Beyond the concept:

The presence of the Platonic tradition in Hölderlin and its projections in Jean Luc Marion's reading

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show the presence of Plato and the (neo)platonic tradition in the work of Friedrich Hölderlin and his projection in Jean-Luc´s Marion philosophy. Firstly, we will show the impact of (neo)platonism in Hölderlin via Marsilio Ficino’s translation of the Platonic corpus and its transmission in the context of the Tübingen Stift. Secondly, concentrating on his Hyperion and other philosophical essays, we will show how Hölderlin’s poetry converges conceptually with Plato and (neo)platonism. Thirdly, we will address the interpretation of this theme elaborated by Jean-Luc Marion. Within the framework of her early work L’Idole et la distance (1977), Marion recovers the Platonic elements of Hölderlin’s poetics, highlighting the place of the concept of beauty (Schönheit) in order to think about certain phenomena that exceed the paradigm of objects, and therefore, all predicative language, thus defining all poetry as a non-predicative language, beyond the (metaphysical) primacy of the concept.