Cavell and Schelling on Perfectionism, Language, and Music

This chapter argues for a deep affinity between Stanley Cavell’s moral perfectionism and F. W. J. Schelling’s philosophy. It does so by examining their parallel conceptions of transfiguration and self-expression, and by tracing their shared conviction that music is indispensable to a proper understanding of the vocation of language. Bringing these threads together, the chapter shows that both thinkers rely on an ideal world as the condition under which transfiguration becomes intelligible, and the musical dimension of language is fulfilled. In foregrounding this ideal realm, the chapter illuminates the often-overlooked significance of the utopian in Cavell’s philosophy and clarifies the force and significance of Schelling’s account of heaven.