

us that

Hamann

was

in truth neither unable

nor

_unwilling to face the tasks

of

life.

More,

it is

even

possible to see

both

in

Ms

thought and

in his life the

adumbration

of

a

_way

which

_surpasses the difference

between

the

_dogmatist

and

the humanist, the

common

and

still

unsolved

modern

conflict

between

** faith

"

and

"reason," or

orthodoxy

and

unbelief,

or

"

reaction

"

and

**_progress."

The

revolution

which

_{the Aufklarung}

brought

to Europe,

and

in

particular to the

ways of

thought

and

life within the Christian tradition

of

_Europe,

was

faced

_by

Hamann

infull consciousness

of

its

immense

_import.

His

effortto _point

towards an

_integrated

life

of

faith is

_{worthy of}

our

attention, in a

time

when

there

seems

to

be

so little _{understanding}

between

the

_opposing

_camps

which clamour

for

human

_loyalty.

1_{TheGerman.Sturm and}

Drang,London,1951,93.

j.

The

method of

the_presentstudy

of

the "

_Magus

inthenorth,"

however,

as

he

was

called,

and

liked to call himself,

1 _{needs a} little

more

explanation. His published

works

are incapable

of

systematic treatment. His style

may

not unjustly

be

describedas

tumultuous, obscure

and

perverse.

Even

his

many

extantletters,

which

are written for the

most

_part

without

the labour

and

forethought so apparent in the works,

and

which

are often

delightful specimens

of

sheer unforced

humour, humanity and

vivacity, are nevertheless always highly allusive, often fugitive,

and throughout

intensely personal

No

doubt

it is a challenge

for his _{readers to try to penetrate}

what Hegel

called the

"

con-centrated intensity

"

of

Hamann's

" spiritual depth," "

without

any expansion

either

of

theimagination

or

of

thought."2

But no

student

of

Hamann

would,

I think, contest the conclusion that

no

_writing

of

hisis _{completelytransparent.}

His only thoroughly

legible

composition

though

it too is

not

entirely transparent

ishis

own

life.

And

his _writings

must be

read as a reflection

of

thislife, orasa witness to it.8

But

thechaos

which

his _{writings present}

even

_{to patient}study

is

not

_{entirelyinvoluntary. Admittedly,}

some

_part

of

the disorder is_involuntary.

Here

we may

take

Hamann's words

at

most

of

theirface value,

when,

forinstance,

he

writes:

I

have

no

_aptitude for _truths,

principles, systems;

but

for

crumbs,

_fragments,fancies,

sudden

inspirations.

4

1

It was FriedrichKarl von Moser whofirstused the words, in direct allusion to

Hamann*sseeing the Starof Bethlehem,likethewisemenfromtheeast,inatimewithout Chnst. Cf.F.Blanke,Hamann-Studten, Zurich,1956, 99. Theearliestreferenceisina letterof_1760: "You haveseen the star; let others runafter the wiH-o*-the-wisp** (quoted inJ.DisselhofT, Wegweiserzuj.G.Hamwn>Kaiserswerth1871, 3).

a_{In his}

longreviewoftheeditionofthe SchnftenbyF.Roth,1828 (Sdmthche Werke, Jubilaumsausgabe, Stuttgart, 1930,XX,24of).

s

Cf. "

_My

_authorshipis insuch exact connexion with

_my

outwardcircumstances

rhateachisapartofthewhole." (Letter to F.H.Jacobi,7December,1786,

G

444 i e.,

Vol.

V

of C.H.Gildemeister, J. G. Hamann's,des_Magusim Norden> LebenundSchnften,

Gotha,1868.)

4

Letter toJ.G.Lindner,12October, 1759,

B

I,431.

INTRODUCTORY

Bat over and above

this I believe it is

possible to discern In the

course

of

Ms

life,hischoices, his _{responsibilities,} hisrenunciations

and even

what

seemed

to the

_good

sense

of

his time his irre-sponsibilities, a

form

and

order

which

are not, it is true, to

be

judged

by

aesthetic or _prudential

_maxims;

which

owe

_nothing

to the

_{contemporary view}

of

_healthy

human

reason or

harmonious

good

sense;

which

are, in fact, the

form and

order

of

a _truly Christian existence.

