Discourse Theory and Enlightenment
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Narratives about esotericism, science, and social movements, which were originally inherently linked, overlapping, and closely interrelated, have been rigorously separated by historiographies since the 19th century. The example of the Wuerttembergian theologian Gustav Werner and the constellation of Swedenborg-Kant-Oetinger can demonstrate how allegedly superstitious or premodern doctrines and doctrinal elements have been excluded especially from those narratives that invoke the Enlightenment. “Enlightenment” is usually employed as a normatively charged perspective that determines the approach to the historical material, adjusts this material to a “modern” agenda, and sorts it according to a supposedly “scientifically” accepted worldview. The procedures of exclusion that underlay such a process can be explained by the discourse theory of Michel Foucault—with the surprising finding that Foucault’s approach is itself indebted to the Enlightenment impulse of Immanuel Kant. This discourse theoretical approach inspired by Foucault and Kant will be examined with regard to the constellation Swedenborg-Kant-Oetinger. It will be concluded that perspectives from postcolonial studies, especially by Homi K. Bhabha, can be advanced to provide even more precise insights into the discursive negotiatory procedures and receptional relationships between allegedly radically opposed doctrines and individuals. In this manner an Enlightened theory can be applied to the historical contexts of Enlightenment themselves.
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5
Ibid., 37 et seq., 44, 64, 143, 196, 208, 229 passim.
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13
Ibid., 84–92, 108–110.
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14
Ibid., 46–59, 120–123.
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15
Werner, Reich Gottes, 284; Göggelmann, “Fall Gustav Werner”, 138, 143, 156, 242.
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16
Werner, Reich Gottes, 214–301; Göggelmann, “Fall Gustav Werner”.
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25
Ibid., 38.
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26
Ibid., 34 et seq.
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27
Ibid., 34.
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31
Ibid., 37.
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33
Ibid., 37 et seq.
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36
Ibid., 38.
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37
Ibid., 42.
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39
Foucault, ‘Life: Experience and Science,’ 470. This essay originally appeared in the Revue de metaphysique et de morale 90:1 (January–March, 1985), 5–14. It is a modified version of Foucault’s introduction to the English translation of George Canguilhem’s The Nonnal and the Pathologica, trans. Carolyn Fawcett and Robert Cohen, New York: Zone 1989.
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43
Hemminger, Kritik und Geschichte, 209. In his Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten [Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals], Kant derives from freedom not just the possibility but also the need for moral law. aa (see note 23), vol. 4 (1903), 447 et seq. In his Kritik der praktischen Vernunft [Critique of Practical Reason] he declares the a priori awareness of the moral law as the “fact of reason” that authorizes the acceptance of freedom and reason. aa (see note 23), vol. 5 (1908), 47 et seq.
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48
Ibid., 68, 155.
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49
Ibid., 140 et seq., 147, 154.
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50
Ibid., 114.
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51
Ibid., 109 et seq., 204; Foucault, ‘What is Enlightenment?’, 52 i.a.
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53
Ibid., 80.
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55
Ibid., 95. “The purpose of history, guided by genealogy, is not to discover the roots of our identity, but to commit itself to its dissipation. It does not seek to define our unique threshold of emergence, the homeland to which metaphysicians promise a return; it seeks to make visible all of those discontinuities that cross us.”
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59
Ibid., 142.
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61
Ibid., 143.
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65
Ibid., 42–45. Foucault inserts ‘blackmail’ in quotes.
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66
Ibid., 43.
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67
Ibid., 46 et seq. For more, see Friedemann Stengel: ‘Was ist Humanismus?’ In: Pietismus und Neuzeit 41 (2015), 154–211.
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68
Ibid., 47.
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69
Ibid., 45, 49.
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78
Ibid., 50.
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79
Foucault, ‘The Order of Discourse,’ 52–56; Brieler, Unerbittlichkeit, 279–285.
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85
Ibid., 352.
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86
Ibid., 373.
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87
Ibid., 368 [emphasis removed].
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90
Ibid., 454–721; Stengel, ‘Swedenborg in German Theology in the 1770s and 1780s.’
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93
Ibid., 669–673.
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94
Ibid., 673–695.
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106
Ibid., 38–39.
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112
Ibid., 120–121.
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128
Stengel, Aufklärung, 617–622; Stengel, ‘Schrift, Ereignis, Kontingenz.’
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Discourse Theory and Enlightenment
In: AriesSearch for other papers by Friedemann Stengel in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Narratives about esotericism, science, and social movements, which were originally inherently linked, overlapping, and closely interrelated, have been rigorously separated by historiographies since the 19th century. The example of the Wuerttembergian theologian Gustav Werner and the constellation of Swedenborg-Kant-Oetinger can demonstrate how allegedly superstitious or premodern doctrines and doctrinal elements have been excluded especially from those narratives that invoke the Enlightenment. “Enlightenment” is usually employed as a normatively charged perspective that determines the approach to the historical material, adjusts this material to a “modern” agenda, and sorts it according to a supposedly “scientifically” accepted worldview. The procedures of exclusion that underlay such a process can be explained by the discourse theory of Michel Foucault—with the surprising finding that Foucault’s approach is itself indebted to the Enlightenment impulse of Immanuel Kant. This discourse theoretical approach inspired by Foucault and Kant will be examined with regard to the constellation Swedenborg-Kant-Oetinger. It will be concluded that perspectives from postcolonial studies, especially by Homi K. Bhabha, can be advanced to provide even more precise insights into the discursive negotiatory procedures and receptional relationships between allegedly radically opposed doctrines and individuals. In this manner an Enlightened theory can be applied to the historical contexts of Enlightenment themselves.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 737 | 130 | 23 |
| Full Text Views | 273 | 8 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 139 | 24 | 1 |