The Topography of Modernity : Karl Philipp Moritz and the Space of Autonomy

Karl Philipp Moritz (d. 1793) was one of the most innovative writers of the late Enlightenment in Germany. A novelist, travel writer, editor, and teacher he is probably best known today for his autobiographical novel __Anton Reiser__ (1785–90) and for his treatises on aesthetics, foremost among them __Über die bildende Nachahmung des Schönen__ (__On the Formative Imitation of the Beautiful__), published in 1788. In this treatise, Moritz develops the concept of aesthetic autonomy, which became widely known after Goethe included a lengthy excerpt of it in his own __Italian Journey__ (1816–17). It was one of the foundational texts of Weimar classicism, and it became pivotal for the development of early Romanticism. In __The Topography of Modernity__, Elliott Schreiber gives Moritz the credit he deserves as an important thinker beyond his contributions to aesthetic theory. Indeed, he sees Moritz as an incisive early observer and theorist of modernity. Considering a wide range of Moritz's work including his novels, his writings on mythology, prosody, and pedagogy, and his political philosophy and psychology, Schreiber shows how Moritz's thinking developed in response to the intellectual climate of the Enlightenment and paved the way for later social theorists to conceive of modern society as differentiated into multiple, competing value spheres. Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: Shifting Perspectives Part I The Spaces of Art and Myth 1. Toward an Aesthetics of the Sublime Augenblick: Moritz Reading Die Leiden des jungen Werthers 2. Beyond an Aesthetics of Containment: Trajectories of the Imagination in Moritz and Goethe Part II The Spaces of Cognition and Education 3. Laying the Foundation for Independent Thought: Enlightenment Epistemology and Pedagogy 4. Thinking inside the Box: Moritz contra Philanthropism Part III The Spaces of the Political and the Individual 5. Raising (and Razing) the Common House: Moritz and the Ideology of Commonality 6. Pressing Matters: Moritz’s Models of the Self in the Magazin zur Erfahrungsseelenkunde Conclusion: Moritz’s Inner-Worldly Critique of Modernity Bibliography Index Karl Philipp Moritz was one of the most innovative writers of the late Enlightenment in Germany. A novelist, travel writer, editor, and teacher he is probably best known today for his autobiographical novel 'Anton Reiser' and for his treatises on aesthetics, foremost among them 'On the Formative Imitation of the Beautiful'. In this treatise, Moritz develops the concept of aesthetic autonomy, which became widely known after Goethe included a lengthy excerpt of it in his own Italian Journey. It was one of the foundational texts of Weimar classicism, and it became pivotal for the development of early Romanticism. This book gives Moritz the credit he deserves as an important thinker beyond his contributions to aesthetic theory