Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi is mentioned today mostly as the friend or correspondent of more famous writers, such as Johann Georg Hamann, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Moses Mendelssohn, Johann Gottfried Herder, and Johann Wolfgang Goethe. In his own right, he is better remembered in the history of philosophy than in the history of literature. His writings are Gelegenheitsschriften (occasional writings), in a personal, largely autobiographical vein. His significance lies in the fact that he brought up important and controversial issues in philosophy and human relations. In this latter area, he published his views in the form of narratives which might be termed novels. His two most notable works, "Eduard Allwills Papiere" (Edward Allwill's Papers, 1775-1776) and Woldemar (1779), are remarkable not so much as literary achievements but as descriptions of characters and conflicts that stimulated other writers. Jacobi's literary and philosophical works grew out of his vast correspondence, and the epistolary...