Visions of the Enlightenment: The Edict on Religion of 1788 and the Politics of the Public Sphere in Eighteenth-Century Prussia

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The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

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Visions of the Enlightenment: The Edict on Religion of 1788 and the Politics of the Public Sphere in Eighteenth-Century Prussia

Michael J. Sauter

Books

Available
Publication year: 2009


Series:	Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 177
ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 17651 5
ISBN-10:	90 04 17651 9

Cover:	Hardback
Number of pages:	xvi, 242 pp.

List price:	€ 99.00 / US$ 147.00

Table of contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Frederickian Monarchy and the Enlightenment in Prussia
2. The Ponytail, the Enthusiast, and the “Enlightened” Public Sphere
3. The Enlightenment on Trial
4. Conscience and the Rhetoric of Freedom
5. Counting the Enlightenment
6. What was Enlightenment?
Conclusion
Appendix A: All Texts (120) Published in Response to the Edict
Appendix B: Reviews (57) Not Published in the “Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek”
Appendix C: On the Philosophical Debate on the Nature and Boundaries
of the Enlightenment
Bibliography
Index

Readership

All those interested in the Enlightenment, the public sphere, the history of Prussia, and state and religion in early-modern Europe.

About the author(s)

Michael J. Sauter, Ph.D. (2002) in History, UCLA, is Profesor-Investigador at Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, A.C. in Mexico City.

This book examines the public battle sparked by the promulgation in 1788 of Prussia's Edict on Religion. Historians have seen in this moment nothing less than the end of the Enlightenment in Prussia. This book begs to differ and argues that social control had a long 'enlightened' pedigree. Using both archival and published documents, this book reveals deeply the entire Prussian elite was invested in social control of the masses, especially in the public sphere. What emerges is a picture of the Enlightenment in Prussia as a conservative enterprise that was limited by not merely the state but also the social anxities of the Prussian elite.

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