Die Vergeistigung in der Auseinandersetzung? Friedrich Nietzsche – Eduard von Hartmann

Abstract The development of humanity’s intellectual and religious consciousness was a central issue in the nineteenth-century Western philosophical tradition, with the concept of spiritualization ( Vergeistigung ) taking center stage. Friedrich Nietzsche and Eduard von Hartmann used the concept of spiritualization to address processes of transformation in human consciousness and culture. In doing so, both philosophers adopted different perspectives rooted in completely different objects of investigation. In this paper, however, I will focus on examining similarities in the interpretation of spiritualization by the two authors. I argue that, while their interpretations are fundamentally different, they still converge at times. Hartmann’s analysis postulates that religion has gone through different stages of development, each representing a higher degree of what he calls spiritualization. Nietzsche, on the other hand, views the concept of spiritualization through a more critical lens, focusing on a radical critique of both morality and religion. Two similarities can already be seen in both authors’ views: the development of consciousness, as well as the criticism of traditional religion and the difference between progress and decadence. My paper concludes with an analysis of the similarities between Nietzsche’s and Hartmann’s interpretations, where I argue that Nietzsche, in particular, not only criticises the term, but also formulates his own interpretation and focus in Götzen-Dämmerung . In this way, Nietzsche becomes part of the philosophical tradition of the nineteenth century by formulating his own interpretation of the concept of spiritualization.