Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht
Albert Guérard Professor in Literature
Departments of Comparative Literature, French and Italian, and German Studies
Stanford University
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
4:30-6:00 PM
Elvehjem, Room L140
Hegel was both irritated and fascinated by Diderot’s intellectual style (above all by “Rameau’s Nephew” as its fictional embodiment). And this irritation is but one of multiple symptoms nourishing the suspicion that we may have long overlooked an epistemological configuration emerging from the 18th century — and incompatible with our conventional concepts of “Enlightenment.” Seen from such a perspective, the writings of Diderot, the thinking of Lichtenberg, the art of Goya, and Mozart’s music may show surprising affinities with our intellectual situation in the early 21st century.
Special Guest Lecture presented by: The UW-Madison Intellectual History Group, with the generous assistance of the Department of History, The Center for European Studies, The Harvey Goldberg Center, The Mosse Program in History, The Institute for Research in the Humanities, The Center for the Humanities, and the Merle Curti Fund.