Deutsche-Französische Jahrbücher

To Ludwig Feuerbach in Bruckberg

K. Grun, Ludwig Feuerbach in seinem Brietwechsel
und Nachlass,
sowie in seiner Philosophischen Charaiterentwicklung
Bd. I, Leipzig und Heidelberg, 1874;
in full in:
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Collected Works,
second Russ. ea., Vol. 27, 1962.
Translated into English by Jack Cohen for the Collected
Works.

Kreuznach, October 3, 1843

Dear Sir,

A few months ago while passing through [Bruckberg],
Dr. Ruge informed you of our plan to publish Franco-German Jahrbücher
and asked at the same time for your collaboration. It has now been already
settled that Paris is to be the place for printing and publication
and that the first monthly number is to appear by the end of November.

Before I leave for Paris in a few days time I feel obliged to
make a brief epistolary approach to you since I have not had the
privilege of making your personal acquaintance.

You were one of the first writers who expressed the need for a
Franco-German scientific alliance. You will, therefore, assuredly be one
of the first to support an enterprise aimed at bringing such an alliance
into being. For German and French articles are to be published promiscue
in the Jahrbücher. The best Paris writers have agreed to cooperate.
Any contribution from you will be most welcome and there is probably something
at your disposal that you have already written.

From your preface to the 2nd edition of Das Wesen des Christenthums,
I am almost led to conclude that you are engaged on a fuller work on Schelling
or that you have something about this windbag in mind. Now that would be
a marvellous beginning.

Schelling, as you know, is the 38th member of the [German] Confederation.
The entire German police is at his disposal as I myself once experienced
when I was editor of the Rheinische Zeitung. That is, a censorship
order can prevent anything against the holy Schelling [...indecipherable
word here...] from getting through. Hence it is almost impossible in Germany
to attack Schelling except in books of over 21 sheets, and books of over
21 sheets are not books read by the people. Kapp's book is
very commendable but it is too circumstantial and rather inaptly separates
judgment from facts. Moreover, our governments have found a means of making
such works ineffective. They must not be mentioned. They are ignored or
the few official reviews dismiss them with a few contemptuous words. The
great Schelling himself pretends he knows nothing about these attacks and
he succeeded in diverting attention from Kapp's book by making a tremendous
fiscal to-do about old Paulus' soup. That was a diplomatic master
stroke.

But just imagine Schelling exposed in Paris, before the French
literary world! His vanity will not be able to restrain itself, this will
wound the Prussian Government to the quick, it will be an attack on Schelling's
sovereignty abroad, and a vain monarch sets much greater store by
his sovereignty abroad than at home.

How cunningly Herr von Schelling enticed the French, first of
all the weak, eclectic Cousin, then even the gifted Leroux. For
Pierre Leroux and his like still regard Schelling as the man who replaced
transcendental idealism by rational realism, abstract thought by thought
with flesh and blood, specialised philosophy by world philosophy! To the
French romantics and mystics he cries: "I, the union of philosophy and
theology," to the French materialists: "I, the union of flesh and idea,"
to the French sceptics: "I, the destroyer of dogmatism," in a word, "I
... Schelling!"

Schelling has not only been able to unite philosophy and theology,
but philosophy and diplomacy too. He has turned philosophy into a general
diplomatic science, into a diplomacy for all occasions. Thus an attack
on Schelling is indirectly an attack on our entire policy, and especially
on Prussian policy. Schelling's philosophy is Prussian policy sub specie
philosophiae.

You would therefore be doing a great service to our enterprise,
but even more to truth, if you were to contribute a characterisation of
Schelling to the very first issue. You are just the man for this because
you are Schelling in reverse. The sincere thought – we may
believe the best of our opponent – of the young Schelling for the
realisation of which however he did not possess the necessary qualities
except imagination, he had no energy but vanity, no driving force but opium,
no organ but the irritability of a feminine perceptivity, this sincere
thought of his youth, which in his case remained a fantastic youthful dream,
has become truth, reality manly seriousness in your case. Schelling is
therefore an anticipated caricature of you, and as soon as reality
confronts the caricature the latter must dissolve into thin air. I therefore
regard you as the necessary, natural – that is, nominated by Their Majesties
Nature and History – opponent of Schelling. Your struggle with him is
the struggle of the imagination of philosophy with philosophy itself.

I confidently expect a contribution from you in the form you may
find most convenient. My address is: "Herr Mäurer. Rue Vanneau No. 23,
Paris, for the attention of Dr. Marx." Although she does not know you,
my wife sends greetings. You would not believe how many followers you have
among the fair sex.

Yours very truly,

Dr. Marx

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