Johann Karl Wezel: From Religious Pessimism to Anthropological Skepticism: 30 (German Life & Civilization) - Hardcover

Brain, Dennis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0820444642 ISBN 13: 9780820444642

Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing Inc, 2000

Synopsis

Johann Karl Wezel (1747-1819), satirist, novelist, and «anthropologist», has become one of the most widely read and discussed authors of the German late Enlightenment. This book focuses on Wezel's pedagogical endeavors and on his Robinson Krusoe (1779/80), a satirical, anti-utopian adaptation and continuation of Defoe's novel. Wezel's works are examined within the context of a general discussion about philosophical and pedagogical developments in eighteenth-century Europe, particularly with regard to: (1) views of history and possible social progress; (2) «reformed» or «enlightened» religion; (3) the «philanthropic» educational movement based on ideas of Rousseau and Basedow; and (4) the great concern in the late Enlightenment about mental imbalances and other problems supposedly caused by improper education. Rousseau, Kant, Albrecht von Haller, Wieland, and their views on pedagogy, history, religion, and satire are also treated.

About this title

About the Author:

The Author: Dennis Brain is Associate Professor of German in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Northern Illinois University. After studies in the United States and in Cologne and Göttingen, Germany, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in German from the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently preparing an edition of Wezel's booklet Ankündigung einer Privatanstalt für den Unterricht und Erziehung junger Leute zwischen dem zwölften und achtzehnten Jahre (Leipzig: Dyk, 1780), which he found and was the first to discuss in this book.

About this edition

• Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing Inc
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0820444642
• ISBN 13: 9780820444642
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 421