And

it is this _existence,

which

isirreducible

to

maxims

or a _system, to

which

his _{unsystematic writings}

continually point.

"

System

is initselfahindrance _{to the truth/*}

he

wrote

on

another occasion _{to Jacobi,}1

and

heretoo

we

must

take

him

at his

word.

It is

precisely the conjunction

of

his personaldislike

of

system

with

his loveforthe

fragmentary

and

the

sudden

_inspiration

which

leads

him

to seethetruth inChristian existenceas

going

beyond

the

formal

and

objective statement

of

it. Itis

not

that

he

_defiantlyflaunts his

own

weakness

in _regard to

_system

and

_clarity,

and

his

own

partialityfor brief, _pregnant, allusive

and

obscure remarks;

but

rather that

he

_perceivesin his

very weakness

the

only

way

for

_any

human

_being to

try to face the

_{enigma of}

his

own

existence.

But

_obviouslyfor

_any

_expositor

of

his

_thought

areal

_problem

is here

_brought

to the fore.

The

_only

_possible

method

is _{to try}

to_point

_through

the

works and

the

_thought

to thelife.

The

life

is_everything

even

_though

ittoois

_{fragmentary and}

_incomplete,

a_pointer to

possibilities ratherthan their empiricalfulfilment

or

fruition.

Yet

astrict

biography

inthe

whole

context

of

the

time

is

_beyond

_{the scope}

and competence

of

the _{present study.} This matters the less as _{chronological} succession _plays little or

no

partin

Hamann's

thought.

Development,

in feet, is aliento bis

whole

_way

of

life.

His

life

_may

rather

be

seen as

an

existential

composition, full

of

contradictions,

with nothing smooth, and

nothing

hidden, in

which

recurrent convictions illuminate in 1

_G

228.

J.

tern the

outward

events,

and

the

_many

friends

and enemies with

whom

he

was

_actively

_engaged

all hislife.

For

this

_composition

is

not

formed

_along

thelines

of

the_cogitoergo

sum of

therationalist

world

in

which

he

lived, but

of

the Est ergo cogito

of

a Christian existentialist.1 It is, at

_any

rate,

_only

hi these terms that it has

seemed

_possible to _{try to}

_comprehend,

and

to _present,his

many-sided interests, as literary critic, essayist, translator, reviewer, philologist, sesthetician, _philosopher

and

_theologian, as

_having

at leastthe outline

of

a_single whole.

1_Letterof

2 June, 1785, *oJacobi,

G

81, cf

G

196: "

Do

notforgetthenoblesum

oaaccountofthe_ccgifo," and

G

476* "

Inthe kitchen, too,the_godsareto_{be found;}

andwhatDescartessays abouthiscogitois _broughthometo

me

_bythe_activityof

my

OUTLINE

OF

HAMANN'S

LIFE

IT is

fundamental

to

an

_{understanding}

of

Haniann

to see his

thought

and

his actions as

thoroughly

integrated.

The

thought

cannot be

_separated

from

the life,

and though

the life is

every-thing,itissoas

an

_expression

of

_{the thought. Neither}hislife

nor

his

_thought

is

an

object

which

can be

systematized, classified,

and

held

_up

for _{public admiration or} censure.

The

_very

nature

of

the _integration

of

the life

and

the

_thought

is that it

precludes

any

such

objectifying.

For

all his love

of

mysteries

and

pseu-donyms

as

an

_author,

Hamann

is

_{fundamentally an}

_{open, indeed}

alovable,_person.

He

does

not

make

_any

distinction

between

his private

and

hispubliclife.

He

is

not

different as

an

author

from

what

he

is in his _ordinary life. In _Philip Merlan's acute

_words,

Hamann

would

have

been

ashamed

had

there

been

_any

difference

between

his_private

and

his_public

communications

.

He

never

addressed the _public.

He

_spoke

asif to his _personal

acquaintances

and

he spoke

strictly as aprivate person.

Long

before

_{Kierkegaard he wrote}

in the _style

of

"the _single

one

**

and

wrote

for

"

the

single

one."

In this sense

of

the

word,

he

never

triedto

be

"_objective."1

With

this _{basic proviso, then, that to}

"

_objectify

"

the events

of

Hamann's

lifedoes

_{not correspond}

tothebasic _unity

_{of person}

in his _authorship

and

his_actions,a bare outline

of

Hamann's

life

wiH

nevertheless_help to ease thereader's

_way.

The

_present

out-line will so far as _possible

_{avoid problems}

and

_{explanations:} it

1_Claremont

Quarterly,April, 1955, 35.

J.

is intended

_simply

as a _help in orientation.

But

the reader's

complaisance

must

be

requested, for a skeleton

of

this

kind

continually

demands

to

be

clothed

with

flesh

and

blood. It is therefore _impossible to avoid a certain

amount

of

_repetition in the

whole

account. If

_you

_try to talk

about

Hamann's

life

_by

itself,

Ms

ideas

come

crowding

in,

and

when

you

talk

about

his ideas _{they begin} to

make

sense _only

_by

reference to the

events

of

his life.

For

the events, in essence,

flow

from

the decisions

of

his faith.

Johann Geotg

Hamaim

was

born

in

Konigsberg

on

27 August,

1730.

He

was

the

grandson

of

a

Lutheran

pastor,

and

the elder

son

of

a

_surgeon

_chirurgeon

_might

indicate better the old-fashioned_style

of

his art

who

as AlststaJtbader

was

alsoin

_charge

of

the _{public bathing} establishment

of

the old

town.

He

was

a respectedcitizen,

who

refused the

honourable

tide

ofHof

Rat. In his

home many

of

the

well-known

citizens

of

_Konisberg

might be

met.

An

uncle

of our

Hamann,

bearing the

same name,

published religiousverses,

some

of

which were

setto

music

by

Telemann and

Handel. In

₁₇₃₀

Kant was

six

years old,Lessing

and

Moses Mendelssohn

about

a _year old. It

was

still fourteen _years till Herder's birth,

nineteentill Goethe's.

The

small _family,

with

two

sons, lived comfortably.

The

afternoon coffee-hour, established

even

then as the

mark

of

German

_{bourgeois respectability,}

was

_regularly

honoured

_by

the

household. In the

town

itself,

_busy

and

_prosperous,

many

languages

could

be

heard:

Dutch,

English, Polish, Russian, the

Scandinavian

and

_{Baltic languages,} aswellas

German. Hamann's

ear

must

have been

_early attuned to _hearing distinctions

of

language.

Konigsberg

was

a

microcosm of

the busy,flourishing,

progressive

world of

eighteenth century

Europe.

After

some

time

at_{private schools,}

and

then

at the

_Kneiphof

school,

_{Johann Georg}

matriculated at the university at the

age

26

OUTLINE

OF

HAMANN

S LIFE

of

sixteen.

The

_outstanding teacher

was

Martin

_Knutzen,

professor

of

philosophy and

mathematics,

who

was

also Kant's

teacher.

Hamann

_always

_spoke

of

him

with

_great

respect.

Knutzen

united _pietist beliefs

with

WolfEan

rationalist

methods

of

_thought.

But one of

his

remarks

that " the_{penitent spends}

in

grief

and weeping

the

time

which

he

ought

to

be

using for

doing

good

"

indicates

how

far his _pietism

had

_developed

a rationalist cast.

The

_professor

of

_physics, Karl Heinrich

_Rappolt,

to

whom

Hamann

felt

more

_{personally attracted,}

probably

on

account

of

the

combination

of

humour

and

humanism

in his character,

was

a

_pronounced

_enemy

of

_pietism. It is _probable,

however,

that

no marked

outsideinfluence

on

the

_young

student

may

be

_singled out.

His

studies

were

_desultory

and

self-willed,

and though

he

_officially switched _early

from

_{theology to law,}

his

main

interests

_{ranged through}

the belles lettres

of

modern

Europe.

His

lifelong passion, for

wide and

intense reading to

which

indeed

his earlier _schooling

had

also inclined

him

was

already apparent.

At

the _university

he

made

his first real friends, chief

_among

them Johann

Gotthelf

Lindner

_(1729-1776)

and

_Joltann

_Christoph

Berens

_(1729-1782).

Lindner

became

rector

of

the cathedral

school in

_Riga,

and

in _{1765 professor}

of

_poetry

at

_Konigsberg,

ending

as

Lutheran

minister

of

Lobenicht/Konigsberg.

He

was

Hamann's

confidant

_throughout

hislife,

_though

attimes

he

found

it

hard

to

avoid

_scolding

Hamann,

and

Hamann

for his _part

sometimes

found

his friend _lacking in _{understanding.}

With

Berens

and

the _{large family}

of

this

_Riga

merchant

house

Hamann's

relations

were

intense

and

decisive for his career.

With

these

two

and

others

Hamann

founded

in

₁₇₄₉

a

_weekly

periodical,

Daphne,

which

lasted for sixty issues.

This

was

not

exactly

an

original venture,

but

it

showed

the alertness

of

the

young

Konigsberg

student

group of

friends tothe great

world

of

letters. _Nadler,

Hamann's

modern

_biographer, calls

_Daphne

J. **

one

of

thebestweeklies

of

the_{century," but}thisis

an

audacious

judgment

inface

of

the Spectator, the Tatler

and

theRambler.

In

November

1752

Hamann

left_{the university}

without

_taking

a _degree,

and

became

house-tutor in a Baltic

noble

_family

of

Kegeln, near Papendorf.

The

boy

whom

he

had

to educate

was

not

an

_easyfirst_pupilfor the_{inexperienced}teacher.

But

Hamann

at

once

showed

a

_power

toteach

which

isas

marked

ashisfailure to _impress the _ordinary successful _people

of

his time.

The

baroness, the _boy's

mother,

dismissed the too conscientious

teacher insidesix

months,

in aletter

which

isa

fearsome

_example

of

_stupidity, illiteracy

and

arrogance,

which

unfortunately defies

translation.

Hamann's

second

post, at

Griiohof

near

Mitau,

was

happier.

Here was an

ordered, polished

and

lively society.

With

one

break, spent in Riga,

Hamann

stayed in this

household

till

1756.

Then

the much-travelled

and

fascinating friend, J.

C.

Berens,

back

in

Riga from

Gottingen

and

Paris,

persuaded

him

to_{take a post}inhis_familybusiness.

Hamann

with

his

_knowledge

of

_languages

and

extensive _experience

must

have

seemed

a

potentially

most

useful acquisition.

Before he

had

left

Griinhof

he

had

made

atranslation

_{of DangeuiTs Remarques}

surles

avantages et

ks

_desavantagesde la France et de la

Grande

_{Eretagnepar rapport} au commerceet

aux

autres sourcesdela

puissancedes Etats,

which was

published,

along with

a

supplement

by

himself, in April 1756.

(This

supplement

was

actuallypublishedin

an

Englishtranslation,

the

_only

translation

made

of

_any

work

of

Hamann's

before the present

volume,

in

New

York, under

the title

The

Merchant, 4thedition 1856.) Thispublicationsetsthetonein

which

Hamann

accepted

work

with

the

house

of

Berens.

His supplement

is in

effect _praise

of

the

new

_society

which

under

the _leadership

of

the

new

race, the merchants,

was

to serve

man

as _part

of

the divine_plan.

Hamann

was

_ready

to

become

a useful

and

service-able

member

of

this_society.

He

was

never

to

be

in closer

accord

with

the

world of

the

_{Enlightenment than}

he was

at this time.

OUTLINE

OF

HAMAXX

S

LIFE

The

fateful events

of

the

next

two

_years are recountedin his

autobiography. In April

1757 he

went

to

London

as

an

_emissary

of

the

Berens

_family,

on

an

obscure mission

which

_apparently involved_negotiations

with

the

Russian

and

_English

_governments

concerning

trade intheBaltic.

But

theEnglish

were

too occupied

with

their

American

colonies _{to spare}

time

forthe East,

and

the missionfailed.

Hamann

returnedto

_Riga

in

_July

1758,a

_changed

man.

In the _eyes

of

the

Berens

_{family the}

_change

was

a disaster.

Hamann

to

them

was

_denying

the

_age

of

reason

and

his

own

past.

For

he

had

become

what

_they

_{could only}

_regard as _{a bigoted}

Christian.

Christoph Berens

skimmed

the pages

of Hamann's

London

_Thoughts about

_my

Life

"

with

_loathing.'*1 It

was on

this _point that the real difference arose.

Hamann's engagement

toKatharina

Berens

came

to_nothing. Itistrue that, like

Kierke-gaard later, his

broken-off

_engagement

continued

to influence

him,

and

probable

that this influence

played

some

part in the strange circumstances

of

his marriage.

He

regarded

Katharina

Berens

as his "bride

from

God's

hand.'* _{Nevertheless,} the

decisive

break

_lay

_deep

in

Hamann's

_{self-understanding.}

His friends did

not

let

him

_go

without

a _struggle.

Berens

followed

him

to

Konigsberg

in

June

1759, full

of

a clever_plan to entice

Hamann

back

to reason. In

_Konigsberg

that

summer

there

followed

an

_episode

which

Hamann

has described in his letters, _particularly to Kant.

For

it

was none

other than the

Privatdozentfor

Himmelsmechanik

or

_{astronomy and}

_physics

who

was

chosen

_by

Berens

to

meet

Hamann

and do

hisbestto restore

him

to his senses.

Hamann

found

the situation ludicrous,

and

for

Kant

it

was

tiresome. Thisis thefirstclear_pointintherelations

between

Kant and

Hamann,

the _significance

of which

will

be

discussed in

more

detail later.

Kant

tried to _persuade

Hamann

totranslate

some

articles

from

the

French

_{Encyclopedic,} to

encour-age

him

in a career as a writer,

and

so to

wean him

from

the

1_Cf.letterto

J.G.Lindner, 21March,1759,

B

I,308.

J.

life

of

_{bigoted orthodox)'} into

which

_{he imagined}

Haniatm had

relapsed.

But

it

was

precisely in virtue

of

his

new

self-under-standing that

Hamaim

refused to

conform.

He

would go

his

own

_way,

which

he

understood in terms

of

Socrates's life,

who

was

not

an author

and

in _explaining himself, in the Socratic

Memorabilia _(1759),

he

became,

in his

own

_peculiar

_{way, an}

author

_by

contradiction.

(All

Ms

writing

was

to

be

of

this

kind

personal, occasional,

and

published only asthe reflection

of an

occasion

and of

_{the personal standpoint}

of

the author within

the occasion.)

The

book was

a manifesto

of

a

_way

of

life,

and

bore a

double

dedication, to

*6

Nobody

"

(the public)

and

to

"

the

two

"

_{(Kant and}

Berens).

Hamann

was

convinced

of

the rightness

of

his decision,

even

againstthis

powerful combination

of

the _philosopher

and

the

man

of

affairs,

who

together, as

Nadler

has said, _represented

"

the

whole

_kingdom

of

total "i

reason. A

Twenty-five

years later,

Hamann

was

reading the proofs

of

the

Critique of Pure Reason

even

before its _author,

and

shaping

the criticisms

which

he

_{finallypublished} asthe_{Metacritique of}the

Purism _{of Reason.}

Both

then, in 1784,

towards

the

end

of

his life,

and

in this first encounter

of

1759,

when

his future

was

still unclear,

Hamann's

criticism

of

Kant was

_{fundamentally}

the

same:

Once

for all,

my

Herr

_Magister, I

want

to

remove

the

_hope

from

_you

that

_you

can discuss _{certain things}

with

me, which

I

can judge

better_{than you,} forI

know

more

data

about them,

and

base

_myself

_onfacta,

and do

not

know

_my

authors

from

journals [sril.

of

the Aufklarung],

but

from

laborious daily

pondering;

and have

read,

not

extracts,

but

the

_very

acts in

which

_{the King's} interest as well as the land's are

debated

[scil. theScriptures] . ..2

l

johannGeorgHamann,Vienna,1949,

no

2Letterof 27July, 1759,BI,379.

OUTLINE

OF

HAMANN

S LIFI

Again, in the

middle

years, in a

correspondence

in 1774

con-cerning Herder,

Hamann

was

still _saying

much

the

same

_thing

to

Kant

He

writes:

While

troth in _general is

of

such

an

abstract

and

intellectual

nature thatit

cannot be

_{grasped except} in _abstracto,

which

isits

element, [yet] inconcretetruth appearseither asa contradiction or as that stone

of

our

wise

_{men, by means of which}

every unripe mineral,

and even

stone

and wood,

are

changed

into

pure

gold.

1

It

was

in the concrete

and

_{contradictory}

realm

of

human

actions

and

human

_{personality that}

Hamann

triedto

communi-cate

with

Kant.

Kant saw no

future in action like

_Hamann's,

which

he

_regarded as fettered to

_dogmas;

and

he

_{spoke with}

assurance

of

the

_development

of

the

work

of

men

like the

orientalist Michaelis

of

_Gottingen

and

of

"_{free-believing}

philologians,"

from

whom

the **

demagogues

"

(the theologians)

would

in future

have

to take the material forthe instruction

of

their students.

"

For

therestands

against

him

[Herder, theauthor

of

the Alteste

Urkunde

des

Metischengeschlechts] the solid

phalanx

of

the masters

of

Oriental _learning."2

But

Hamann

was

_always

clear that

"

the foundation

of

our

faith

"

did

not

rest "

in the quicksand

of

fashionablecritical scholarship."

3 _In

_our

_own

time,

under

the influence

of

_{Kierkegaard's}

_thought

in

particular, the issue

of

the relation

of

Christian faith to _history is

_very

lively,

and

at least it

can be

said that Kant's

view

has

_{by no means}

prevailed

even

though

the position represented

by Harnann

does

not dominate

either.

Once

the break, then,

with

his _past

was

clear, the succeeding years,

from

1759

till 1763,

unfolded

in

accordance

with

Hamann's

1

LetterofApril, 1774,

B

in, 88.

2

QuotedinH. Weber,HamannundKant,Munich,1904,146. 3_{Chnstiani Zacchaet}

Telonarchae Prolegomena uber die neueste _Auslegung der altestea UrkundedesmensckhchenGeschlechts,1774,

R

IV, 198

=

N

III,132.

own

decision. Characteristically,

he

neither

sought

a

new

liveli-hood, nor

did

he

turn into the

narrow

Intellectual or

_demagogic

path envisaged

and

feared

by

his old friendsas the

only

alterna-tive.

But

he

_spent

Ms

time in his father's house,

and continued

in a resolute _plan the

wide

_reading

which had

_already

charac-terised hislife.

He

became

one

of

the_greatreaders

of

the century,

and one

_might

even

_saythat

_through

hislittle_studythere

flowed

the

whole

stream

of

_contemporary

_writing. His letters are full

of

his _reading,

and

his _writings reflect an

immense

_{range of}

interest.

The

Latin classics, _especially

Horace,

the

Church

Fathers, Luther,

modem

work

of

every kind,

and

above

all the

Bible, filledhis_days.

From

_{24 January}

to 8_April

of

1781

he

read

through

the 54

volumes of

Voltaire's

works.

During

these first years

of

the

new

life

he

became

aphilologian, reading,besidesthe

languages

he

was

already conversant with, in Greek,

Hebrew

and

Arabic.

_They

were

_perhaps the _{happiest years}

of

his life.

Yet he

was

_jobless,

_{and without any}

reasonably assured future.

With

far less

_worldly

_securitythan Kierkegaard,

he

turned aside

with

much

_simpler decisiveness

from

the idea

of

ordination.

Another

chance

which

offered itself, in

an

invitation

from

Christoph Friedrich Nicolai (1733-1811)

of

Berlin to join

him

in his _{hteraryprojects,}

was

also

rejected.

He

was

resolute inhis

opposition tothe

works of

the "

Nicolaitans," as

he

called

_them,

playing

on

the

happy

similarity

of

the

name

tothat

of

theobscure gnosticsect

mentioned

in the

book

of Revelation

(2. 15).

The

tone

of

his life

_during

this _period is wellillustrated

_by

a

remark

in a letter

of

13 June, 1760, to Lindner,

where

he

_speaks

of

his vast

and

intense_readingas

children's

_{games which}

God

has _given

me

in order that the

time

till his _{appearing should}

not

be long

for

me.

1

Perhaps the lingering influence

of

pietism in the

forms

of

his

x

Bn,27.

OUTLINE

OF

HAMANSr'S

LIFE

thought account

fortherather depreciatory tone

of

the reference

to his _reading.

The

_{eschatologlcal} strain remains all his days,

and

as

we

shaE see

dominates

and

transforms his _views,

and

provides the unifying force forhis entire thought.

The

mixture

of

influences _appears in thecollection

of

his _writings

which was

published in 1762, including as it does the little masterpiece

of

eschatological imagination,

Die

Magi

atis

Morgenlatide, as wellas the Kleeblatt Helletnstischer _Briefe, a series

of

_studies,

_mainly

philological,

of

classical

and

New

Testament

Greek,

and

the

manifesto

of

the

Sturm und

_Drang, the ^Esthetica in Nuce.

Even

theride

of

the collection,

_Kreuzzuge

eines_Philologen," Crusades

of

a _{Philologian,"}

_may

also

be

translated

_simply

as "

Cross-currents."

In this

same

_period

Hamann's

brother

_began

to

show

_signs

of

the disease

which

_finally

reduced

him

to

_complete

melancholia.

He

too returned,

from

a _teaching

post, to his father's house.

Their

mother had

died _shortly before

Hamann's

_departure for

England.

Now

two

new

figuresappear,

who

are to

accompany

Hamann

allhis life.

The

first is

_Johann

Gottfried

Herder

_(1744-1803),

one

of

the

great figures

of

eighteenth century

Germany,

who

came

to

Konigsberg

in

1762

as _{the protege}

of

a

Russian

medical officer

(Konigsberg

was

under Russian

occupation

from

January

1758

till

_February

_1763).

He

_{intended to study medicine,}

but

soon

turned to _theology.

He

was

_{just eighteen.}

With

him

Hamann.

quickly entered

on

afriendship

which

endured with only

minor

breaks for therest

of

his life. Thisis the first

of

the _friendships

in

which

Hamann

showed

himselfto

be

almosta_genius; a

_good

thing in itself, this friendship is at the

same

time

of

almost

incalculable _significance for Herder's

own

_development,

and

through

him

forthe

whole

new

opening

world

of

the Sturm

und

Drang and

the

Romantic

movement

in

German

life

and

letters.

Their

actual

time

_together

was

very

brief, for it is

not

clearthat

they

became

thoroughly

acquainted

immediately

on

Herder's

arrival in _Konigsberg,

and Herder

left

_Konlgsberg

for

_good

in

November

1764. Theirletters are a _{precious source of}

_European

life

and thought

for the next crucial

_twenty

_years.

Yet

for the

Immediate

_purpose

of

_watching

the

movement

of

Hamann's

thought

the later

exchange

of

letters

with

Fnedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743-1819) is

more

_manageable.

_Jacobi

was

a _wealthy,

warm-hearted RMnclander,

who

lived a life

of

_philosophic ease

on

his estate

of

_Pempelfort

nearDiisseldorf.

The

ease

was

broken

by

his

own

Christian convictions,

which

led

him

out to tilt

not

onlyagainst

Moses

Mendelssohn,

in acontroversy

about

Spinoza,

but

also_againstKant.

Hamann

did

_{not always}

findit

possible to

agree

with

Jacobi's spirited but ill-managed defence

of

faith,

but

the relation

between

the

two

was

warmer

and

more

personal than the relation

between

Hamann

and

the

more

original spirit

of

Herder.

When

Hamann

finally

met

Jacobi,

during the last strange

months of

his life

which were

centred

on

Miinster, it

was

with

a _feeling

of

relief

on

both

sides that

Hamann

left

_Pempelfort

for Miinster _again.

About

the

same

time

as

Herder

came

to_Konigsberg,the

second

of

the

two

new

_figures

_began

to

dominate

Hamann's

_passions. This

was

Anna

_Regina

Schumacher,

a _{peasant girl}

who

had

enteredhis father's

household

at Easter 1762,

and

_rapidly

became

to the _ailing father almost as a _daughter.

She

was

_twenty-four, and, as

Hamann

later described her,

"

of

full-blooded

and

blooming

health,

and

a

just as robust

and

stupid

honesty

and

stedfastness."1

Within

a

few

months

he

was

_writingtoNicolaiin

Berlin

of

"aleft-handed

_{marriage" with}

her.

_Why?

Hamann's

own

_explicit reason,

from

the

same

letter to

Herder

of

_1776,

why

there

was

no

official _marriage,

was

not

becauseI

am

_{too proud,}forI

am

too

thankful,

but

because 1_Letterto

Herder, 15 October, 1776,

B

III,262.