Politics, Religion, and Art


Book Description

The period from 1780 to 1850 witnessed an unprecedented explosion of philosophical creativity in the German territories. In the thinking of Kant, Schiller, Fichte, Hegel, and the Hegelian school, new theories of freedom and emancipation, new conceptions of culture, society, and politics, arose in rapid succession. The members of the Hegelian school, forming around Hegel in Berlin and most active in the 1830’s and 1840’s, are often depicted as mere epigones, whose writings are at best of historical interest. In Politics, Religion, and Art: Hegelian Debates, Douglas Moggach moves the discussion past the Cold War–era dogmas that viewed the Hegelians as proto-Marxists and establishes their importance as innovators in the fields of theology, aesthetics, and ethics and as creative contributors to foundational debates about modernity, state, and society.




The Nocturnal Side of Science in David Friedrich Strauss's Life of Jesus Critically Examined


Book Description

A close look at how Strauss's engagement with popular and scholarly controversies influenced his study of the Gospels David Friedrich Strauss's Life of Jesus Critically Examined is known as a monumental contribution to the critical, scientific study of religion and Christian origins. It was widely read and influenced literary and historical research on the Bible as well as critical philosophy between Hegel and Nietzsche. Less well-known are Strauss's writings from the same period on "the nocturnal side of nature," paranormal phenomena such as demon possession, animal magnetism, and the ghost-seeing of Frederike Hauffe, the famous "Seeress of Prevorst." Features: Illuminates unfamiliar features of early nineteenth-century theology, philosophy, and medicine showing how spirituality and science blended together in these fields Demonstrates the importance of Western esotericism and popular religion in the history of modern biblical studies Sheds new light on Strauss’s study of the Gospels as myths, his critique of miracles and his account of the historical Jesus




A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Philosophy


Book Description

Investigate the challenging and nuanced philosophy of the long nineteenth century from Kant to Bergson Philosophy in the nineteenth century was characterized by new ways of thinking, a desperate searching for new truths. As science, art, and religion were transformed by social pressures and changing worldviews, old certainties fell away, leaving many with a terrifying sense of loss and a realization that our view of things needed to be profoundly rethought. The Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth-Century Philosophy covers the developments, setbacks, upsets, and evolutions in the varied philosophy of the nineteenth century, beginning with an examination of Kant’s Transcendental Idealism, instrumental in the fundamental philosophical shifts that marked the beginning of this new and radical age in the history of philosophy. Guiding readers chronologically and thematically through the progression of nineteenth-century thinking, this guide emphasizes clear explanation and analysis of the core ideas of nineteenth-century philosophy in an historically transitional period. It covers the most important philosophers of the era, including Hegel, Fichte, Schopenhauer, Mill, Kierkegaard, Marx, Nietzsche, Bradley, and philosophers whose work manifests the transition from the nineteenth century into the modern era, such as Sidgwick, Peirce, Husserl, Frege and Bergson. The study of nineteenth-century philosophy offers us insight into the origin and creation of the modern era. In this volume, readers will have access to a thorough and clear understanding of philosophy that shaped our world.




Kantian Reason and Hegelian Spirit


Book Description

Winner: 2012 The American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in Theology and Religious Studies, PROSE Award. In this thought-provoking new work, the world renowned theologian Gary Dorrien reveals how Kantian and post-Kantian idealism were instrumental in the foundation and development of modern Christian theology. Presents a radical rethinking of the roots of modern theology Reveals how Kantian and post-Kantian idealism were instrumental in the foundation and development of modern Christian theology Shows how it took Kant's writings on ethics and religion to launch a fully modern departure in religious thought Dissects Kant's three critiques of reason and his moral conception of religion Analyzes alternative arguments offered by Schleiermacher, Schelling, Hegel, and others - moving historically and chronologically through key figures in European philosophy and theology Presents notoriously difficult and intellectual arguments in a lucid and accessible manner




The Christ of Faith and the Jesus of History


Book Description

Some great books have the capacity to focus on the questions of the day so that everyone must deal with them; others rise to greatness only when they are discovered years later. Strauss's The Christ of Faith and the Jesus of History may belong to both groups. When it was first published, it articulated sharply the crucial issues in the then current theological debate. Theologians today are discovering, not least of all from this century-old "book review" here translated for the first time, that they are not yet finished with David Friedrich Strauss. The Christ of Faith and the Jesus of History brings to a head issues which had dominated Strauss's theological work. When read in the light of the author's career, amply surveyed in the Editor's Introduction, it also illumines major issues of modern Christian theology: the character of the Gospels, the historical accuracy of what they report, the possibility of getting at "Jesus as he really was," and the relevance of such a Jesus for modern man. -Publisher




The Old Faith and the New


Book Description

German philosopher and radical theologian David Friedrich Strauss (1808-1874) distinguished himself as one of Europe's most controversial biblical critics and as an intellectual martyr for freethought.




David Friedrich Strauß, Father of Unbelief


Book Description

David Friedrich Strauss is a central figure in 19th century philosophy. As the father of unbelief, he was a prominent critic of Christianity and persecuted for his views by religious and political authorities. This book studies his intellectual development and recounts his fate, which began in faith as a young man but finally ended in unbelief.




The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined


Book Description

David Friedrich Strauss's Das Leben Jesu kritisch bearbeitet (1835) brought about a new dawn in Biblical criticism by applying the 'myth theory' to the life of Jesus. Strauss treated the Gospel narrative like any other historical work, and denied all supernatural elements in the Gospels. Das Leben Jesu created an overnight sensation and Strauss became embroiled in fierce controversy. This earliest English version of 1846 was translated by the novelist George Eliot, and was her first published book.




David Friedrich Strauss and His Critics


Book Description

Can the Bible be called myth? In his work Das Leben Jesu (1835) David Friedrich Strauss answered this question affirmatively. The present study reviews the work on myth by German scholars before Strauss and places his work within the context of the debate. It approaches Strauss through the criticism leveled against his work in early 19th-century German journals. It identifies and examines the presuppositions of the idealistic critics and their effect on the arguments used against Strauss. While neither Strauss nor his critics freed themselves completely from idealism, Strauss's approach offered a possibility for interpreting the Bible in its historical and religious milieu.




The Life of Jesus


Book Description