Peter H. Reill's Books

The German Enlightenment and the Rise of Historicism

By: Peter H. Reill

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The German Enlightenment and the Rise of Historicism

By: Peter H. Reill

The German Enlightenment and the Rise of Historicism traces the thought of a large and neglected group of German thinkers and their encounter with the ideas and ideal of the Enlightenment from 1740 to 1790. Concentrating on the nature of their historical consciousness, Peter Hanns Reill addresses two basic issues in the interpretation of the Enlightenment: to what degree can one speak of the unity of the Enlightenment and to what extent can the Enlightenment be characterized as “modern”? Reill attempts to revise the traditional interpretation of the Enlightenment as an age insensitive to the postulates of modern historical thought and to dissolve the alleged opposition of the Enlightenment to later intellectual developments such as Idealism. He argues that German Enlightened thinkers generated the general presuppositions upon which modern historical thought is founded. Asserting that the Enlightenment was not a unitary movement, Reill shows how each phase of it had unique elements and made contributions to Enlightenment thought as a whole. Exploring the forms of thought, the mental climate, and the different intellectual milieus in which the German thinkers operated, Reill demonstrates that they were confronted by two opposing intellectual traditions: German Pietism and rationalism. In attempting to reconcile both without submerging one into the other, these Enlightenment thinkers turned to historical speculation and learning. They discussed the relation between religious and rationalistic assumptions, the transformation of the concepts of religion and law, the interaction between aesthetic and historical thought, the creation of a theory of understanding to support the new idea of history, the use of causation in historical analysis, and the rediscovery of the Middle Ages. Reill reveals how they anticipated the work of more famous thinkers of the nineteenth century and establishes the conceptual similarities between thinkers generally thought to be more different than alike. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1975.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

321

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520377826

ISBN 13

9780520377820

Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment

By: Peter H. Reill

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment

By: Peter H. Reill

This far-reaching study redraws the intellectual map of the Enlightenment and boldly reassesses the legacy of that highly influential period for us today. Peter Hanns Reill argues that in the middle of the eighteenth century, a major shift occurred in the way Enlightenment thinkers conceived of nature that caused many of them to reject the prevailing doctrine of mechanism and turn to a vitalistic model to account for phenomena in natural history, the life sciences, and chemistry. As he traces the ramifications of this new way of thinking through time and across disciplines, Reill provocatively complicates our understanding of the way key Enlightenment thinkers viewed nature. His sophisticated analysis ultimately questions postmodern narratives that have assumed a monolithic Enlightenment—characterized by the dominance of instrumental reason—that has led to many of the disasters of modern life.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

402

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520931009

ISBN 13

9780520931008

The Polymath

A Cultural History from Leonardo da Vinci to Susan Sontag

By: Peter Burke

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Polymath

A Cultural History from Leonardo da Vinci to Susan Sontag

By: Peter Burke

The first history of the western polymath, from the fifteenth century to the present day From Leonardo Da Vinci to John Dee and Comenius, from George Eliot to Oliver Sacks and Susan Sontag, polymaths have moved the frontiers of knowledge in countless ways. But history can be unkind to scholars with such encyclopaedic interests. All too often these individuals are remembered for just one part of their valuable achievements. In this engaging, erudite account, renowned cultural historian Peter Burke argues for a more rounded view. Identifying 500 western polymaths, Burke explores their wide-ranging successes and shows how their rise matched a rapid growth of knowledge in the age of the invention of printing, the discovery of the New World and the Scientific Revolution. It is only more recently that the further acceleration of knowledge has led to increased specialisation and to an environment that is less supportive of wide-ranging scholars and scientists. Spanning the Renaissance to the present day, Burke changes our understanding of this remarkable intellectual species.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

353

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0300250029

ISBN 13

9780300250022

Acculturation and Its Discontents

The Italian Jewish Experience Between Exclusion and Inclusion

By: David H. Myers,David N. Myers,Massimo Ciavolella,Peter Reill,Geoffrey Symcox

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Acculturation and Its Discontents

The Italian Jewish Experience Between Exclusion and Inclusion

By: David H. Myers,David N. Myers,Massimo Ciavolella,Peter Reill,Geoffrey Symcox

Exploring the fascinating cross-cultural influences between Jews and Christians in Italy from the Renaissance to the twentieth century, Acculturation and Its Discontents assembles essays by leading historians, literary scholars, and musicologists to present a well-rounded history of Italian Jewry. The contributors offer rich portraits of the many vibrant forms of cultural and artistic expression that Italian Jews contributed to, but this volume also pays close attention to the ways in which Italian Jews - both freely and under pressure - creatively adapted to the social, cultural, and legal norms of the surrounding society. Tracing both the triumphs and tragedies of Jewish communities within Italy over a broad span of time, Acculturation and Its Discontents challenges conventional assumptions about assimilation and state intervention and, in the process, charts the complex process of cultural exchange that left such a distinctive imprint not only on Italian Jewry, but also on Italian society itself. This collection of rigorous and thought-provoking essays makes a major contribution to both the history of Italian culture and the cultural influence and significance of European Jews.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

241

Publisher

University of Toronto Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0802098517

ISBN 13

9780802098511

Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment

By: Peter H. Reill

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment

By: Peter H. Reill

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

402

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520931009

ISBN 13

9780520931008

Book's by Peter H. Reill

The German Enlightenment and the Rise of Historicism

The German Enlightenment and the Rise of Historicism

Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment

Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment

The Polymath

The Polymath

Acculturation and Its Discontents

Acculturation and Its Discontents

Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment

Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email