La voluptuosidad en los alambiques: el uso de términos químicos en la obra Die Lehrlinge zu Sais de Novalis

Abstract

Chemistry as a science was born in the second half of the 18th century, although some philosophers express their reservations about it by fixing the debate on apodictic certainty terms and rejecting, as insufficient, the empirical certainty that does not contain mathematical foundations. Kant and Schelling represent each of them respectively. But apart from theoretical considerations, the fascination that chemical experiments produce on that age scientists is such, that we can observe a transfer or loan of the terms which describe these experiences on other disciplines, such as literature. Most of the production of the preromantic German author Friedrich von Hardenberg, usually known as Novalis, represents a good example of scientific terminology used to produce analogies, comparisons and metaphors in his literary descriptions. Novalis scientific training as a mine engineer support his using such terminology