Changes in the Image of Man from the Enlightenment to the Age of Romanticism
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Changes in the image of man from the Enlightenment to the age of Romanticism Changes in the image of man from the Enlightenment to the age of Romanticism Philosophical and scientific receptions of (physical) anthropology in the 18–19th centuries Edited by Dezső Gurka Gondolat Publishers Budapest, 2019 A kötet megjelenését a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia támogatta. Th e publication of this volume was supported by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. On the cover: Resolution and Adventure in Matavai Bay, by William Hodges https://tinyurl.hu/U4xa/ Struck on the fi ftieth anniversary of Friedrich Blumebach’ doctorate (1825), by Heinrich Gube https://tinyurl.hu/4cd9/ © Editor, Dezső Gurka, 2019 © Authors, 2019 © Gondolat, 2019 www.gondolatkiado.hu facebook.com/gondolatkiado ISBN 978 963 693 300 5 Contents Preface 9 THE CONCEPT OF MANKIND IN THE AGE OF GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS IN THE 18–19TH CENTURIES LÁSZLÓ KONTLER: Inventing ‘humanity’. Early-modern perspectives 15 STAFFAN MÜLLER WILLE: Linnaeus and the four corners of the world 43 WOLFDIETRICH SCHMIED-KOWARZIK: Der Streit um die Einheit des Menschengeschlechts. Gedanken zu Forster, Herder und Kant 65 THE BEGININGS OF THE GERMAN PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY UWE HOSSFELD – JÖRG PITTELKOW: Anthropologie vor Darwin. Ein Überblick 97 6 CONTENTS THOMAS JUNKER: Johann Friedrich Blumenbach und die Anthropologie heute 125 VERA BÉKÉS: “Body and soul: a horse harnessed beside an ox”. Georg Cristoph Lichtenberg about body and soul 143 DEVELOPMENT OF THE IMAGE OF MAN IN GERMAN IDEALISM ENDRE HÁRS: Anatomische Gerechtigkeit. Moscati und Herder über den aufrechten Gang des Menschen 159 Dezső Gurka: The role of ‘dream’ and ‘unconsciousness’ in the progression of Carl Gustav Carus’ image of man 172 KLAUS VIEWEG: Hegel über die ästhetische Erziehung zur Freiheit 189 HUNGARIAN RECEPTIONS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL IMAGES OF MAN IN THE 18–19TH CENTURIES ILDIKÓ SZ. KRISTÓF: The emergence of world ethnography in Hungary before 1848. Agents and sources 207 PIROSKA BALOGH: Anthropological aspects of Johann Ludwig Schedius’s aesthetics 224 TIBOR BODNÁR-KIRÁLY: Anthropology and human progression in Sámuel Csernátoni Vajda’s translation 236 CONTENTS 7 LILLA KRÁSZ: ‘Casus historia’ and ‘relatio morborum’. Patient bedside observations 251 GYÖRGY KURUCZ: Theory and experience. The professors of the first Hungarian college of farming in Western Europe 266 Authors 277 Preface The Hungarian and German authors of this book have examined the processes that took place in 18th century philosophy, aesthetics and other fields of study – especially physical anthropology. These processes led to a significant reevaluation of man’s place and role in the living world and history, as had been understood in previ- ous periods. The term, the‘ image of man’, given in the title of the volume refers to both the beginnings of philosophical anthropology and physical anthropology, principally those that became objecti- fied in arguments concerning race. The examination focuses on the reciprocal influences on the changes in the images of man from the interval between the late Enlightenment to the Romantic period. In part those moments when philosophy exerted an effect on the empirical base of the parameters of the evolving disciplines of study, that is to say, it influenced the methodology of observation and doc- umentation; and in part those processes through which the results of certain fields of study served as argumentational backdrop for the interpretations of philosophy. Most of the studies comprising the four thematic units focus on continental Europe, and more specifi- cally German phenomena, and their reception in Central Europe, primarily the Kingdom of Hungary. The works in the first chapter dissect the problems concerning the unity of humankind, from the point of view of how the geographic 10 Preface discoveries of the 18th century made an impact on the debates con- cerning race and in the field of philosophy. László Kontler follows the evolution of the perspective of natural history from the mid 17th century to the end of the 19th and the changes in humanity as a re- sult of naturalisation. He highlights how the early modern perspec- tive evolved as a natural law approach to the institution of slavery. Staffan Müller-Wille’s study on the characteristics of the definition of race – primarily consciousness – by Linné (Linnaeus), calls at- tention to why this typology cannot be based simply on exterior physical features. The study of Wolfdietrich Schmied-Kowarzik presents how two opposing developmental histories – the causal genetic and the linneanus autochthon – clashed in the debate on race between Kant and Forster. Furthermore it puts forth a criti- cism of Kant’s concept of teleology, as present in the previously mentioned debate, based on the concept of humanity put forth by Herder and Forster. The second thematic unit presents the concentrated appearance of typology problems in scientific practice, that is to say the evo- lution of physical