Friedrich Jacobi and Semyon Frank: the idea of immediate knowledge

The article examines the influence of F. Jacobi’s idea of immediate knowledge on the concept of immediate experience (“living knowledge”) by S. Frank. First, the article considers the idea of the soul as a immediate experienced being, developed in the works of Jacobi. It is emphasized that it was Jacobi who first showed the impossibility of the soul to be an object. It is shown how this idea is concretized in the works of Frank “The Object of Knowledge”, “Man’s Soul” and “The Unknowable”. Secondly, the interpretation of the “reason” as intuition by Jacobi is considered. The article shows the similarity of Jacobi’s “reason” and Frank’s “living knowledge”. An analogy is drawn between the distinction between “reason” (Vernunft) and “understanding” (Verstand) by Jacobi and the distinction between “logical knowledge” and “living knowledge” by Frank. Thirdly, the connection between “reason” and “revelation” (Offenbarung), philosophy and religion in the works of Jacobi and Frank is considered. It is concluded that the idea of “immediate knowledge” of Jacobi is connected with the idea of “scientific ignorance” of Nicholas of Cusa and anticipates Schelling’s “philosophy of revelation” and “understanding” (Verstehen) of W. Dilthey. This connection also corresponded to Frank’s task of uniting philosophy and religion as the knowledge of God.