Discovering the Human

Life Science and the Arts in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries

Contributions by Christoph Heyl Contributions by Mascha Hansen Contributions by Sladja Blazan Contributions by Catherine Clinger Contributions by Ulrike Kristina Köhler Contributions by Felix C.H. Sprang Contributions by Hania Siebenpfeiffer Contributions by Helga Schwalm Contributions by Birgit M. Kaiser Contributions by Ute Berns Edited by Ralf Haekel Edited by Sabine Blackmore

Book cover: Discovering the Human

Extent: 204 pages

Publisher: V&R unipress

Subjects: Earth & Life Sciences , Eighteenth-Century Studies, Nineteenth-Century Studies

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(August 2013)

ISBN: 9783847101376

6.42 x 9.65 inches

Price: $82.00

In stock

‘Discovering the Human’ is concerned with the development of the modern notion of the human and the consequences this had for the sciences, literature and other media in the 18th and the early 19th centuries.The chapters of the first part shed light on the human in art and science in the Age of Enlightenment, those collected in the second part are concerned with transitions taking place at the turn of the 19th century. The third part shifts the focus from a historical analysis to a theoretical scrutiny of the human in different media and of the human as medium itself.


English Summary:’Discovering the Human’ investigates the emergence of the modern human sciences and their impact on literature, art and other media in the 18th and the 19th centuries. Up until the 1830s, science and culture were part of a joint endeavour to discover and explore the secret of life. The question ‘What is life?’ unites science and the arts during the Ages of Enlightenment and Romanticism, and at the end of the Romantic period, a shift of focus from the human as an organic whole to the specialized disciplines signals the dawning of modernity. The emphasis of the edited collection is threefold: the first part sheds light on the human in art and science in the Age of Enlightenment, the second part is concerned with the transitions taking place at the turn of the 19th century. The chapters forming the third part investigate the impact of different media on the concept of the human in science, literature and film. German Description:’Discovering the Human’ investigates the emergence of the modern human sciences and their impact on literature, art and other media in the 18th and 19th centuries. Up until the 1830s, science and culture were part of a joint endeavour to discover and explore the secret of life. The question ‘What is life?’ unites science and the arts during the Ages of Enlightenment and Romanticism, and at the end of the Romantic period, a shift of focus from the human as an organic whole to the specialized disciplines signals the dawning of modernity. The emphasis of the edited collection is threefold: the first part sheds light on the human in art and science in the Age of Enlightenment, the second part is concerned with the transitions taking place at the turn of the 19th century. The chapters forming the third part investigate the impact of different media on the concept of the human in science, literature and film.

  • Contributions by Christoph Heyl
  • Contributions by Mascha Hansen
  • Contributions by Sladja Blazan
  • Contributions by Catherine Clinger
  • Contributions by Ulrike Kristina Köhler
  • Contributions by Felix C.H. Sprang
  • Contributions by Hania Siebenpfeiffer
  • Contributions by Helga Schwalm
  • Contributions by Birgit M. Kaiser
  • Contributions by Ute Berns
  • Edited by Ralf Haekel
  • Edited by Sabine Blackmore