Philosophy, Money, and Emancipation: The Women Philosophers of German Romanticism

The thesis presented in this chapter is that the presence of the question of money within a philosophy can change the way philosophy itself is conceived. I take into consideration the women philosophers of German Romanticism to show how the role of money within their philosophy changed, transforming also the conception of philosophy previously formulated by the male philosophers of German Romanticism. I concentrate on Caroline Schlegel-Schelling, who put forth the materiality of the conditions that allow a subject to philosophize. For her, money is a necessary instrument for women to build a space and time where they can dedicate themselves to philosophical studies. The final section of the chapter shifts focus to Bettina von Arnim. In her political-philosophical works, she explained the crucial role played by money in the capitalist world: money was the condition of possibility of freedom, morality, and philosophy itself. She showed not only that a wealthy economic status is a condition for being able to devote time to philosophy but also that philosophy has the task of critically questioning the injustices that pervade those conditions, thus transforming philosophy into a social critique.