TY - BOOK ID - 119344675 TI - The hidden origins of the German Enlightenment AU - Mulsow, Martin AU - Midelfort, H. C. Erik PY - 2023 SN - 9781009241168 9781009241151 9781009241113 1009241125 1009241168 9781009241120 100924115X PB - Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, DB - UniCat KW - Enlightenment KW - Underground literature KW - Philosophy, Modern KW - History and criticism. KW - Clandestine literature KW - Illegal literature KW - Literature, Underground KW - Literature KW - Philosophy, German. KW - Europe KW - Intellectual life. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:119344675 AB - The early German Enlightenment is seen as a reform movement that broke free from traditional ties without falling into anti-Christian and extremist positions, on the basis of secular natural law, an anti-metaphysical epistemology, and new social ethics. But how did the works which were radical and critical of religion during this period come about? And how do they relate to the dominant 'moderate' Enlightenment? Martin Mulsow offers fresh and surprising answers to these questions by reconstructing the emergence and dissemination of some of the radical writings created between 1680 and 1720. The Hidden Origins of the German Enlightenment explores the little-known freethinkers, persecuted authors, and secretly circulating manuscripts of the era, applying an interdisciplinary perspective to the German Enlightenment. By engaging with these cross-regional, clandestine texts, a dense and highly original picture emerges of the German early Enlightenment, with its strong links with the experience of the rest of Europe. ER -