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  5. Subproject: Pantheism and personhood in classical German philosophy

Moral Compass Project

How do we know what the Good is? Is there such a thing as a ‘moral compass’ that all people share? The needle of a compass points to the north pole, but you can't reach the pole with it. Can the Good also be seen as such a pole? As something that speaks to us 'from the outside,' inescapably? The Good appeals to us in a way that gives us direction and encourages us to take concrete action. But that does not imply we are able to fully know or do the Good.

Subproject: Pantheism and personhood in classical German philosophy

Pantheism and human freedom

This subproject of the Moral Compass Project investigates the debates on pantheism in classical German philosophy. Around 1800 a great enthusiasm arises among German thinkers and writers for Spinoza's pantheistic philosophy, in which God is not a transcendent creator but is identified with the world or nature. A fierce debate ignites about what such a pantheistic view means - not only for our conception of God, but also for the human being. Because with Spinoza everything and everyone is part of one great divine whole, free will also disappears and our entire personal individuality is in danger of becoming a mere side effect of blind forces. The human person is swallowed up by a system.

The need for a personal God

This danger of being swallowed up by the system is emphasised by some German philosophers, including Friedrich Jacobi. He argues that a pantheistic worldview, and with it the loss of a personal God, will also mean the loss of human personhood. A transcendent Thou in opposition to the human I is necessary to safeguard our personhood in the face of the claim of an impersonal system, which seeks to get a grip on all of reality.

Farewell to a personal God

In contrast, there are philosophers who embrace pantheism. We must say goodbye to the personal God who rules the world from outside and imposes the law on us from above. That leads to unfreedom. God is not outside us, but within us. Pantheism thus leads to a different understanding of ourselves. We are not ultimately isolated individuals; we must learn to see ourselves as part of something greater, of the divine. Johann Gottlieb Fichte is such a thinker, who develops in his philosophy a way of seeing our individuality as part of a divine whole, which at the same time preserves our freedom. From his early thinking, Friedrich Schelling is also strongly influenced by pantheism and sees God as the absolute unity of all that exists. In his late thinking he cautiously distances himself from this pantheistic view, recognizing the necessity of a personal God opposed to the human person.

Person as part of the whole

This subproject focuses on the relationship between pantheism and personhood, examining specifically how Jacobi, Fichte and Schelling have their own philosophical approaches to pantheism and personhood. Through a historical examination of their thinking, the aim is also to develop a systematic perspective on the fundamental relationship between person and pantheistic whole, and the different positions one can take with regard to this issue in today’s context.

This project shows how different views of God and the human also lead to different views of ethics. On one side is a personalistic approach to ethics, which emphasizes personal intuition and the concrete I-Thou relationship; on the other is an ethics that transcends the personal and emphasizes the universal, in the form of general rational rules or duty towards a whole instead of the particular other.

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Key publications

Further discussion?

Does this topic appeal to you and would you like to discuss it in a group, for example through a lecture? Then invite one of the researchers to your discussion group, organisation or church for talks, interviews, advice or other contributions. Some suggestions for topics:

  • the relationship between conceptions of God and of the human being
  • the relationship between person and system
  • the transformation of ethical and religious views in modern thought (18th and 19th centuries, Enlightenment, Romanticism, German Idealism)
  • personalist ethics