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With this volume, Louis Dumont's decades-long research into modern ideology reaches a new level. Following his chronological study of the development of individualism, what Dumont calls "the individualist configuration" (see Essays on Individualism, and his book devoted especially to the economic ideology, From Mandeville to Marx), Dumont now turns to comparing different national forms of modern ideology.
By means of precise studies of chosen German texts by Troeltsch, Thomas Mann, Goethe, and others, against the background of previously gathered evidence and of French common notions, he pinpoints the differences - otherwise frequently but vaguely alluded to - between French and German cultures.
While the basic social ideology of France was largely fashioned by the Enlightenment and the Revolution, the main formative influences in Germany were the Reformation and Pietism. While for the French a universalist view of mankind comes first, what is paramount for the Germans is German culture.
In Dumont's words, the Frenchman sees himself "as being a man by nature, and a Frenchman by accident" while the German feels he is "a German in the first place, and a man through his being a German." Furthermore, while individualism in the French fashion stresses equality and centers in the sociopolitical domain, in Germany it focuses on the uniqueness, the irreplaceability of the individual subject and the duty to cultivate it by self-education (Bildung).
As opposed to the French, German notions of individualism are entirely a matter of culture having little or nothing to do with politics.
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Previews available in: English
Edition | Availability |
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1
German Ideology: From France to Germany and Back
June 1, 1996, University Of Chicago Press
Paperback
in English
- New Ed edition
0226169537 9780226169538
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2
German Ideology: From France to Germany and Back
March 15, 1995, University Of Chicago Press
Hardcover
in English
0226169529 9780226169521
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3
German ideology: from France to Germany and back
1994, University of Chicago Press
in English
0226169529 9780226169521
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cccc
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Book Details
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"Who but a Frenchman can imagine he could possibly have been both himself and other than French?"
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- Created April 30, 2008
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April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
April 14, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Linked existing covers to the edition. |
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April 30, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |