The Early Philosophical Roots of Schleiermacher's Notion ofGefühl, 1788–1794

Abstract

No single term has been so misunderstood or so debated in the history of Schleiermacher interpretation asGefühl(“feeling”). The intensity of the controversy surrounding this term is testimony to the critical role it plays in Schleiermacher's entire theological program. Indeed, as evident in his magnum opusThe Christian Faith(1830/1831), whereGefühlattains its final formulation as “the feeling of absolute dependence” (das schlechthinnige Abhängigkeitsgefühl), few other terms play as important a role in his account of religious experience and his doctrine of God. Not only is Schleiermacher's theological system at stake, but also the foundations of modern theology itself. Ludwig Feuerbach's assessment of the consequences of emphasizingGefühlwas unequivocal; most critics of Schleiermacher, Karl Barth foremost among them, have followed Feuerbach's pattern of interpretation:If, for example, feeling is the essential organ of religion, the nature of God is nothing else than an expression of the nature of feeling.…But the object of religious feeling is become a matter of indifference, only because when once feeling has been pronounced to be the subjective essence of religion, it in fact is also the objective essence of religion,…feeling is pronounced to be religious, simply because it is feeling.

Bridging the gap between social and existential-mystical interpretations of Schleiermacher's ‘feeling’

“…In addition to the works mentioned in this section, see also: Albrecht (1994), Lamm (1994) and (1996), Marina (2008), Proudfoot (2010), and Sorrentino (2010).…”

“…In this article, my understanding of Schleiermacher's embeddedness in his time draws especially on Lamm (1994), Crouter (1996), Bowie (1997), Frank (1997), Bowie (1998) and (2003), and Marina (2008), among others.…”