Hen Kai Pan: The Influence of Spinoza on German Romanticism at the Intersection of Theology and Philosophy

Spinoza was not merely one of the eighteenth century’s pioneering thinkers who influenced German thought. On the contrary, he played a pivotal role in shaping post-Kantian German philosophy in the 19th century. Initially entering the German intellectual scene through the pantheism debate at the intersection of theology and philosophy, Spinoza stirred up considerable upheaval in intellectual climate. Over time, however, he has been continually reinterpreted in various forms. After the initial pantheism debate, he was reimagined as a serene monist sage who links everything to God-Nature. The early Romantics, in turn, portrayed him as a Protestant revolutionary figure advocating for religious tolerance against established religious dogmas. Finally, Schelling managed to frame a new synthesis by reconciling the seemingly incompatible ideas of anti-naturalist Kantian-Fichtean conception of freedom with naturalistic Spinozism. This study focuses on the peculiar influence of Spinoza on German Romanticism rather than Spinoza’s own ideas or on the question of whether the German philosophers correctly appropriated Spinoza or not. This article proposes that the shifting Romantic receptions of Spinoza can be systematically understood as conceptual responses to three interlocking crises in late-eighteenth-century German thought—namely the theological crisis of faith and reason, the philosophical crisis of mechanistic nature, and the political crisis of authority and emancipation—illuminated through the heuristic function of the Spinozist motto hen kai pan. By showing the historical transformation of Spinoza at the intersection of theology, philosophy, and politics, this article offers a systematic review of German Romanticism.