Inventing the Enlightenment: Anti-Jacobins, British Hegelians, and the Oxford English Dictionary

Journal of the History of Ideas

Volumn 64, Issue 3, 2003, Pages 421-443

  Schmidt, James ^a  

^a BOSTON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0142250387     PISSN: 00225037     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jhi.2003.0042     Document Type: Review

References (94)

1. The definition dates from 1891 and has survived, unchanged, into the recently released online third edition.
2. Peter Gay, The Party of Humanity (Princeton, 1959), 263.
3. John Lough, "Reflections on Enlightenment and Lumières, " British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 8 (1985), 1-15, 1.
4. Edward Caird, The Critical Philosophy of Immanuel Kant (Glasgow, 1889), 69, 46-53; cf. Caird, Hegel (Philadelphia, 1883), 15 which observes that Hegel's thought evolved from a study of Greek literature "and the so-called Enlightenment of the eighteenth century."
5. Edward Caird, The Critical Philosophy of Immanuel Kant (Glasgow, 1889), 69, 46-53; cf. Caird, Hegel (Philadelphia, 1883), 15 which observes that Hegel's thought evolved from a study of Greek literature "and the so-called Enlightenment of the eighteenth century."
6. James Hutchison Stirling, The Secret of Hegel, Being the Hegelian System in Origin, Principle, Form, and Matter, "New Edition, Carefully Revised" (Edinburgh, 1898), xxxii.
7. Hegel, Phänomenologie des Geistes, ed. Eva Moldenauer and Karl Markus Michel (Frankfurt, 1970), 400-424.
8. Stirling, The Secret of Hegel, xxxiii.
9. Ibid., xxvi-xxvii.
10. Stirling, ibid., xxvii
11. For a particularly striking example, see ibid., liv: "The principle of the Aufklärung, the Right of Private Judgment, is a perfectly true one, but it is not true as used by the Aufklärung, or it is used only one-sidedly by the Aufklärung."
12. See, for example, ibid., xxxiv-xxxv.
13. One of the remaining two uses of "enlightenment" in the Preface employs the term as a synonym for "Illumination" understood as an activity, not a period: "Aufklärung, Illumination, Enlightenment, destroyed Greece; it lowered man from Spirit to Animal..." (lvii). The remaining use of "enlightenment" likewise employs the term to as a name for a process: "When Enlightenment admits at all the necessity of control, the what and how far of this control can be argued out from this necessity - and self-will is abandoned" (liii).
14. 2), 438.
15. For Stirling's judgment on Sibree, see his essay "Lord Macaulay," Jerrold, Tennyson, and Macaulay with Other Critical Essays, ed. James Hutchison Stirling (Edinburgh, 1868), 121.
16. George S. Morris opted for "Illumination" as a translation for Aufklärung in the summary of the argument of the Philosophy of History in Hegel's Philosophy of the State and of History (Chicago, 1887), 292. The 1896 translation of Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy by E. S. Haldane and Frances H. Simson for the most part left the German Aufklärung untranslated, but rendered its appearance in the title of the last chapter of Part III, Section II as "The German Illumination."
17. Caird's Hegel uses "Enlightenment" in passing as a translation for Aufklärung in the translation of a passage from one of Hegel's Tübingen manuscripts, 23.
18. J. G. A. Pocock, "The Tell-Tale Article: Reconstructing... Enlightenment" (Plenary Address to the 29th annual meeting of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, University of Notre Dame, 2 April 1998).
19. See, for example, Roy Porter's comments on the "English philistinism" and "Oxonian deference to 'authority and tradition' " that he finds in the definition. The Creation of the Modern World: The Untold Story of the British Enlightenment (New York, 2000), 4-5.
20. A search of the Chadwyck-Healey Literature Online database finds only one use of "enlightenment" prior to 1825 but records 56 usages between 1825 and 1850, all of them classifiable as examples of the OED's first definition. It should be noted, however, that while this database is quite extensive (allowing for searches of 300,000 English texts), its coverage is limited to literary works: a number of the examples cited in the OED, for example, are not recorded.
