Light in Germany - by T J Reed (Paperback)

About the Book

The German Enlightenment is often held in disregard by those who see it as driven by an outdated theory of knowledge, an unrealistic idealist-utopian vision, and even an evil proto-totalitarian motivation. The present book by T. J. Jim Reed presents a very different picture by focusing on relatively disregarded or unknown aspects of the German Enlightenment. The text is mindful throughout of the twenty-first century relevance, not to say twenty-first century moral of the specific themes and works it addresses. The book is significant far beyond the important concerns of other monographs on the Enlightenment for it takes into account the writers (such as Kant, Schiller, Goethe, and Lessing), and on occasion the rulers (such as Frederick the Great), who realized its ideas and values in philosophy, art, and politics. Light, for Reed, only dawns fully in their writing. This book is not a description of the Enlightenment narrowly defined as a movement in abstract thought, much less a catalogue of every last minor participant, but an account of the spread of light that is, of lucid and active liberal thinking wherever it can be found in German eighteenth-century culture. The emphasis is indeed on the last third of the century, what is commonly called the late Enlightenment, not as a separate phase, but as a maturing of the branches of a single tree with its imaginative harvest. In short, this book brings to life the most significant episodes and arguments of the German Enlightenment, and shows them as scenes in a larger drama at any moment, there is related action going on in another part of the field."

Book Synopsis

Germany's political and cultural past from ancient times through World War II has dimmed the legacy of its Enlightenment, which these days is far outshone by those of France and Scotland. In this book, T. J. Reed clears the dust away from eighteenth-century Germany, bringing the likes of Kant, Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, and Gotthold Lessing into a coherent and focused beam that shines within European intellectual history and reasserts the important role of Germany's Enlightenment.

Reed looks closely at the arguments, achievements, conflicts, and controversies of these major thinkers and how their development of a lucid and active liberal thinking matured in the late eighteenth century into an imaginative branching that ran through philosophy, theology, literature, historiography, science, and politics. He traces the various pathways of their thought and how one engendered another, from the principle of thinking for oneself to the development of a critical epistemology; from literature's assessment of the past to the formulation of a poetic ideal of human development. Ultimately, Reed shows how the ideas of the German Enlightenment have proven their value in modern secular democracies and are still of great relevance-despite their frequent dismissal-to us in the twenty-first century.

Review Quotes

"R. pursues this vision with an energy, clarity, and precision of formulation...this is a tour de force."-- "This Year's Work in Modern Language Studies"

"From philosophy to politics, and from literature to theology, from science to pedagogy, and from jurisprudence to historiography, Reed dazzles and instructs with his examples of liberal ideas. There is perhaps no other book on the subject, and certainly none so brief, which affords so fully rounded a picture of the age. Every page affords fresh insights. Enlightened rulers such as Frederick the Great and Joseph II are discussed alongside proselytizing writers like Christoph Martin Wieland and Karl Philip Moritz, or innovative thinkers such as the pedagogue Johann Bernhard Basedow and the inventor of the modem university, Wilhelm von Humboldt. Against the view that the Enlightenment failed, Reed amasses overwhelming testimony that it succeeded. Indeed, one of the great virtues of his book lies in its demonstrating the credibility of the Enlightenment's goals, by means of which he disposes of the mantra that the subsequent German catastrophe was inevitable."
-- "Times Literary Supplement"

"In beautifully formulated language, Reed, a distinguished scholar, expands on definitions of literature and culture in 18th-century Germany. Using Kant's essay 'What Is Enlightenment?' (1784), enriched by many other references, Reed offers a well-documented argument for wider acceptance of the idea that German contributions to this crucial decade are more rational than previously noted. Dealing with epistemology, history, politics, religion, cosmopolitanism, education, and more, the author offers new views of both canonical and neglected texts by authors such as Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller, while affirming their groundbreaking influence on European style and thought. . . . . Highly recommended."-- "Choice"

"Remarkably generous to the writers who are under its spotlight. Erudite in its exposition of them, it is a helpful, timely and, not least, a punchy book, all of which make it well worth reading." -- "History Today"

"Set out in vigorous prose which combine incisiveness with nuance. Light in Germany is written with all the combative trenchancy which distinguished the author's twenty-year editorship of this magazine. It is based on deep familiarity with the literature of the period, and it is intellectually exhilarating to read."-- "Oxford Magazine"

About the Author

T. J. Reed is an emeritus fellow at Queen's College, Oxford, a Fellow of the British Academy, and President of the English Goethe Society. He is the author of many books.