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The Roots of Theosophical Thought. The Poetical Metaphysics of Jacob Böhme

Publication at Faculty of Science |
2019

Abstract

This book has focused on the views and thoughts of the Görlitz shoemaker, theosopher and religious thinker Jacob Böhme (1575-1624). Its aim is to point out, in a broad scope, the typical paths of thought that are hidden in his famous term "Ungrund" - "Abyss".

The method was to scrutinize the context of this concept and how Böhme spoke of it both as a philosopher and as a man of inner faith and imagination. Finding out how he was drawing on his predecessors and how he had influenced those who came after him can help us to understand better his own conceptions.

The book consists of two parts. The first one outlines the formal aspects of the concept of "Ungrund" in the context of philosophical-metaphysical thinking.

The second part deals with the symbolic or poetic character of Böhme's thought. The images of the "Ungrund" (fire, will, freedom) discussed here "animate" the formal structures developed in the previous section.

It is precisely this inherent connection of philosophical reasoning and life that is so characteristic for Böhme.