21. On the development of the German term, see Peter Putz, Die Deutsche Aufklärung (Darmstadt, 1978), 12-15, and Horst Stuke, "Aufklärung" in Geschichtlich Grundbegriffe, ed. Otto Brunner, Werner Conze, and Reinhart Koselleck (Stuttgart, 1972), I, 243-342. For a brief sketch of the German development, see my article, "What Enlightenment Was: How Moses Mendelssohn and Immanuel Kant Responded to the Berlinische Monatsschrift," Journal of the History of Philosophy, 30 (1992), 79-80.
22. On the development of the German term, see Peter Putz, Die Deutsche Aufklärung (Darmstadt, 1978), 12-15, and Horst Stuke, "Aufklärung" in Geschichtlich Grundbegriffe, ed. Otto Brunner, Werner Conze, and Reinhart Koselleck (Stuttgart, 1972), I, 243-342. For a brief sketch of the German development, see my article, "What Enlightenment Was: How Moses Mendelssohn and Immanuel Kant Responded to the Berlinische Monatsschrift," Jounal of the History of Philosophy, 30 (1992), 79-80.
23. On the development of the German term, see Peter Putz, Die Deutsche Aufklärung (Darmstadt, 1978), 12-15, and Horst Stuke, "Aufklärung" in Geschichtlich Grundbegriffe, ed. Otto Brunner, Werner Conze, and Reinhart Koselleck (Stuttgart, 1972), I, 243-342. For a brief sketch of the German development, see my article, "What Enlightenment Was: How Moses Mendelssohn and Immanuel Kant Responded to the Berlinische Monatsschrift," Journal of the History of Philosophy, 30 (1992), 79-80.
24. Albert Schwegler, A History of Philosophy in Epitome, trans. Julius H. Seelye (New York, 1856), 205, 227.
25. 14 [first edition 1867]), 187, 207.
26. Friedrich Ueberweg, History of Philosophy, From Thales to the Present Time, translated from the fourth German edition by George S. Morris (London, 1874), II, 130.
27. Wilhelm Windelband, History of Philosophy [1892], tr. James H. Tufts (New York, 1910 [1893]), 438.
28. Stirling, Secret of Hegel, xvii.
29. For Zollikofer see The German Museum (May 1800), I, 396-403. For the reference to the Berlin Journal see the supplement to I, 590. For other translations of Aufklärung as mental illumination, see I, 77, 211, 304, 392, 435.
30. For Zollikofer see The German Museum (May 1800), I, 396-403. For the reference to the Berlin Journal see the supplement to I, 590. For other translations of Aufklärung as mental illumination, see I, 77, 211, 304, 392, 435.
31. For Zollikofer see The German Museum (May 1800), I, 396-403. For the reference to the Berlin Journal see the supplement to I, 590. For other translations of Aufklärung as mental illumination, see I, 77, 211, 304, 392, 435.
32. Moses Mendelssohn, "On Enlightening the Mind," The German Museum (July 1800), II, 39-42.
33. Immanuel Kant, Essays and Treatises on Moral, Political, and Various Philosophical Subjects (London, 1798; repr. Bristol, 1993), 3. For a discussion of Richardson's translations, see Giuseppe Micheli's introduction to the 1993 reprint, xiii-liii.
34. Immanuel Kant, Essays and Treatises on Moral, Political, and Various Philosophical Subjects (London, 1798; repr. Bristol, 1993), 3. For a discussion of Richardson's translations, see Giuseppe Micheli's introduction to the 1993 reprint, xiii-liii.
35. Willi Goetschel, Constituting Critique: Kant's Writing as Critical Praxis (Durham, N.C., 1994), 150.
36. Reinhart Koselleck, Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time, trans. Keith Tribe (Cambridge, Mass., 1985), 236.
37. Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History ([1837] New York, 1934), 24.
38. For example, "What wisest Philosophe, in this halcyon period, could prophesy that there was approaching, big with darkness and confusion, the event of events?" (24-25).
39. For example, "Philosophism... has got her Turgot made Controller-General..." (34).
40. D'Alembert, "Essai sur les éléments de philosophie," in Oeuvres de D 'Alembert (Paris, 1821), I, Part 1, 122. See the discussion in Ernst Cassirer, Philosophy of the Enlightenment (Princeton, 1951), 3-6.
41. D'Alembert, "Essai sur les éléments de philosophie," in Oeuvres de D 'Alembert (Paris, 1821), I, Part 1, 122. See the discussion in Ernst Cassirer, Philosophy of the Enlightenment (Princeton, 1951), 3-6.
42. 2), 644a; see also 636a. For a discussion of the role that a consciousness of time plays in the Encyclopédie, see Daniel Rosenberg, "An Eighteenth-Century Time Machine: The Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot," in Daniel Gordon (ed.), Postmodernism and the Enlightenment: New Perspectives in Eighteenth-Century French Intellectual History (New York, 2001), 45-66.
43. 2), 644a; see also 636a. For a discussion of the role that a consciousness of time plays in the Encyclopédie, see Daniel Rosenberg, "An Eighteenth-Century Time Machine: The Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot," in Daniel Gordon (ed.), Postmodernism and the Enlightenment: New Perspectives in Eighteenth-Century French Intellectual History (New York, 2001), 45-66.
44. 2), 644a; see also 636a. For a discussion of the role that a consciousness of time plays in the Encyclopédie, see Daniel Rosenberg, "An Eighteenth-Century Time Machine: The Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot," in Daniel Gordon (ed.), Postmodernism and the Enlightenment: New Perspectives in Eighteenth-Century French Intellectual History (New York, 2001), 45-66.
45. D' Alembert, Discours Préliminaire in Encyclopédie Tome Premier (Paris, 1751), xix-xx.
46. Dumarsais's article "Philosophe" in Encyclopédie Tome Douzième (Neufchastel, 1765), 509-11, offers a quick sketch of how the Philosophes understood themselves. For a sense of how they used the terms philosophe, philosophie, and philosophique, consult the citations collected under the entries for these terms in the Encyclopédie's Table Analytique et Raisonnée, Tome Second (Paris, 1780), 434-35
47. Dumarsais's article "Philosophe" in Encyclopédie Tome Douzième (Neufchastel, 1765), 509-11, offers a quick sketch of how the Philosophes understood themselves. For a sense of how they used the terms philosophe, philosophie, and philosophique, consult the citations collected under the entries for these terms in the Encyclopédie's Table Analytique et Raisonnée, Tome Second (Paris, 1780), 434-35.
48. For discussions of early uses of the term, see Darline Gay Levy, The Ideas and Careers of Simon-Nicolas-Henri Linguet: A Study of Eighteenth-Century French Politics (Urbana, Ill., 1980), 179, and Jean Balcou, Fréron contre les philosophes (Paris, 1975), 185-88. For a discussion of Catholic opponents and their influence on the construction of "the Enlightenment," see Darrin McMahon, Enemies of the Enlightenment: The French Counter-Enlightenment and the Making of Modernity (New York, 2001).
49. For discussions of early uses of the term, see Darline Gay Levy, The Ideas and Careers of Simon-Nicolas-Henri Linguet: A Study of Eighteenth-Century French Politics (Urbana, Ill., 1980), 179, and Jean Balcou, Fréron contre les philosophes (Paris, 1975), 185-88. For a discussion of Catholic opponents and their influence on the construction of "the Enlightenment," see Darrin McMahon, Enemies of the Enlightenment: The French Counter-Enlightenment and the Making of Modernity (New York, 2001).
50. For discussions of early uses of the term, see Darline Gay Levy, The Ideas and Careers of Simon-Nicolas-Henri Linguet: A Study of Eighteenth-Century French Politics (Urbana, Ill., 1980), 179, and Jean Balcou, Fréron contre les philosophes (Paris, 1975), 185-88. For a discussion of Catholic opponents and their influence on the construction of "the Enlightenment," see Darrin McMahon, Enemies of the Enlightenment: The French Counter-Enlightenment and the Making of Modernity (New York, 2001).
51. Abbé Barruel, Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, trans. Robert Clifford (Hartford, Conn., 1799), I, 2-3.
52. For a discussion of the early history of the journal and its contributors, see Emily Lorraine de Montluzin, The Anti-Jacobins 1798-1800: The Early Contributors to the Anti-Jacobin Review (London, 1988).
53. Anti-Jacobin Review, appendix to volume IV (August to December 1799), 560. The explanation of the etymology of "philosophism" was taken from J. F. de la Harpe, Lycée ou Cours de Litterature Ancienne et Moderne (Paris, 1800), VII, 195.
54. Anti-Jacobin Review, appendix to volume IV (August to December 1799), 560. The explanation of the etymology of "philosophism" was taken from de la Harpe J.F., Lycée ou Cours de Litterature Ancienne et Moderne (Paris, 1800), VII, 195.
55. Anti-Jacobin Review, appendix to IV, 561.
56. Anti-Jacobin Review, appendix to III (May-August 1799), 552; for the characterization of Frederick, see Barruel, I, 99.
57. Anti-Jacobin Review, appendix to III (May-August 1799), 552; for the characterization of Frederick, see Barruel, I, 99.
58. Anti-Jacobin Review, appendix to VI (April to August 1800), 566-67.
59. Anti-Jacobin Review, appendix to V (January-April 1800), 573.
60. Anti-Jacobin Review, I (December 1798), 729-31
61. Anti-Jacobin Review, preface to volume IV (August to December 1799), viii. The discussion of Fichte's dismissal was followed by criticisms of Schiller (xiii-xiv) and Goethe (xiv). Kant's system of philosophy was characterized as "extremely dangerous" in volume V (January-April 1800), 339.
62. Anti-Jacobin Review, III, 553; preface to IV, ix, xii, xii-xiii.
63. Anti-Jacobin Review, IV, xii.
64. For discussions of the movement, its suppression, and its prominence in conspiracy theories, see Klaus Epstein, The Genesis of German Conservatism (Princeton, 1966), 87-104, Richard van Dülmen, The Society of the Enlightenment: The Rise of the Middle Class and Enlightenment Culture in Germany, trans. Anthony Williams (New York, 1992), 104-18, and Richard van Dülmen, Der Geheimbund der Illuminaten (Stuttgart, 1977), which includes a selection of documents.
65. For discussions of the movement, its suppression, and its prominence in conspiracy theories, see Klaus Epstein, The Genesis of German Conservatism (Princeton, 1966), 87-104, Richard van Dülmen, The Society of the Enlightenment: The Rise of the Middle Class and Enlightenment Culture in Germany, trans. Anthony Williams (New York, 1992), 104-18, and Richard van Dülmen, Der Geheimbund der Illuminaten (Stuttgart, 1977), which includes a selection of documents.
66. For discussions of the movement, its suppression, and its prominence in conspiracy theories, see Klaus Epstein, The Genesis of German Conservatism (Princeton, 1966), 87-104, Richard van Dülmen, The Society of the Enlightenment: The Rise of the Middle Class and Enlightenment Culture in Germany, trans. Anthony Williams (New York, 1992), 104-18, and Richard van Dülmen, Der Geheimbund der Illuminaten (Stuttgart, 1977), which includes a selection of documents.
67. Barruel, Memoirs, III, vii.
68. Amos Hofman, "Opinion, Illusion, and the Illusion of Opinion: Barruel's Theory of Conspiracy," Eighteenth-Century Studies 27, 1 (1993), 49-50.
69. Quoted from the review in The Anti-Jacobin Review III, 286-90.
70. Barruel, Memoirs, IV, 342.
71. For éclairer see Barruel, Memoirs, I, 31 and III, 183; for aufgeklärte see III, 106. III, 118 employs the image of the diffusion of light to deal with an appearance of Aufklärung in another Illuminati document.
72. John Robinson, Proofs of a canspiracy ([1792], Boston, 1967), 174. However on the next page he opts for "mentall illumination" as the translation ofr Aufkärung in a discussion of a text by Carl Friedrich Bahrdt.
73. Preface to IV (August to December 1799), viii; the same is true of the characterization of Kant's followers as "enlightened" in the Appendix to V (January-April 1800), 569.
74. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, ed. J. G. A. Pocock (Indianapolis, Ind., 1987), 57. A search of an electronic text edition of the Reflections confirms that while "enlighten" and "enlightened" occur frequently, Burke employs neither "the Enlightenment" nor, surprisingly, even "enlightenment."
75. The German Museum, II (December 1800), 521.
76. Hegel, Philosophy of History, 438.
77. Stirling, The Secret of Hegel,
78. Stirling, "Lord Macaulay," 120-21. It might be noted that in this passage the adjective "enlightened" would appear to carry only positive connotations.
79. Stirling, The Secret of Hegel, lxii.
80. Stirling, "Lord Macaulay," 212-22. See also Secret of Hegel, xxix.
81. For a sketch of the different phases of the discussion of the question "What is enlightenment?" see my article, "What is Enlightenment? A Question, Its Context, and Some Consequences," in What is Enlightenment? Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions, ed. James Schmidt (Berkeley, 1996), 2-15.
82. This convention is followed both in A. V. Miller's translation (Oxford, 1977) and in the translation of chapter VI by the Toronto Hegel Group, Hegel, Spirit: Chapter Six of Hegel's Phenomenology, ed. Daniel E. Shannon (Indianapolis, Ind., 2001).
83. P. N. Furbank, Diderot (New York, 1992), 450.
84. Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit (Baillie) [Moldenauer and Michel edition, 400].
85. Shortly before his death Hegel attempted to revise the work, but he soon gave up, characterizing it as "a curious early work" whose arguments were much too closely bound to "the time of its composition" and, as such, incapable of revision. See Hegel's note in Hoffmeister's edition of the Phenomenology (Hamburg, 1952), 578.
86. Hegel, Werke, XII, 526 [Philosophy of History, 444].
87. Stirling, The Secret of Hegel, lxiii.
88. John Grier Hibben, The Philosophy of the Enlightenment (New York, 1910).
89. Cassirer cited Hibben's study in this 1931 article on "Enlightenment" in the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.
90. See Robert Darnton, The Literary Underground of the Old Regime (Cambridge, Mass., 1982), Jonathan I. Israel, Radical Enlightenment (Oxford, 2001), and Roy Porter and Mikulás Teich (eds.), The Enlightenment in National Context (Cambridge, 1981).
91. See Robert Darnton, The Literary Underground of the Old Regime (Cambridge, Mass., 1982), Jonathan I. Israel, Radical Enlightenment (Oxford, 2001), and Roy Porter and Mikulás Teich (eds.), The Enlightenment in National Context (Cambridge, 1981).
92. See Robert Darnton, The Literary Underground of the Old Regime (Cambridge, Mass., 1982), Jonathan I. Israel, Radical Enlightenment (Oxford, 2001), and Roy Porter and Mikulás Teich (eds.), The Enlightenment in National Context (Cambridge, 1981).
93. Kant, Essays and Treatises, II, 75.
94. For Richardson's views on the French Revolution see his footnote in Essays and Treatises, II, 62. For his questions to Kant, see Correspondence, tr. Arnulf Zweig (Cambridge, 1999), 548.