Forming Humanity : Redeeming the German Bildung Tradition / Jennifer A. Herdt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Herdt, Jennifer A., Author.

Series:

Chicago scholarship online.

Chicago scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophy, German--18th century.

Philosophy, German.

Philosophy, German--19th century.

Humanism--Germany--History--18th century.

Humanism.

Humanism--Germany--History--19th century.

Moral development--Germany.

Moral development.

Bildungsromans--History and criticism.

Bildungsromans.

Philosophy and religion--Germany--History--18th century.

Philosophy and religion.

Philosophy and religion--Germany--History--19th century.

Religion and culture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (338 pages)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Kant's proclamation of humankind's emergence from "self-incurred immaturity" left his contemporaries with a puzzle: What models should we use to sculpt ourselves if we no longer look to divine grace or received authorities? Deftly uncovering the roots of this question in Rhineland mysticism, Pietist introspection, and the rise of the bildungsroman, Jennifer A. Herdt reveals bildung, or ethical formation, as the key to post-Kantian thought. This was no simple process of secularization, in which human beings took responsibility for something they had earlier left in the hands of God. Rather, theorists of bildung, from Herder through Goethe to Hegel, championed human agency in self-determination while working out the social and political implications of our creation in the image of God. While bildung was invoked to justify racism and colonialism by stigmatizing those deemed resistant to self-cultivation, it also nourished ideals of dialogical encounter and mutual recognition. Herdt reveals how the project of forming humanity lives on in our ongoing efforts to grapple with this complicated legacy.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

1. From Paideia to Humanism

2. Pietism and the Problem of Human Craft (Menschen-Kunst)

3. The Harmonious Harp-Playing of Humanity: J. G. Herder

4. Ethical Formation and the Invention of the Religion of Art

5. The Rise of the Bildungsroman and the Commodification of Literature

6. Authorship and Its Resignation in Goethe's Wilhelm Meister

7. "The Bildung of Self-Consciousness Itself towards Science": Hegel

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 2019.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780226618517

022661851X

OCLC:

1109843290