Project manager: Prof. Dr. Daniel Cyranka
Project associate: N.N.
Duration of project: 01.08.2016 - 31.07.2019
In exploring the theological and philosophical controversies of the 1770s, this project centers on the notions of apokatastasis and metempsychosis, as invoked by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781), which can be traced back to Origenian debates. The controversies concerning reason and revelation, history and religion, as well as the anthropology of humankind played a crucial role in the formulation of the enlightened concepts of human autonomy and free will, which became highly influential in articulating a modern understanding of humanity. With Lessing as its point of departure, the project focuses on these debates in the second half of 18th century.
Daniel Cyranka: Lessing im Reinkarnationsdiskurs. Eine Untersuchung zu Kontext und Wirkung von G.E. Lessings Texten zur Seelenwanderung. Göttingen 2005.
Daniel Cyranka: ‚Warum nicht?‘ – Lessings Äußerungen zur Seelenwanderung. In: Hans-Edwin Friedrich et al. (ed.), Literatur und Theologie im 18. Jahrhundert. Konfrontationen – Kontroversen – Konkurrenzen, Tübingen 2011 (Hallesche Beiträge zur Europäischen Aufklärung, 41), pp. 122–138.
Daniel Cyranka: Schwärmerei, Betrug, Vernunft oder Irrtum? Zum Mohammed-Bild bei Gottfried Leß. In: Andreas Deutsch/Ulrich Kronauer (ed.), Der „Ungläubige“ in der Rechts- und Kulturgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts, Heidelberg 2015, pp. 175-206.
The IZEA is housed within the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. As an institution of advanced study on the cultural and intellectual history of the 18th century, the IZEA contends with a period that laid the foundations of modern western society.
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für die
Erforschung der Europäischen Aufklärung (IZEA)
Franckeplatz 1 // Haus 54
06110 Halle
Deutschland
izea(at)izea.uni-halle.de
Tel.: +49 345 55 21781
Fax: +49 345 55 27252