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Chapter 1 - The Determination of Man

Philosophy, Apologetics, and the New Language of Religion

from Part I - Recasting German Protestantism, 1750–1790

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2024

Michael Printy
Michael Printy
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
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Summary

This chapter explores theologian and pastor Johann Joachim Spalding’s immensely popular Bestimmung des Menschen (eleven editions between 1748 and 1804), its reverberations throughout the German Enlightenment, and the ways in which it intersected with both philosophical and religious questions about humankind’s place in the world. The chapter discusses the ways in which religious thinkers attempted to provide new “apologies” for Christianity against deism and atheism, how they did so in a modern, literary German that solidified their positions in the public sphere, and how these interventions also shaped philosophical discourse in the eighteenth century.

Keywords

Johann Joachim SpaldingDeismAtheismDetermination of ManEnlightenmentProtestant PublicShaftesburyJ. F. W. JerusalemPhilosophyPopular PhilosophyJohann Gottlieb Fichte
Type
Chapter
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Enlightenment's Reformation
Religion and Philosophy in Germany, 1750–1830
 , pp. 33 - 57
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • The Determination of Man
  • Michael Printy, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: Enlightenment's Reformation
  • Online publication: 21 December 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009494038.003
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  • The Determination of Man
  • Michael Printy, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: Enlightenment's Reformation
  • Online publication: 21 December 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009494038.003
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Determination of Man
  • Michael Printy, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: Enlightenment's Reformation
  • Online publication: 21 December 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009494038.003
Available formats
×