Lessing And The Enlightenment

A comprehensive study of Lessing’s religious thought. Although only one aspect of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s diverse oeuvre, his religious thought had a significant influence on thinkers such as Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, and present-day liberal Protestant theologians. His thought is particularly difficult to assess, however, because it is found largely in a series of essays, reviews, critical studies, polemical writings, and commentary on theological texts. Beyond these, his correspondence, and a few fragmentary essays unpublished during his lifetime, we have his famous drama of religious toleration, Nathan the Wise, and his philosophical-historical sketch, The Education of the Human Race. In these scattered texts, Lessing challenged the full range of theological views in the Enlightenment, from Protestant orthodoxy, with its belief in Biblical inerrancy, to a radical naturalism, which rejected both the concept of a divine revelation and the historically based claims of Christianity to be one, as well as virtually everything in between. Since he refused to identify himself with any of these parties, Lessing was an enigmatic figure, and a central question from his time to today is where he stood on the issue of the truth of the Christian religion. Now back in print, and with the addition of two supplementary essays, Henry E. Allison’s book argues that, despite appearances, Lessing was not merely an eclectic thinker or intellectual provocateur, but a serious philosopher of religion, who combined a basically Spinozistic conception of God with a sophisticated pluralistic conception of religious truth inspired by Leibniz.

This essay collection grew out of a Hofstra University conference on the life, works, and influence of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, the eighteenth-century German playwright, critic, and philosopher who essentially established a new national literature in Germany during the Enlightenment. The volume is divided into two main sections, in which various scholars confront and reevaluate two contrasting aspects of Lessing's character; the irrational poet and the rational thinker. In the first section, Lessing's aesthetics are discussed. His link to English literature, as well as his influence upon the then emerging novel, are the subject of special consideration here. In the second section, Lessing's philosophical connection to traditions such as utopianism, classical republicanism, and eighteen-century humanism is discussed. Also considered are Lessing's intellectual connections with Rumanian literature; feminist and other ideological interpretations of his works; and his relation to some of his contemporaries. An introductory article stresses current and future trends in Lessing scholarhip.

In an age when it has become fashionable to dismiss the Enlightenment as a sinister movement based on instrumental rationality, Benjamin Redekop delves deeper to understand the movement on its own terms. In Enlightenment and Community he shows that the E

On the basis of intensive study of the entire corpus of Lessing's philosophical and theological writings as well as the extensive secondary literature, the author leads the reader into the systematic core of Lessing's highly elusive religious thought.

No detailed description available for "G. E. Lessing's Theology: A Reinterpretation".

Primarily celebrated for his dramatic works Minna von Barnhelm, Emilia Galotti and Nathan der Weise, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's diverse pursuits extended far beyond the stage. From incisive journalism to innovative reflections on poetry, aesthetics and theology, his wide-ranging intellectual interests place him firmly alongside contemporary polymaths such as Diderot. In this extensive study an international team of experts explores Lessing's contribution to both the German and broader European Enlightenments to reveal: the energy and acuity of his critical writing, which made him an exemplar for subsequent German authors; the originality and lasting significance of Laocoon, his groundbreaking treatise on aesthetics, which distinguished the domains of poetry and the visual arts, and is still a major point of reference; how his reflections on theology and the Bible helped shape a view of Christianity as a historical phenomenon without absolute truth; how his Enlightenment curiosity and open-mindedness were nourished by an interest in natural science, particularly astronomy; how activities such as his adaptation of English domestic tragedy and his translations of Diderot's theatrical writings placed him at the heart of the pan- European Enlightenment.

This volume provides a valuable contribution to our knowledge of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century intellectual life inside and outside Germany. —Prof. Karl S. Guthke, Harvard University This elegant collection of essays ranges across eighteenth and nineteenth-century thought, covering philosophy, science, literature and religion in the ‘Age of Goethe.’ A recognised authority in the field, Nisbet grapples with the major voices of the Enlightenment and gives pride of place to the figures of Lessing, Herder, Goethe and Schiller. These eleven essays range widely in their compass of thought and intellectual discourse, dealing incisively with themes including the philosophical implications of literature and the relationship between religion, science and politics. The result is an accomplished reflection on German thought, but also on its rebirth, as Nisbet argues for the relevance of these Enlightenment thinkers for the readers of today. The first half of this collection focuses predominantly on eighteenth-century thought, where names like Lessing, Goethe and Herder, but also Locke and Voltaire, feature. The second has a wider chronological scope, discussing authors such as Winckelmann and Schiller, while branching out from discussions of religion, philosophy and literature to explore the sciences. Issues of biology, early environmentalism, and natural history also form part of this volume. The collection concludes with an examination of changing attitudes towards art in the aftermath of the ‘Age of Goethe.’ The essays in this volume have been previously published separately, but are brought together in this collection to present Nisbet’s widely-acclaimed perspectives on this fascinating period of German thought. It will be of interest to scholars and students of the intellectual life of Europe during the Enlightenment, while its engaging and lucid style will also appeal to the general reader.

Lessing's work, in a lifetime increasingly dedicated to advancing the German Enlightenment, is presented against the background of social and cultural division, political fragmentation, controversy, anti-semitism, religious intolerance and intermittent war. A system of priorities is shown to underpin his various activities. Concern for mankind and for the right to speak and think freely characterizes his work as practical man of the theatre and dramatist, literary critic and polemicist, productive thinker, defender of the defenceless, publicist of contentious religious issues and relentless seeker of truth.