anthropology. The comprehensive study of Uwe Hoßfeld and Jörg Pittelkow highlights the significance of the uni- versity of Göttingen, while Thomas Junker presents the work and later influence of Blumenbach’s conceptual and measurement me- thodology which significantly contributed to the solidification of the borders of physical anthropology. Lichtenberg added to the debate concerning on body and soul through his reflections on geo- graphic discoveries, as Vera Békés’ article points out. The works in the third chapter look at the images of man in Ger- man idealism and their precedents in the works of Herder. Endre Hárs analyses the discussions of the differences between man and animal – with the participation of Rousseau and Lord Momboddo – the turning point of which was the appearance of Moscati’s 1770 work. Dezső Gurka’s study analyses the understanding of man by Carus, who adapted the natural philosophical ideas of Schelling, the Preface 11 definitive contribution of the surgeon-gynecologist and philosopher being the first appearance of the concept of the unconscious (Un- bewußt). Klaus Vieweg examines the role of education (Bildung) in Hegel’s image of man and points out how the philosopher based his concept of freedom on aesthetic phases. The articles in the fourth chapter emphasise the fact that the reception of the aforementioned processes in Central and Eastern Europe occurred only partially or in a diluted form. The uniqueness of the history of reception in the Kingdom of Hungary and the area of the Principality of Transylvania belonging to the Hungar- ian crown, but separate in terms of public administration from the expulsion of the Turks until 1848 was how the large number of stu- dents peregrinating to Göttingen and Jena lead to the two German universities having a greater role in the Hungarian adaptation and instrumentalisation of post-Kantian philosophy and certain scien- tific fields. The study of Ildikó Sz. Kristóf – in addition to the Jesuit and protestant precursors of Hungarian ethnography – calls atten- tion to the previously mentioned phenomenon, especially in rela- tion to protestant authors. The article by Piroska Balogh evaluates the systematic experimentation of Lajos Schedius and thus empha- sises the exemplary role of Göttingen. Due to the delayed arrival of these phases, the philosophical influences arrived in an accumulated way, and the study by Tibor Bodnár-Király presents this based on a reinterpretation of Flögel from a Wolffian perspective written in Hungarian. The effects appear on how various disciplines, mainly economic and political, achieve innovative governmental and high aristocratic aims. The study by Lilla Krász illustrates this phenom- enon in medicine, while the study by György Kurucz interprets this from the perspective of the agricultural sciences. This short preface is only able to mention the thematic and con- ceptual overlays found within the numerous detailed and multifac- eted analysis included in this volume. The conceptual precursor to this academic publication was a conference in 2013, and the re- 12 Preface search programme entitled The Circulation of Knowledge in Hungary, 1770–1830, financed by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office. The research programme widened the number of participants with the addition of authors and six German research- ers were asked to participate whose internationally recognised aca- demic work revolves around these issues. This volume is the second part of a series published in German and English,1 the first part of which was issued in 2015, entitled Deutsche und ungarische Mineralogen in Jena. Wissenstransfer an der Wende des 18–19. Jahrhunderts im Rahmen der „Societät für die gesam- mte Mineralogie zu Jena”.2 The third volume is to be expected in the autumn of 2020, under the title The periods of the history of the earth and the ages of mankind. Paleontology in philosophical and cultural con- texts in the 18–19th centuries. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my fellow con- tributors for the opportunity of working together, to the editorial team of Gondolat Publishing House for the copy-editing and to Janka Kovács for her assistance with finalising the manuscript. Kocsér, 3th March 2019. The editor 1 Both the topics and the conceptual background of this volume relates to the book series, the Hungarian, English and German summaries of which can be found in digital form at the following website. http://tudasaramlas.btk.elte.hu/en/sources 2 The complete volume can be found at the following website. https://studylib- de.com/doc/12815485/deutsche-und-ungarische-mineralogen-in-jena. THE CONCEPT OF MANKIND IN THE AGE OF GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS IN THE 18–19TH CENTURIES Inventing ‘humanity’ Early-modern perspectives* LÁSZLÓ KONTLER This essay addresses a crucial chapter in the development of the modern concept of humanity (mankind, humanité, Menschheit) in European culture. Unlike other contributions to this volume, it is not an empirical study based on primary research, rather an attempt to sketch an analytical framework for approaching and understand- ing a broad array of specific historical topics and phenomena within the parameters of an encompassing theme.