Contagion
Subtitle: sexuality, disease, and death in German idealism and romanticism
By: David Farrell Krell.
Series: Studies in Continental thought
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Bloomington
Language: eng
Number of pages: 243
Subjects: Novalis, 1772-1801.; Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, 1775-1854.; Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770-1831.; Philosophy of nature -- Germany -- History -- 18th century.; Philosophy of nature -- Germany -- History -- 19th century.
Description: Although the Romantic Age is usually thought of as idealizing nature as the source of birth, life, and creativity, David Farrell Krell focuses on the preoccupation of three key German Romantic thinkers - Novalis, Schelling, and Hegel - with nature's destructive powers: contagion, disease, and death. Krell brings to light little-known texts by each writer that develop theories about the intertwined beneficent and maleficent aspects of nature.

Krell's investigations reveal that the forces of sexuality and life are also seen as the carriers of disease and death. The insights of Novalis, Schelling, and Hegel offer surprisingly relevant perspectives for contemporary science and for our own thinking - in an age of contagion.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [211]-234) and index.