
The Enlightenment in Bohemia
Religion, Morality and Multiculturalism
Voltaire Foundation (Publisher)
Published on 6. July 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
359 pages
978-0-7294-1014-4 (ISBN)
Description
Recent discussion of the European Enlightenment has tended to highlight its radical, atheist currents of thought and their relation to modernity, but much less attention has been paid to the importance of religion. Contributors to The Enlightenment in Bohemia redress this balance by focusing on the interactions of moral philosophy and Catholic theology in Central Europe.
Bohemia's vibrant plurality of cultures provides a unique insight into different manifestations of Enlightenment, from the Aufklaerung of scholars and priests to the aristocratic Lumieres and the Jewish Haskalah. Four key areas of interest are highlighted: the institutional background and media which disseminated moral knowledge, developments in secular philosophy, the theology of the Josephist Church and ethical debates within the Jewish Haskalah. At the centre of this fertile intellectual environment is the presence of Karl Heinrich Seibt, theologian and teacher, whose pupils and colleagues penetrated the diverse milieus of multicultural Bohemia.
The Enlightenment in Bohemia brings fresh insights into the nature and transmission of ideas in eighteenth-century Europe. It reaffirms the existence of a religious Enlightenment, and replaces the traditional context of 'nation' with a new awareness of intersecting national and linguistic cultures, which has a particular relevance today.
Bohemia's vibrant plurality of cultures provides a unique insight into different manifestations of Enlightenment, from the Aufklaerung of scholars and priests to the aristocratic Lumieres and the Jewish Haskalah. Four key areas of interest are highlighted: the institutional background and media which disseminated moral knowledge, developments in secular philosophy, the theology of the Josephist Church and ethical debates within the Jewish Haskalah. At the centre of this fertile intellectual environment is the presence of Karl Heinrich Seibt, theologian and teacher, whose pupils and colleagues penetrated the diverse milieus of multicultural Bohemia.
The Enlightenment in Bohemia brings fresh insights into the nature and transmission of ideas in eighteenth-century Europe. It reaffirms the existence of a religious Enlightenment, and replaces the traditional context of 'nation' with a new awareness of intersecting national and linguistic cultures, which has a particular relevance today.
Reviews / Votes
The book's contributors provide a wealth of information that reveals the patterns of Enlightenment in Central Europe. [...] The research shows Bohemian intellectual circles' facility with multiple languages, social diversity, variety of organizations and institutions for intellectual exchange, and the convergence of secular ideas, French and German Protestant influenecs, and both the reformed and conservative strands of Catholicism and Judaism.- Austrian History Yearbook
More details
Series
Edition
New ed.
Language
English
Place of publication
Liverpool
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Liverpool University Press
Target group
Adult education
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
7 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-7294-1014-4 (9780729410144)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
Ivo Cerman, Introduction: the Enlightenment in Bohemia
I. Enlightenment institutions and media
Rita Krueger, The scientific academy and beyond: the institutions of the Enlightenment
Ivo Cerman, The Enlightenment universities
Claire Madl and Michael Woegerbauer, Censorship and book supply
Helga Meise, Morality, fiction and manners in the moral weeklies in Prague
Andreas OEnnerfors, Freemasonry and civil society: reform of manners and the Journal fuer Freymaurer (1784-1786)
II. The construction of a secular morality?
Ivo Cerman, Ethics and natural law: Jesuit Wolffianism in Prague 1750-1773
Ivo Cerman, Secular moral philosophy: Karl Heinrich Seibt
Ivo Cerman, Moral anthropology of Joseph Nikolaus Windischgraetz
III. Towards a Josephist moral theology
Martin Gazi, The Enlightenment from below: the Catholic regular clergy in Bohemia and Moravia
Jaroslav Lorman, The concept of moral theology of Augustin Zippe, a moral theologian at the turn of the epoch
IV. Morality in the Jewish world
Pavel Sladek, Ezekiel Landau (1713-1793) - a political rabbi
Louise Hecht, The Haskalah in Bohemia and Moravia: a gendered perspective
Rachel Manekin, The moral education of Jewish youth: the case of Bne Zion
David Sorkin, Afterword: the Enlightenment - Bohemian style?
I. Enlightenment institutions and media
Rita Krueger, The scientific academy and beyond: the institutions of the Enlightenment
Ivo Cerman, The Enlightenment universities
Claire Madl and Michael Woegerbauer, Censorship and book supply
Helga Meise, Morality, fiction and manners in the moral weeklies in Prague
Andreas OEnnerfors, Freemasonry and civil society: reform of manners and the Journal fuer Freymaurer (1784-1786)
II. The construction of a secular morality?
Ivo Cerman, Ethics and natural law: Jesuit Wolffianism in Prague 1750-1773
Ivo Cerman, Secular moral philosophy: Karl Heinrich Seibt
Ivo Cerman, Moral anthropology of Joseph Nikolaus Windischgraetz
III. Towards a Josephist moral theology
Martin Gazi, The Enlightenment from below: the Catholic regular clergy in Bohemia and Moravia
Jaroslav Lorman, The concept of moral theology of Augustin Zippe, a moral theologian at the turn of the epoch
IV. Morality in the Jewish world
Pavel Sladek, Ezekiel Landau (1713-1793) - a political rabbi
Louise Hecht, The Haskalah in Bohemia and Moravia: a gendered perspective
Rachel Manekin, The moral education of Jewish youth: the case of Bne Zion
David Sorkin, Afterword: the Enlightenment - Bohemian style?