Abstract
In 1797 Coleridge's main philosophical concern involved the "causae causarum": the fundamental causes of evil and suffering. The immediate physical causes of evil that had earlier held his attention, such as Property, Priesthood, and Government, were now viewed instead as effects of a universal moral evil originating in the selfishness of man. Nature, however, acts as the agent of a beneficent God in effecting man's redemption. When perceived by man as naturata or object, Nature interacts with man's selfishness and initiates the suffering process that he must endure to find grace. When perceived as naturans, Nature represents the immanence of God. Christ symbolized the selfless love that is man's ultimate ideal. Coleridge's letters in 1796-97 indicate that he had rejected materialism as "atheism" and accepted the imagination as the primary mode of cognition. The symbolic poems emerged from these developments. Coleridge was a consistently figurative writer, but prior to 1797 his images had limited associations: metaphors with restricted topical associations predominated in his prose; personifications, mostly female, such as Vice and Virtue, Peace and War, predominated in his poetry.
Ewing, James McCartney (1977). Coleridge's moral philosophy, 1795-1800, and the Symbolism of "Christabel". Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -620449.