What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions (Volume 7) (Philosophical Traditions)

This collection contains the first English translations of a group of important eighteenth-century German essays that address the question, "What is Enlightenment?" The book also includes newly translated and newly written interpretive essays by leading historians and philosophers, which examine the origins of eighteenth-century debate on Enlightenment and explore its significance for the present.In recent years, critics from across the political and philosophical spectrum have condemned the Enlightenment for its complicity with any number of present-day social and cultural maladies. It has rarely been noticed, however, that at the end of the Enlightenment, German thinkers had already begun a scrutiny of their age so wide-ranging that there are few subsequent criticisms that had not been considered by the close of the eighteenth century. Among the concerns these essays address are the importance of freedom of expression, the relationship between faith and reason, and the responsibility of the Enlightenment for revolutions.Included are translations of works by such well-known figures as Immanuel Kant, Moses Mendelssohn, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, and Johann Georg Hamann, as well as essays by thinkers whose work is virtually unknown to American readers. These eighteenth-century texts are set against interpretive essays by such major twentieth-century figures as Max Horkheimer, Jürgen Habermas, and Michel Foucault. This Collection Contains The First English Translations Of A Group Of 18th-century German Essays That Address The Question, What Is Enlightenment?. They Explore The Origins Of 18th-century Debate On The Enlightenment, And Its Significance For The Present. Introduction : What Is Enlightenment? : A Question, Its Context, And Some Consequences / James Schmidt -- Pt.1. The Eighteenth-century Debate. What Is To Be Done Toward The Enlightenment Of The Citizenry? (1783) / Johann Karl Mohsen -- On The Question : What Is Enlightenmen? (1784) / Immanuel Kant -- Thoughts On Enlightenment (1784) / Karl Leonhard Reinhold -- A Couple Of Gold Nuggets, From The ... Wastepaper, Or Six Answers To Six Questions (1789) / Christoph Martin Wieland -- On Freedom Of Thought And The Press : For Princes, Ministers, And Writers (1784) / Ernst Ferdinand Klein -- On Freedom Of The Press And Its Limits : For Consideration By Rulers, Censors, And Writers (1787) / Carl Friedrich Bahrdt -- Pulicity (1792) / Friedrich Karl Von Moser -- Reclamation Of The Freedom Of Thought From The Princes Of Europe, Who Have Oppressed It Until Now (1793) / Johann Gottlieb Fichte -- Letters To Christian Jacob Kraus (18 December 1784) -- (cont.) Metacritique On The Purism Of Reason (1784) / Johann Georg Hamann -- On Enlightenment : Is It And Could It Be Dangerous To The State, To Religion, Or Dangerous In General? A World To Be Heeded By Princes, Statesmen, And Clergy (1788) / Andreas Riem -- Something Lessin Said : A Commentary On Journeys Of The Popes (1782) / Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi -- True Or False Political Enlightenment (1792) / Friedrich Karl Von Moser -- On The Influence Of Enlightenment On Revolutions (1794) / Johann Heinrich Tieftrunk -- Does Enlightenment Cause Revolutions? (1795) / Johann Adam Bergk -- Pt.2. Historical Reflections. The Berlin Wednesday Society / Gunter Birtsch -- The Subversice Kant : The Vocabulary Of Public And Publicity / John Christian Laursen -- On Enlightenment For The Common Man / Jonathan B. Knudsen -- Modern Culture Comes Of Age : Hamann Versus Kant On The Root Metaphor Of Enlightenment / Garrett Green -- Jacobi's Critiques Of The Enlightenment / Dale E. Snow -- Early Romanticism And The Auflarung / Frederick C. Beiser -- (cont.) Progress : Ideas, Skepticism, And Critique : The Heritage Of The Enlightenment / Rudolph Vierhaus -- Pt.3. Twentieth-century Questions. What Is Enlightenment? / Rudiger Bittner -- Reason Against Itself : Some Remarks On Enlightenment / Max Horkheimer -- What Is Enlightened Thinking? / Georhg Picht -- What Is Critique / Michel Foucault -- The Unity Of Reason In The Diversit Of Its Voices / Jurgen Habermas -- The Batlle Of Reason With The Imagination / Hartmut Bohme And Gernot Bohme -- The Failure Of Kant's Imagination / Jane Kneller -- The Gender Of Enlightenment / Robin May Schott -- Autonomy, Individuality, And Self-determination / Lewis Hinchman -- Enlightened Cosmopolitanism : The Political Perspective Of The Kantian Sublime / Kevin Paul Geiman. Edited By James Schmidt. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 537-553) And Index. PREFACE I Introduction: What Is Enlightenment? A Question, Its Context, and Some Consequences James Schmidt Part I. THE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY DEBATE 1. The Question and Some Answers What Is to Be Done toward the Enlightenment of the Citizenry? (1783) Johann Karl Mohsen On the Question: What Is Enlightenment? (1784) Moses Mendelssohn An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment? (1784) Immanuel Kant Thoughts on Enlightenment (1784) Karl Leonhard Reinhold A Couple of Gold Nuggets, from the ... Wastepaper, or Six Answers to Six Questions (1789) Christoph Martin Wieland 2. The Public Use of Reason On Freedom of Thought and of the Press: For Princes, Ministers, and Writers (1784) On Freedom of the Press and Its Limits: For Consideration by Rulers, Censors, and Writers.(l787) Carl Friedrich Bahrdt Publicity (1792) Friedrich Karl von Moser Reclamation of the Freedom of Thought from the Princes of Europe, Who Have Oppressed It Until Now (1793) Johann Gottlieb Fichte 3. Faith and Enlightenment Letter to ChristianJacob Kraus (18 December 1784) * Johann Georg Hamann Metacritique on the Purism of Reason (1784) Johann Georg Hamann On Enlightenment: Is It and Could It Be Dangerous to the State, to Religion, or Dangerous in General? A Word to Be Heeded by Princes, Statesmen, and Clergy (1788) Andreas Riem 4. The Politics of Enlightenment Something Lessing Said: A Commentary on Journeys of the Popes(I782) Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi True and False Political Enlightenment (1792) Friedrich Karl von Moser On the Influence of Enlightenment on Revolutions (1794) Johann Heinrich Tuftrunk Does Enlightenment Cause Revolutions? (1795) Johann Adam Bergk Part II. HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS The Berlin Wednesday Society Gunter Birtsch The Subversive Kant: The Vocabulary of "Public" and "Publicity" John Christian Laursen On Enlightenment for the Common Man Jonathan B. Knudsen Modern Culture Comes of Age: Hamann versus Kant on the Root Metaphor of Enlightenment Garrett Green Jacobi's Critique of the Enlightenment Dale E. Snow Early Romanticism and the Aujkliirung Frederick C. Beiser Progress: Ideas, Skepticism, and CritiqueThe Heritage of the Enlightenment Rudolph Vierhaus Part III. TWENTIETH-CENTURY QUESTIONS What Is Enlightenment? Rudiger Bittner Reason Against Itself: Some Remarks on Enlightenment Max Horkheimer What Is Enlightened Thinking? Georg Picht What Is Critique? Michel Foucault The Unity of Reason in the Diversity oflts Voices ]iirgen Habermas The Battle of Reason with the Imagination Hartmut Bohme and Gernot Bohme The Failure of Kant's Imagination Jane Kneller The Gender of Enlightenment Robin May Schott Autonomy, Individuality, and Self-Determination Lewis Hinchman Enlightened Cosmopolitanism: The Political Perspective of the Kantian "Sublime" Kevin Paul Geiman CONTRIBUTORS TO PARTS II AND III SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX This collection contains the first English translations of a group of important eighteenth-century German essays that address the question, "What is Enlightenment?" The book also includes newly translated and newly written interpretive essays by leading historians and philosophers, which examine the origins of eighteenth-century debate on Enlightenment and explore its significance for the present. In recent years, critics from across the political and philosophical spectrum have condemned the Enlightenment for its complicity with any number of present-day social and cultural maladies. It has rarely been noticed, however, that at the of the Enlightenment, German thinkers had already begun a scrutiny of their age so wide-ranging that there are few subsequent criticisms that had not been considered by the close of the eighteenth century. Among the concerns these essays address are the importance of freedom of expression, the relationship between faith and reason, and the responsibility of the Enlightenment for revolutions. Included are translations of works by such well-known figures as Immanuel Kant, Moses Melssohn, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, and Johann Georg Hamann, as well as essays by thinkers whose work is virtually unknown to American readers. These eighteenth-century texts are set against interpretive essays by such major twentieth-century figures as Max Horkheimer, Jürgen Habermas, and Michel Foucault.

