The Dream of Reason and the Monsters It Gives Birth to

The processes of the Enlightenment and rationalization in Europe – Scholars discuss the phenomenon of skepticism towards rationalization
Processes of Enlightenment and rationalization in Europe were discussed in the workshop “The Dream of Reason,” held on 4 and 5 July 2008. The phenomenon of skepticism towards rationalization, which was analyzed beyond the eighteenth century with a particular focus on European cultures of premodern times, was at the center of the discussion. Göttingen scholars from the areas of literary studies, history, theology, and law discussed these topics with guests from Germany and abroad.



“The tendencies to rationalization and bureaucracy, which are characteristic for the European Enlightenment, cannot be universalized and do not necessarily lead to democratization and the constitutional state. Rather, in the light of recent global problems such as religious fundamentalism, there is a turn to skepticism towards rationalization,” Frank Rexroth, Professor of Medieval and Modern History, argues. “Our research is concerned with the forms of resistance that the processes of Enlightenment and rationalization provoked in its historical depth already in the Middle Ages. This is particularly relevant because cultural studies have so far tended only to look at these developments in the last 200 years.” The workshop was also designed as a presentation of the research training group “Expert Cultures from the 12th to the 16th centuries,” which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) since 1 April 2009.