In which I explain a mystery in Günderrode scholarship. Please cite me if you quote or share information from this post.

In 1975, Doris Hopp and Max Preitz published a selection of notes from Günderrode’s notebooks, including a set of quotations by Kant, Spinoza, Locke, Fichte, Rousseau, Herder and other philosophers and writers. Günderrode grouped some of the quotations under headings such as “Law of Morality,” “Moral Freedom,” “God” and “Virtue,” while others (such as a selection from Jean Paul’s 1795 novel Hesperus) are uncategorised.

The presence of these quotes in Günderrode’s notebooks is sometimes thought to indicate that Günderrode studied or at least had access to the texts from which the quotes were taken. In some cases, such as Günderrode’s notes on Hesperus, this is probably the case. However, Günderrode likely culled many of the quotes, not from the originals, but from a collection of uplifting philosophical quotations. 

This collection, published in 1797 by “two friends,” J. A. Neurohr and Johann Hugo Wyttenbach, was titled Aussprüche der philosophierende Vernunft und des reinen Herzens über die der Menschheit wichtigsten Gegenstände mit besonderer Rücksicht auf die kritische Philosophie zusammengetragen aus den Schriften älterer und neuerer Denker (Sayings of Philosophical Reason and of a Pure Heart on the Subjects Most Important to Humanity, with Particular Consideration of the Critical Philosophy, Collected from the Writings of Ancient and Modern Thinkers). Compilations of such edifying sayings by famous minds were common and the text by Neurohr and Wyttenbach was popular: throughout the nineteenth century their selection and organisation of quotations crop up again and again in other such popularising collections, and a reprint was issued as recently as 2011.

Volume 1 of Neurohr and Wyttenbach’s collection is organized according to the same headings used by Günderrode in her notes: “Law of Morality,” “Freedom (Moral),” “Highest Good,” “God,” “Reason,” “Virtue,” “The Human Being,” and “The Vocation of Humankind.” All the quotations noted by Günderrode under these categories are found under the same categories in Neurohr and Wyttenbach 1797. The exception is those quotations in Günderrode’s notes under the title “death” and some uncategorized quotations that appear slightly later in her notebooks. I haven’t yet tracked down the sources for this group of quotations. 

Günderrode’s notes often deviate from the text from which she was quoting. Perhaps it was only that the notes were taken in haste or with a desire to abbreviate and simplify, or she may have altered the texts deliberately, for philosophical or aesthetic reasons. I cross-referenced Günderrode’s notes with both Neurohr and Wyttenbach’s collection and the original sources and found that Neurohr and Wyttenbach were fairly careful, with errors or deviations from the original in only two of the quotations used by Günderrode. Therefore, in most cases, differences from the original text are introduced by Günderrode herself.

If you want to know where each of the quotes originally came from before they showed up in Neurohr and Wyttenbach’s book, take a look below. I’ve been helped in this by the previous efforts of Hopp and Preitz 1975, but I supplement and in a few places correct their work.

Because I haven’t obtained the permissions to duplicate or translate the full quotes here, I indicate each quotation using the first few words and the pagination in Hopp and Preitz 1975. The English translations will be published in my forthcoming collection of translations of Günderrode’s philosophical work, Philosophical Fragments. In the meantime, if you want to see a draft of any of the translations, hit me up at anna.c.ezekiel@gmail.com.

THE NOTES

Law of Morality (Gesetz der Sittlichkeit)

Der Mensch hat einen Willen… Attributed to “Herder.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 264–65. Original in: Herder 1794, 24. Günderrode makes minor changes to the wording.

Im Innern der Seele… Attributed to “Rousseau.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 265. Original (in French) in: Rousseau 1762b, vol. 3, book 4, 107. The German translation used by Neurohr and Wyttenbach is true to the original French, in my opinion, but Günderrode makes some changes to the German wording.

Handle so, daß die Maxime… Attributed to “Kant” (grouped erroneously with the subsequent quote). Hopp & Preitz 1975, 265. Original in: Kant AA 1, V:30. Günderrode makes minor changes to Kant’s wording.