Author Biography: James Schmidt is Chair of the Department of Political Science at Boston University. He is author of Maurice Merleau-Ponty: Between Phenomenology and Structuralism (1985).

This collection contains the first English translations of a group of important eighteenth-century German essays that address the question, "What is Enlightenment?" The book also includes newly translated and newly written interpretive essays by leading historians and philosophers, which examine the origins of eighteenth-century debate on Enlightenment and explore its significance for the present. In recent years, critics from across the political and philosophical spectrum have condemned the Enlightenment for its complicity with any number of present-day social and cultural maladies. It has rarely been noticed, however, that at the end of the Enlightenment, German thinkers had already begun a scrutiny of their age so wide-ranging that there are few subsequent criticisms that had not been considered by the close of the eighteenth century. Among the concerns these essays address are the importance of freedom of expression, the relationship between faith and reason, and the responsibility of the Enlightenment for revolutions. Included are translations of works by such well-known figures as Immanuel Kant, Moses Mendelssohn, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, and Johann Georg Hamann, as well as essays by thinkers whose work is virtually unknown to American readers. These eighteenth-century texts are set against interpretive essays by such major twentieth-century figures as Max Horkheimer, Jrgen Habermas, and Michel Foucault. Contains the first English translations of a group of important eighteenth-century German essays that address the question, 'What is Enlightenment?'. This book includes interpretive essays by historians and philosophers, which examine the origins of eighteenth-century debate on Enlightenment and explore its significance for the present.