Schl - essay

Question 1

3 paras

Answer 1

• definition of religion in relation to feeling
• fleeting moment of union of subject/object distinction
• history of humanity

Question 2

1 - definition of religion

Answer 2

• hard to define, cannot be systematised
• not merely morals (Kant)
• individual
• link to feeling = fundamental existential orientation
• involves an individual intuition of the whole (link to Spinoza)
• god is not necessary as he cannot be immediately known (like Kant and God in noumenal). he is simply a form of intuition. beyond subject/object distinction and so more fundamental than words

also uses it to comment on society
o ‘the songs of the poets, and…art and science (for you imagine yourself capable of all of this) have taken possession of your minds so completely that no room is left over for the eternal and holy being’ (3)
o attack on Romantic abandonment of religion - do not view theology as an academic field possible/worth pursuing further
o People are consumed with other aspects of life – do not have time or energy for religion. Romantic period – turn to poetry and art etc. has replaced need for God

Question 3

2 - fleeting union

Answer 3

• soul = divided (chariot, translated plato)
• need equilibrium, piety is key to this
• union of subject/object before it goes
• gone as soon as we try to reason it
• moment is fleeting and ineffable (use of metaphor - romanticism and phaedrus)
• thinking with Kantian framework but trying to redevelop it - religion is pre-rational but not restricted to moral sphere

Question 4

3 - history of humanity

Answer 4

• gives expression to infinite
• need to intuit the universe through nature and order
• Gen 2
• role as mediators - people try and improve world but either fail to recognise the individual nature of religion or interpret the world too individually - emphasis on harmony. humanity = middle term
• link to speech 1 when he talks about evil committed under guise of religion. not working towards harmony of humanity
• solution = ‘act on the individuals, but with your contemplation rise higher on the wings of religion to an infinite, undivided humanity’

Question 5

intro

Answer 5

aim in writing

theology = Wissenschaft

Question 6

1 - ao2

Answer 6

seems inclusive

but… dark side to romanticism. elite etc.

o Feeling = universal but not universally efficacious, not all people can attend to it

dismisses importance of god - blasphemy
(but, S tries to overcome blasphemy)

Question 7

2 - ao2

Answer 7

if fleeting how does he know of its existence?

Question 8

3 - ao2

Answer 8

bath - s places too much importance on humans. too anthropological

pantheistic

o He emphasises human experience yet does not explain how to know if it is valid