payment page
Hurdles to the German Enlightenment
The political, social, and cultural layout of Germany in the 18th century inhibited much of the Enlightenment advancements that took place in France. Germany was divided into a number of smaller states, most of which were ruled by despots who stifled intellectual development. The total number of German newspapers had barely increased in the 150 years leading up to the Enlightenment, and the literary language in the country was predominantly Latin, which made the dispersion of other Enlightenment works difficult.
Moreover, whereas France had a combination of antsy intellectuals and flighty nobility, as well as a boom in middle-class literacy, Germany did not. Germany lacked the distinct rift between the middle class and the aristocracy, and there was not nearly the popular discontent with religion or the Church that there was in France. As a result, many German intellectuals refuted the French idea of empiricism, refusing to believe that a simplistic set of laws, akin to the laws of physics or astronomy, could dictate the operation of human society.
The Aufklärung
Nonetheless, after King Frederick the Great of Prussia introduced some Enlightenment ideas from other parts of Europe, a small German Enlightenment (often known by its German name, the Aufklärung) began, although it went off in an entirely different direction from the English or French movements. The German Enlightenment never subjected religion to the same scrutiny as in other countries; in fact, the Aufklärung retained a somewhat mystical view of the world, with some of Germany’s leading writers choosing instead to combine reason with religion.
Leibniz
The first major figure in the German Enlightenment was Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), who began his career in law but quickly moved out into other fields. Mathematically, he was Newton’s equal, as both “discovered” calculus at the same time. Although the two would bicker for some time over proper credit, a few elements of calculus have been attributed exclusively to Leibniz, such as the idea of a function and the integral symbol.
Within metaphysics, Leibniz proposed the idea that everything in the universe consisted of monads, which he conceived of essentially as “spiritual atoms” that constitute our perception of the world but lack physical dimension. Unlike many figures in the French and English Enlightenment, Leibniz was very religious and in fact saw monads as reflections of a structured, harmonious universe—the work of a perfect God. His deep religious faith and affinity for tradition kept him conservative in his approach to his work and paved the way for the mysticism of the rest of the German Enlightenment. Even so, he laid a foundation that all future Enlightenment scholars would build upon.
Immanuel Kant
Considered the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment, Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was enormously influential and essentially founded an entire school of thought. His most influential work Critique of Pure Reason (1781), was a response to the questions that other contemporaries had posed about perception and reality. Critique proposes that all people are born with an inborn sense of raw experience—a phenomenon that Kant dubbed transcendental idealism. Whereas the Enlightenment had been built around the idea that man can discover the laws of nature with his mind, Kant countered that it is the mind that gives those laws to nature.
Kant’s work with skepticism perfectly sums up the German Enlightenment’s mistrust of empiricism. Critique of Pure Reason suggests that we all are born with our own ideas and perceptions of the world and, as such, can never know what is “real” and what is “our perception.” In other words, reality is in the eyes of the beholder. However, because nothing really exists separate from its existence in the eyes of the observer, then perceptions and observations in the world cannot be trusted. As a result, empirical evidence cannot be trusted either. By thus stating that only a select few universal truths in the world were valid, Kant effectively disagreed with the premise of the entire French Enlightenment.
Kant also tried to define morality, another timeless philosophical question, in Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785). In this work, he argues that reason must be the basis for moral action, and that any action undertaken out of convenience or obedience cannot be considered moral, even if it is the right thing to do. Rather, the morality of an action depends on the motivation for the action. Hence, if an individual arrives at the conclusion that a certain action is right and pursues that course of action as a result, then that behavior is moral.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Though known less for his philosophy, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) would nevertheless emerge from the Enlightenment regarded as Germany’s finest writer. The moody Goethe was prone to alternating between periods of production and remission, but during his times of productivity he churned out two landmarks in German literature. His novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), about a young man who falls for an unattainable girl and eventually kills himself out of despair, had an unimaginable impact on German youth at the time. It is primarily for that work that Goethe is considered the most prominent figure in Germany's Sturm und Drang (“storm and stress”) movement, a roughly 20-year period from the 1760s to 1780s in which young German intellectuals, inspired by Rousseau’s emphasis on emotion, revolted against optimism and reason and plunged into darker, more anarchic themes.
Goethe released numerous essays, poems, and critiques over the following thirty years, then unveiled the literary masterpiece that would solidify his place in history. The first part of the epic verse drama Faust was published in 1808, the second in 1832. The work—a retelling of the German legend of a man who promises his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power—was massively successful, both as a satire and as a social commentary. Just like Rousseau’s works in France, Goethe’s works focused on emotions and innate human feelings, signaling the end of the German Enlightenment, which flowed right into the Romantic movement that was burgeoning throughout Europe.
Results of the German Enlightenment
Although the pessimism and anarchism of the Sturm und Drang movement exposed a one-sidedness to German thought at the time, the movement was brief, and contrasting forces prevailed. A strong nationalistic voice emerged during the German Enlightenment, which did much to unify Germany culturally. Although other factors played a part as well, political unity came hand in hand with cultural unity: laws and districts were consolidated, more freedoms were granted to the press, and judicial treatment became more humane. Ultimately, Germany would become a unified nation in 1871.
Events
1774
Goethe publishes The Sorrows of Young Werther
1781
Kant publishes Critique of Pure Reason
1785
Kant publishes Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals
1808
Goethe publishes first part of Faust
1832
Goethe publishes second part of Faust
Key People
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Mathematician and philosopher; invented many components of calculus; conceived of “spiritual atoms” called monads
Immanuel Kant
Skeptic philosopher who formulated idea of transcendental idealism; had enormous influence on later philosophy, especially in Germany
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Immensely prolific writer whose The Sorrows of Young Werther epitomized German Sturm und Drang movement; best known for epic verse drama Faust
