Solitude and sociability in the late German Enlightenment, 1756-1807

Thesis

A tension existed in the German Enlightenment between the celebration of autonomy—foremost in the ideal of Selbstdenken (“thinking for oneself”)—and the criticism of isolation, solipsism, and eremitic forms of thinking. This thesis analyses how solitude and sociability were negotiated and reconciled by three Königsberg intellectuals: political economist Christian Jakob Kraus (1753-1807), philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), and writer and politician Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel (1741-96). In each case, it shows how positive forms of “aloneness” were distinguished by their integration in a concept of sociability; each thinker articulated a model of the independent self as a specifically social entity, such that being alone was conducive or even essential to community.

The first chapter posits Königsberg as a neglected centre of Enlightenment, surveying empirical forms of intellectual sociability and tracing how the city’s identity came to be shaped by commerce, cosmopolitanism, the Seven Years’ War, and a specifically rationalistic Pietism. The second chapter argues that Kraus championed a “sociable individualism” which harmonised autonomy and community. An advocate of praxis, Kraus is presented as one node of a broader critique of solitary esotericism. The third chapter offers a reading of Kant’s philosophy contextualised in concern about solipsism and Schwärmerei. It argues that the Kantian conception of community was a monological ideal in the subjective mind: an egoistic pluralism. The fourth chapter, focusing on Hippel, explores how solitude and sociability were inflected by dynamics of class and gender, including an antagonism between courtly civility and the bürgerliche ideal of friendship. Advocating a relational model of subjectivity, Hippel sought to rescue women from the solitude of the private sphere with the promise of political Mündigkeit. Each case study engages with and refutes the notion of a “solitary turn” implicit in modernity, instead revealing the interdependence of the solitary self and society.

Authors: Schreiber, I

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-pry4pqwxn
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: German Enlightenment; sociability; autonomy; Königsberg; solitude; individualism; solipsism
• Subjects: Intellectual history