Berghahn Books Beyond Posthumanism: The German Humanist Tradition and the Future of the Humanities: 22 (Spektrum: Publications of the German Studies Association, 22)

Kant, Goethe, Schiller and other eighteenth-century German intellectuals loom large in the history of the humanities-both in terms of their individual achievements and their collective embodiment of the values that inform modern humanistic inquiry. Taking full account of the manifold challenges that the humanities face today, this volume recasts the question of their viability by tracing their long-disputed premises in German literature and philosophy. Through insightful analyses of key texts, Alexander Mathäs mounts a broad defense of the humanistic tradition, emphasizing its pursuit of a universal ethics and ability to render human experiences comprehensible through literary imagination. Review "Beyond Posthumanism is a timely intervention into a high-stakes debate on the value of humanist education today. The book situates this debate in a wider historical framework, thereby demonstrating the often overlooked complexity of humanistic concepts. Highlighting literature's unique ability to serve as a meta-sphere for reflection, this is a comprehensive and thoughtful consideration of one of the great questions of contemporary education." - Christine Lehleiter, University of Toronto About the Author Alexander Mathäs is Professor Emeritus of German at the University of Oregon.