Tag Archives: Counter-Enlightenment

Robert Wokler, J. G. A. Pocock, and the Hunt for an Eighteenth-Century Usage of “Counter-Enlightenment”

Posted on October 12, 2016 by James Schmidt

In 1999, I proposed a panel on the topic “The ‘Enlightenment Project’: What is It?” to the organizers of the upcoming conference of the Northeastern division of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Judging from the correspondence saved on my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

A Note on a Recently Published Letter from Isaiah Berlin on the “Counter-Enlightenment”

Posted on February 11, 2014 by James Schmidt

Having concluded a series of posts on the history of the concept of counter-Enlightenment, I’d planned to move on to other things. But, in the immortal words of Michael Corleone, “Just when I thought I was out … they pull … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Isaiah Berlin and the “Counter-Enlightenment”: A Reassessment (Fabricating the “Counter-Enlightenment” — Conclusion)

Posted on February 5, 2014 by James Schmidt

Since the middle of October I have been attempting to trace the history of the concept “counter-Enlightenment.” I set out on this venture convinced that Zeev Sternhell’s account of the history was wrong and confident that the sketch that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

William Barrett, Lionel Trilling, and the “Residual Legatees of the Enlightenment” (Fabricating the Counter-Enlightenment Part V)

Posted on January 20, 2014 by James Schmidt

In the June 1949 issue of Partisan Review, William Barrett — a professor of philosophy at New York University and an associate editor at Partisan Review — closed a series of exchanges with the literary critics Richard Chase and Lionel … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Charles W. Morris on Empiricism and the Counter-Enlightenment (Fabricating the “Counter-Enlightenment” Part IV)

Posted on January 7, 2014 by James Schmidt

The month-long hiatus since my last post can, in part, be attributed to the flood of papers that arrived in the wake of my discussion of English uses of the term “counter-Enlightenment” between 1908 and 1942 and the ensuing holiday … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 5 Comments

“Counter-Enlightenment” in English (1908-1942) (Fabricating the “Counter-Enlightenment” Part III)

Posted on December 12, 2013 by James Schmidt

The two previous posts in this series examined nineteenth and early twentieth-century German uses of the term “Gegenaufklärung” and argued, contra Zeev Sternell, that the term does not seem to have been generally adopted as a convention for referring to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Fabricating the “Counter-Enlightenment” — Part II: German Uses 1875 – 1925

Posted on November 17, 2013 by James Schmidt

The first post in this series examined Zeev Sternhell’s claim that Nietzsche “probably invented” the term Gegenaufklärung and noted that (1) Nietzsche’s one use of the term is difficult to reconcile with the subsequent usage of the term that we … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Fabricating the “Counter-Enlightenment” — Part 1: Nietzsche’s Role

Posted on October 14, 2013 by James Schmidt

When asked “Who invented the word ‘counter-Enlightenment?” Isaiah Berlin replied I don’t know who invented the concept …. Someone must have said it. Could it be myself? I should be somewhat surprised. Perhaps I did. I really have no idea.1 … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments