Adapting Böhme’s Bipolar Model
Coleridge's Contemplative Philosophy January 16, 2020 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198851806.003.0006 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Böhme, whom Coleridge annotated more than any other writer, was crucially important to Coleridge's philosophy. Böhme's chiasmic thinking is said to have inspired three Coleridgean mainstays: interpenetration of opposites, intercirculation of energies, and the chiasmus between higher and lower levels. Coleridge's pentadic schemata are argued to derive from fusing Böhme's 'Seven Forms of Spirits' with the Christian neo-Platonic ascent from sensus to contemplatio. |
Abstract
Abstract: Chapter 5 argues for the crucial importance for Coleridge’s philosophy of Böhme, whose works he annotated more than any other writer. Section 5.1 discusses Coleridge’s views of various mystics and of the poles of mysticism: one side valued for its sensuous connection, yet found prone to mistake inner idiosyncrasies for noetic insight; the other side, the transcendence-directed contemplation of mystics such as the Christian neo-Platonic Victorines. Section 5.2 argues that the chiasmic crux of Böhme’s thinking inspired three Coleridgean mainstays: the interpenetration of opposites, the intercirculation of energies, and the chiasmus between higher and lower levels. Section 5.3 further argues that an important form of Coleridge’s pentadic logical schemata, which includes his pentad of the ‘Powers of Nature’ and his ‘Order of the Mental Powers’, derives from his fusing Böhme’s transmutational, chiasmic schema of ‘The Seven Forms of Spirits’ with the Christian neo-Platonic, linear, hierarchical ascent from sensus to contemplatio.