The Political Thought Of The German Romantics 1793 1815

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The Early Political Writings of the German Romantics contains all the essential political writings of Friedrich Schlegel, Schleiermacher and Novalis during the formative period of romantic thought (1797 to 1803). While the political thought of the German romantics has been generally recognised as important, it has been little studied, and most of the texts have been until now unavailable in English. The early romantics had an ambition still relevant to contemporary political thought: how to find a middle path between conservatism and liberalism, between an ethic of community and the freedom of the individual. Frederick C. Beiser's edition comprises all kinds of texts relevant for understanding the political ideas of the early romantic circles in Berlin and Jena - essays, lectures, aphorisms, chapters from books, and jottings from notebooks. All have been translated anew, many for the first time.

Often portrayed as a movement of poets lost in swells of passion, early German Romanticism has been generally overlooked by scholars in favor of the great system-builders of the post-Kantian period, Schelling and Hegel. In the twelve lectures collected here, Manfred Frank redresses this oversight, offering an in-depth exploration of the philosophical contributions and contemporary relevance of early German Romanticism. Arguing that the early German Romantics initiated an original movement away from idealism, Frank brings the leading figures of the movement, Friedrich Schlegel and Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis), into concert with contemporary philosophical developments, and explores the role that Friedrich Hölderlin and other members of the Homburg Circle had upon the development of early German Romantic philosophy.

Johann Gottfried Herder was a philosopher and important intellectual presence in eighteenth-century Germany. Herder's Political Thought examines the work of this significant figure in the context of both historical and contemporary developments in political philosophy. Vicki A. Spencer reveals Herder as one of the first Western philosophers to grapple seriously with cultural diversity without abandoning a commitment to universal values and the first to make language and culture an issue of justice. As Spencer argues, both have made Herder a source of inspiration for the pluralist turn of contemporary political philosophy. Contending that in an era of globalization, it is no longer possible to ignore Herder's crucial insights on the relationship between cultural membership and individual identity, Spencer demonstrates how these ideas can help us understand, and perhaps resolve, the linguistic and cultural-political struggles of our times.

First published in 1986. It is often suggested that the great first generation of Romantics, after the first flush of their revolutionary enthusiasm, ‘sold out’ to the forces of conservatism and reaction. This book starts from the thesis that the ideas of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey did always contain powerful radical and reformist implications that set the tone of liberal and left-wing discussion for several generations. The message of the French Revolution and Wordsworth’s youthful enthusiasm continued to imbue the thought of Carlyle, and his disciples Ruskin and Kingsley, and its characteristic articulations are still visible in later socialists such as Keir Hardie and Blatchford. This thoughtful book not only shows how surprising are the original roots of some great socialist thinkers, but also argues for a strong continuity in the English tradition of political thought from the 1780s to the early years of the twentieth century. Both students of politics and of literature and Victorian ideas will be stimulated by The Romantic Tradition in British Political Thought.

Now available in paperback, this is a uniquely authoritative study of Germany from the mid-18th century to the formation of the Bismarckian Reich.