Visions of the Enlightenment

The Edict on Religion of 1788 and the Politics of the Public Sphere in Eighteenth-Century Prussia

• Author(s): Michael Sauter,
• Publisher: BRILL
• Pages: 260
• ISBN_10: 9047429958
  ISBN_13: 9789047429951
  
• Language: en
• Categories: History / General , Philosophy / History & Surveys / General , History / Europe / General , History / Modern / 18th Century , History / Modern / 19th Century , Philosophy / History & Surveys / Modern , Philosophy / Political , Philosophy / Religious , Religion / Religion, Politics & State , Political Science / Political Ideologies / Conservatism & Liberalism , History / Social History , History / Modern / General ,

Description:... This book examines the public battle sparked by the promulgation in 1788 of Prussia's Edict on Religion. Historians have seen in this moment nothing less than the end of the Enlightenment in Prussia. This book begs to differ and argues that social control had a long "enlightened" pedigree. Using both archival and published documents, this book reveals deeply the entire Prussian elite was invested in social control of the masses, especially in the public sphere. What emerges is a picture of the Enlightenment in Prussia as a conservative enterprise that was limited by not merely the state but also the social anxities of the Prussian elite.