Ein jeder betrachte nicht nur… Attributed to “Kant” (grouped erroneously with the previous quote). Hopp & Preitz 1975, 265. This quotation is not, in fact, by Kant, although Neurohr and Wyttenbach (1797, 1) attribute it to Kant; this misattribution is repeated in later anthologies. The quote is from Schmid 1790, 262.

Handle so daß du die Maxime… Attributed to “Fichte.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 267. Original in: Fichte 1794, 12.

Moral Freedom (Moralische Freiheit)

Die Nature befiehlt dem Thiere… Attributed to “Rousseau.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 265. Original (in French) in: Rousseau 1755, 35. The German given by Neurohr and Wyttenbach deviates slightly from the French original, in my opinion, and Günderrode makes further changes to the German wording.

Der blose Wille erhebt den Menschen… Attributed to “Schiller.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 265. Original in: Schiller 1905 [1793], 225. Günderrode only makes one small change at the start of the quotation; otherwise, her transcription is faithful.

Die einzige Art seine Freiheit zu behaupten… Unattributed. Hopp & Preitz 1975, 265. Original in: Mutschelle 1793, 38.

Die moralische Freiheit macht allein den Menschen… Attributed to “Rousseau.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 265. Original (in French) in: Rousseau 1762a, vol. 1, ch. 8, 29. There are minor differences between Günderrode’s note and the translation given by Neurohr and Wyttenbach.

Moralität der Handlungen… Attributed to “Schmidt.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 265. I have been unable to get hold of the original. Günderrode likely misspelled the name “Schmidt”: Neurohr and Wyttenbach attribute this quote to the philosopher and theologian Carl Christian Erhard Schmid (1761–1812). Günderrode makes minor changes to Neurohr and Wyttenbach’s phrasing.

The Highest Good (Das höchste Gut)

Die vollkomne Übereinstimmung des Menschen… Attributed to “Fichte.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 265–66. Original in: Fichte 1794, 16. Günderrode omits some words and phrases towards the end of this quote.

God (Gott)

Gott kann nicht demonstrirt werden… Attributed to “Vogt.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 266. A version of the original can be found in: Dietler 1789, 57.

Der Erkenntnißgrund den das Sittengesetz für… Attributed to “Reinhold.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 266. Original in: Reinhold 1790, 174. Neurohr and Wyttenbach adapted Reinhold’s text in order to abbreviate it.

Reason (Vernunft)

Vernunft ist das Vermögen… Attributed to “Kant.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 266. Günderrode follows Neurohr and Wyttenbach (1797, 74) closely and it is the latter who have taken liberties with Kant’s text. The first sentence seems to be a free formulation of a definition of Kant’s account of reason (Vernunft), while the rest of the passage quotes opening lines from the Introduction to Critique of Practical Reason (AA 1, V:15).

Nichts muß mehr unangefochten bleiben als… Attributed to “P.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 266. Original in: Pörschke 1795, xx. Günderrode omits the phrase “the most ancient” from Pörschke’s original and adds “most sacred.”

Virtue (Tugend)

Tugend ist die Befolgung der erkanten Vernunftgesetze… Unattributed. Hopp & Preitz 1975, 266. Original in: Demme 1793, 94.

Der Lohn der Tugend ist die Tugend selbst… Attributed to “Spinoza.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 266. From Spinoza’s Letter 43, to Jacob Ostens, written in 1671. Spinoza’s letters were written in Dutch and Latin, and the source of the German translation used by Neurohr and Wyttenbach is unknown.

Die Grundlage aller Tugend besteht… Attributed to “Locke.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 266. Original (in English) in: Locke 1693, 40. As Hopp and Preitz note (1975, 313), the German translation given by Neurohr and Wyttenbach is by Rudolphi (Locke 1787 [1693], 38; see also Neurohr and Wyttenbach 1797, Index: Locke).

