Conclusion to Part 1

This chapter offers a brief summary of the preceding chapters, by recounting key moments in Novalis’ development and pointing to his most important influences. It argues that although Novalis is deeply indebted to Kant, Fichte, Hemsterhuis and Goethe, he ultimately developed his own philosophical perspectives and goals, which sought to synthesize transcendental philosophy with his artistic insights and his interest in the natural sciences of his time. Its conclude that in Novalis we see a very particular brand of idealism, what he himself terms “empirical idealism,” and argues, in opposition to Frank, that for Novalis romanticism cannot be separated from idealism— that is, from the work of idealizing the real and realizing the ideal.

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