Aufklärung after the Aufklärung. The Origin and Use of a Term between 1850 and 1920
9.–10. 04. 2026
Organised by: Elisabeth Décultot (MLU Halle, GRK 2999), Olivier Agard (Paris, Sorbonne), Gerald Hartung (Universität Wuppertal)
Few concepts have played such a central role in so many areas of European intellectual, political, religious and cultural history as the German concept of the ‘Aufklärung’. Within the overall very diverse meanings of this concept, two main types of usage can be distinguished. In a normative sense, this concept refers on the one hand to a series of notions, phenomena or values with a universal and transhistorical dimension. In this sense, the concept of the ‘Aufklärung’ is understood primarily as a principle that can be applied at any time and in any place. On the other hand, inseparably linked to this first meaning, the term also refers to the era in which these concepts and values were developed, discussed and/or implemented in political and social realities, namely a long period centred on the 18th century.
These two meanings of the concept of ‘Aufklärung’certainly emerged in the 18th century. However, it was mainly in the 19th century that they truly developed, under the combined influence of a process of historicisation of the 18th century and the updating of ideas or values emblematically attributed to that period.
The aim of the conference is to analyse the meanings and functions attributed to the concept of ‘Aufklärung’ in the period from 1850 to 1920 in their diverse developments.
Venue: IZEA, Franckeplatz 1, House 54, 06110 Halle (Saale)
Programme flyer: here
