True and False Enlightenment: German Scholars and the Discourse of Catholicism in the Nineteenth Century

Schaefer, Richard, The Catholic Historical Review

This article reinterprets Catholic hostility toward the Enlightenment in the nineteenth century. Reading the efforts of German-Catholic scholars to distinguish "true" from "false" Enlightenment, it argues that this differentiation was part of a broader discourse of Catholicism through which Catholics sought to engage the modern world. More than merely an instance of co-opting a hegemonic terminology, laying claim to "true" Enlightenment helped scholars in three distinct ways: It legitimized their own scholarly praxis, served as a way of managing anxiety over Catholic involvement in the Enlightenment, and provided a framework for pinpointing Catholicism's cultural uniqueness. By …

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Publication information: Article title: True and False Enlightenment: German Scholars and the Discourse of Catholicism in the Nineteenth Century. Contributors: Schaefer, Richard - Author. Journal title: The Catholic Historical Review. Volume: 97. Issue: 1 Publication date: January 2011. Page number: 24+. © 2003 The Catholic University of America Press. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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