The Human Being (Mensch)

In der ganzen Schöpfung kann alles als Mittel… Attributed to “Kant.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 266. Quoted loosely from the Critique of Practical Reason (AA 1, V:87).

Vocation of Humankind (Bestimmung des Menschen)

Nent man eine völlige Übereinstimmung mit sich selbts… Attributed to “Fichte.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 266–67. Original in: Fichte 1794, 18. Günderrode omits a short phrase and makes a few other minor changes.

Jeder Mensch, kann man sagen, trägt der Anglage und Bestimmung nach… Attributed to “Schiller.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 267. Original in: Schiller 1860 [1795], 8. Günderrode makes minor changes to the text.

Death (Tod)

—ich werde, wenn ich iene erhabne Aufgabe übernehme… Attributed to “Fichte.” Hopp & Preitz 1975, 267. Original in: Fichte 1794, 69–70.

REFERENCES

Demme, Hermann Christoph Gottfried (1793). Sechs Jahre aus Carl Burgfeld’s Leben. Freundschaft, Liebe und Orden. Leipzig: C. J. Göschen.

Dietler, Wilhelm, ed. (1789). Johann Heinrich Vogt. Ein Denkmal, Nebst Fragmenten des Verstorbenen. Mainz: Kupferberg.

Ezekiel, Anna (forthcoming). Philosophical Fragments. Oxford University Press.

Fichte, J. G. (1794). Einige Vorlesungen über die Bestimmung des Gelehrten. Jena and Leipzig: Christian Ernst Gabler.

Herder J. G. (1794). Briefe zur Beförderung der Humanität. 3rd collection. Riga.

Hopp, Doris, and Max Preitz (1975). “Karoline von Günderrode in ihrer Umwelt III. Karoline von Günderrode’s ‘Studienbuch.’” Jahrbuch des Freien Deutschen Hochstifts: 223–323. 

Kant, Immanuel (1788). Kritik der praktischen Vernunft.

Locke, John (1693). Some Thoughts Concerning Education. London: A. and J. Churchill.

Locke, John (1787 [1693]). Some Thoughts Concerning Education. Translated into German by J. L. Rudolphi as Über die Erziehung der Jugend in den gesitteten Ständen. Vienna and Wolfenbüttel.

Mutschelle, Sebastian (1793). Vermischte Schriften von Sebastian Mutschelle. Vol. 1. Munich: Joseph Lindauer.

Pörschke, Karl Ludwig (1795). Vorbereitungen zu einem populären Naturrechte. Königsberg: Friedrich Nicolovins.

Neurohr, J.A., and Johann Hugo Wyttenbach (1797). Aussprüche der philosophierende Vernunft und des reinen Herzens über die der Menschheit wichtigsten Gegenstände mit besonderer Rücksicht auf die kritische Philosophie zusammengetragen aus den Schriften älterer und neuerer Denker. Jena: J.G. Voigt.

Reinhold, Carl Leonhard (1790). Sixth Letter, in Briefe über die kantische Philosophie. Vol. 1. Leipzig: Georg Joachim Göschen.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1755). Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes. Amsterdam: Marc Michel Rey.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1762a). Du contrat social, ou Principes du droit politique. Vol. 1. Amsterdam: Marc-Michel Rey.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1762b). “Profession de foi du vicaire savoyard,” in Émile, ou de l’éducation. Amsterdam: Jean Néaulme.

Schiller, Friedrich (1860 [1795]). Fourth Letter, in Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen in einer Reihe von Briefen. In Schillers Sämtliche Werke. Vol. 12. Stuttgart: J.G. Clotta.

Schiller, Friedrich (1905 [1793]). Über Anmut und Würde. In Schillers Sämtliche Werke. Vol. 11. Stuttgart: J. G. Clotta.

Schmid, D. Johann Wilhelm (1790). Ueber den Geist der Sittenlehre Jesu und seiner Apostel. Jena: Christian Heinrich Cuno’s Erben.

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