Abstract
As a fundamental concept and central principle in the early Romantic aesthetic system, “love” is an important medium for achieving wholeness and universal harmony, which embodies the metaphysical longing for unity. This paper analyzes the multiple functions of “love” from four perspectives: the personal, the interpersonal, the human-cosmic, and the metaphysical. In addition, this essay traces how early Romantic thought on “love” promotes the modern semantic configuration of “love” through engagement with the theory of “love” in the Platonic-Christian system. Furthermore, it demonstrates the mystical connotation of “love” by analyzing the adaptive reception of Jakob Böhme by the early Romantics.
Keywords
early German Romanticism, love, unity, the infinite, harmony
First Page
137
Last Page
146
Recommended Citation
Wang, Shujiao. 2026. "The Metaphysical Longing for Unity: The Idea of “Love” in Early German Romanticism." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 46, (2): pp.137-146. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol46/iss2/13
