Germans, Jews, and the claims of modernity

280 Pages·2002·16.315 MB·English

by  Jonathan M. Hess

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Germans, Jews and
the Claims of Modernity
Jonathan M. Hess
In this original analysis of the debates in
Germany over Jews, Judaism and Jewish
emancipation in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries, Jonathan M.
Hess reconstructs a crucial chapter in
the history of secular antisemitism. He
examines not only the thinking of German
intellectuals of the time but also that of
Jewish writers, revealing the connections
between antisemitism and visions of
modernity, and the Jewish responses to
the threat posed by these connections. By
tracking the evolution of the widespread
debates between Germans and Jews, Hess
uncovers the process by which Judaism
came to play a central role in defining
secular universalism and political
modernization.
For many German intellectuals concerned
with imagining a new political order in the
era of the French Revolution, Judaism was
often perceived as the symbolic antithesis of
secular modernity, the book shows. The
response of leading Jewish thinkers was to
offer their own reflections on modernity
and universalism, grounded in Judaism’s
normative tradition. Hess considers the
work of major figures of the period, such as
Moses Mendelssohn, Immanuel Kant,
Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich
Schleiermacher, as well as lesser known
writers, whose debates about the shape of
the modern world provide us with fresh
insights into Jewish emancipation, German
colonial discourse and the intersections
between religious and political reform.

Germans, Jews and the Claims of Modernity
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GERMANS, JEWS AND THE CLAIMS OF MODERNITY
Jonathan M. Hess
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
Copyright © 2002 by Yale University
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the US Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers.
For information about this and other Yale University Press publications please contact:
US Office: [email protected] www.yale.books.com
Europe Office: [email protected] www.yale.up.co.uk
Designed by Elizabeth Smith
Set in Caslon by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong
Printed in Great Britain
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hess, Jonathan M., 1965-
Germans, Jews and the claims of modernity/Jonathan M. Hess.
em;
Includes index.
ISBN 0-300-09701-8 (hardcover: alk.paper)
1. Jews—Emancipation—Germany. 2. Jews—Legal status, laws, etc.—Germany—
History—18th century. 3. Jews—Legal status, laws, etc.—Germany—History—19th
century. 4. Antisemitism—Germany—History. 5. Germany—Ethnic relations.
I. Title.
DS135.G33 H43 2002
305.892’4043'09033—dc21
200201452
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10195875,9 40632)8 1
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