Visions of the Enlightenment : the Edict on Religion of 1788 and the politics of the public sphere in eighteenth-century Prussia / by Michael J. Sauter
The Frederickian monarchy and the Enlightenment in Prussia -- The ponytail, the enthusiast, and the "enlightened" public sphere -- The Enlightenment on trial -- Conscience and the rhetoric of freedom -- Counting the Enlightenment -- What was Enlightenment? -- Conclusion -- Appendix A: All texts (120) published in response to the edict -- Appendix B: Reviews (57) not published in the "Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek" -- Appendix C: On the philosophical debate on the nature and boundaries of the Enlightenment
Summary
Making extensive use of archival and published documents from the eighteenth century, this book argues that the public sphere in eighteenth-century Prussia was a conservative realm that was deeply invested in methods of social control