This study is an investigation of the impact of Spinozan metaphysics on German-speaking writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In terms of specific works by Friedrich Schiller and C.F. Meyer, this influence has hitherto gone unnoticed. Though it has long been recognized that George Büchner was profoundly affected by Spinozism, in-depth treatments of this important dimension of his thought have, by and large, been lacking. This book contains an attempt to come to terms with significant aspects of Büchner's reception of Spinoza, as found both in his literary and non-literary writings.
"To this date, the considerable influence of Spinozism on German-speaking literature received little attention in related studies. Rodney Taylor now presents an impressive and pioneering large-scale investigation of this important phenomenon. This will be a sine qua non for all future research." (Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah)
"Das Buch enthält fünf äußerst lesenswerte, als solche selbständige Aufsätze, die sich mit Aspekten der un- oder mittelbaren Einflußnahme Spinozas ø...! auf F. von Schiller, G. Büchner und C.F. Meyer beschäftigen." (Günter Helmes, Germanistik)
"...this study contains a wealth of new insights and much food for thought. It belongs on the shelves of every scholar in the history of ideas and culture." (Gerhard P. Knapp, The German Quarterly)
"Das Buch enthält fünf äußerst lesenswerte, als solche selbständige Aufsätze, die sich mit Aspekten der un- oder mittelbaren Einflußnahme Spinozas ø...! auf F. von Schiller, G. Büchner und C.F. Meyer beschäftigen." (Günter Helmes, Germanistik)
"...this study contains a wealth of new insights and much food for thought. It belongs on the shelves of every scholar in the history of ideas and culture." (Gerhard P. Knapp, The German Quarterly)