The aim of the course is to introduce the main ideas of the so-called German Mysticism of the late Middle Ages and its influence on some authors of the 16th and 17th centuries. We will be interested in authors such as Eckhart of Hochheim, Jan Tauler, Henry Suso, the anonymous Theologia Deutsch, Nicholas of Cusa, Martin Luther, Sebastian Franck, Paracelsus, Valentin Weigel, Heinrich Khunrath, and Jacob Böhme.
Although we will be reading specific texts, our aim will be to find the main motifs, perspectives, connecting lines and further transformations of this changing, yet at least to some extent coherent tradition of thought. At the same time, the seminar provides additional context for German philosophical thought from the 18th to the 20th century.