The Radical Enlightenment in Germany: A Cultural Perspective

Carl Niekerk (Editor)

Research output: Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook

Abstract

This volume investigates the impact of the Radical Enlightenment on German culture during the eighteenth century, taking recent work by Jonathan Israel as its point of departure. The collection documents the cultural dimension of the debate on the Radical Enlightenment. In a series of readings of known and lesser-known fictional and essayistic texts, individual contributors show that these can be read not only as articulating a conflict between Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment, but also as documents of a debate about the precise nature of Enlightenment. At stake is the question whether the Enlightenment should aim to be an atheist, materialist, and political movement that wants to change society, or, in spite of its belief in rationality, should respect monarchy, aristocracy, and established religion.
Original languageEnglish (US)
PublisherBrill
Number of pages422
ISBN (Electronic)9789004362215
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 12 2018

Publication series

NameInternationale Forschungen zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft
Volume195

Keywords

  • Radical Enlightenment
  • culture
  • eighteenth century
  • intellectual history
  • cultural politics
  • history of media
  • gender
  • literature
  • Enlightenment
  • philosophy
  • race and ethnicity
  • Jonathan Israel

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  • Introduction: How Radical was the German Enlightenment?

    Niekerk, C., Jul 12 2018, The Radical Enlightenment in Germany: A Cultural Perspective. Niekerk, C. (ed.). Brill, p. 1-45 (Internationale Forschungen zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft; vol. 195).

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

  • Radicalism in Lessing’s Domestic Drama (Miss Sara Sampson, Minna von Barnhelm, and Emilia Galotti)

    Niekerk, C., Jul 12 2018, The Radical Enlightenment in Germany: A Cultural Perspective. Niekerk, C. (ed.). Brill, p. 131-162 (Internationale Forschungen zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft; vol. 195).

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

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