Enlightenment thought in the writings of Goethe : a contribution to the history of ideas

Author(s)

• Kerry, Paul E.

Bibliographic Information

Enlightenment thought in the writings of Goethe : a contribution to the history of ideas

Paul E. Kerry

（Studies in German literature, linguistics, and culture / edited by James Hardin）

Camden House, 2001

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [207]-227) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Throughout his oeuvre Goethe invokes the writers and thinkers of the Enlightenment: Voltaire and Goldsmith, Sterne and Bayle, Beccaria and Franklin. And he does not merely reference them: their ideas make up the salt of his most acclaimed works. Like Hume before him, Goethe takes up the topic of suicide, but in a best-selling novel, Werther; the beating heart of Faust I is the fate of a woman who commits infanticide, a burning social issue ofhis age; in an article for a popular journal Goethe takes up the cause of Kant and Penn, who wrote treatises on how to establish peace in Europe. In another essay Goethe calls for reconciliation between Germans who had fought against each other in those same Wars, as well as for worldwide understanding between Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Heathens. Professor Kerry shows that Goethe is a child of the Enlightenment and an innovator of its legacy. To do sohe discusses a chronological swath of Goethe's works, both popular and neglected, and shows how each of them engages Enlightenment concerns. Paul Kerry is associate professor in the Department of History and member of theEuropean Studies faculty at Brigham Young University.

Table of Contents

Introduction The Emergence of Enlightenment Concerns Adoption, Adaptation, and Assimilation in Iphigenie auf Tauris An Enlightenment Coign of Vantage: The Intersection of History, Literature, and Belief in Egmont Healing the Wounds of War: The Sankt-Rochus-Fest zu bingen The Morgenblatt Essay on Die Geheimnisse Goethe's Weltfest The Foreign and the Familiar in the West-oestlicher Divan Besserem Verstandniss Religious Freedom in Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre Excursus: "In this sense ... we do not tolerate Jews among us" Eigenheiten and Weltverkehn Conclusion Works Consulted Index

by "Nielsen BookData"

• NCID: BA69361575
• ISBN:
  • 157113221X
• LCCN: 2001025879
• Country Code: us
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Rochester, N.Y.
• Pages/Volumes: x, 243 p.
• Size: 24 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : PT2193
  • DC21 : 831/.6
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832 -- Philosophy
  • LCSH : German literature -- 18th century -- History and criticism
  • LCSH : Enlightenment -- Germany
  • LCSH : Germany -- Intellectual life -- 18th century
  • LCSH : Europe, German-speaking -- History -- 18th century
  • LCSH : Intellectual life -- History
• Parent Bibliography ID:
  • BA06953310