Le illusioni della fühlende Seele: forme di sapere immediato nella Philosophie des subjektiven Geistes di Hegel

This paper focuses on one of the most „obscure‟ passages of Hegel‟s Anthropology, exploring the main diseases of the feeling soul which are a consequence of the division of what is soul- like, from spiritual consciousness. Close attention will be paid to the different appearances of ‘immediate knowledge‟, which can arise when the subject is in one of those diseased states. Then the paper points out Hegel‟s criticism to a widespread belief in the Romantic era. In his opinion, expecting high kinds of knowledge from the Gefühlsleben, leads only to delusions and impostures. Finally, the paper will point out the reason why Hegel places a strong emphasis, within the Philosophy of Subjective Spirit, on the phenomena of the animal magnetism and on the appearances of immediate knowledge.