I had some harsh words for
Novalis--in Esperanto--when I
blogged about his
Notes for a Romantic Encyclopaedia: Das Allgemeine Brouillon (published in English translation in 2007) eight years ago. It turns out though, that there is quite interesting philosophical content in Early German Romanticism. Here is an essay that highlights among other things Novalis' philosophical engagement with the
ars combinatoria:
Redding, Paul. "Mathematics, Computation, Language and Poetry: The Novalis Paradox," in
The Relevance of Romanticism: Essays on German Romantic Philosophy edited by Dalia Nassar (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 221-238.
Various essays in this book demonstrate that Novalis and his colleagues (note especially
Friedrich Schlegel) were not mere mathematical and philosophical dilettantes. Early German Romanticism is now being taken seriously in the anglophone world for its philosophical and not merely literary and literary-critical contributions. Its engagement with German idealism is receiving concentrated attention. I am not prepared to comment on his use of the
ars combinatoria. This essay though is a must-read on the subject.
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