Aufklärung als Selbstdeutung

Johann Joachim Spalding's (1714-1804) early work »The Determination of Man« (1748) is not only a classic of Enlightenment theology, but also played a large part in the anthropological transition in the 18th century. Based on the fundamental question of man in regard to his determination, Spalding attempted to make morality and religion plausible as functions of subjective self-interpretation. In his biographical and historical analysis, Georg Raatz deals with Spalding's reception of the English philosopher Shaftesbury. Among other things, he focuses on the literary-rhetorical device of the monologue and the consequences of this for Spalding's concept of religion. Raatz shows how Spalding's work on the determination of man is an important contribution to the concept of a modern and enlightened Protestantism, a concept which is still unfinished.