'Douglas Moggach's The Philosophy and Politics of Bruno Bauer is a detailed and exciting account of the life of one such priest of modernity who made it his life's work to herald the coming age of reason and freedom in view of the failed revolutions of the past. … Moggach's work is … an extremely valuable resource for those interest in late German idealism and also for those more broadly concerned with the modern project as it was advanced by figures such as Bauer.' H-Net Book Review

This is a comprehensive study in English of Bruno Bauer, a leading Hegelian philosopher of the 1840s. Inspired by the philosophy of Hegel, Bauer led an intellectual revolution that influenced Marx and shaped modern secular humanism. In the process he offered a republican alternative to liberalism and socialism, criticized religious and political conservatism and set out the terms for the development of modern mass and industrial society. Based on in-depth archival research this book traces the emergence of republican political thought in Germany before the revolutions of 1848. Professor Moggach examines Bauer's republicanism and his concept of infinite self-consciousness. He also explores the more disturbing aspects of Bauer's critique of modernity, such as his anti-Semitism. This book will be eagerly sought out by professionals in political philosophy, political science and intellectual history.

Preface
Introduction: 'the friend of freedom'
Part I. Foundations: Aesthetics, Ethics and Republicanism: 1. 'The idea is life': Bauer's aesthetics and political thought
2. 'Free means ethical': idealism, history and critical theory
Part II. Judging the Old Order: 3. 'The other of itself': the critique of the religious consciousness
4. 'Revolution and the Republic': the state and self-consciousness
Part III. The Emancipatory Project: 5. 'Only the ought is true': Hegel, self-consciousness and revolution
6. 'To the people belongs the future': universal right and history
Part IV. Judging the Revolutionary Movement: 7. 'The fire of criticism': revolutionary dynamics, 1843–8
8. 'The republic of self-consciousness': revolutionary politics in 1848
Epilogue: after the revolution: the conclusion of the Christian-Germanic age
Appendix: Bruno Bauer, 'On the Principles of the Beautiful' (1829)
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], Religion & beliefs [HR], Philosophy [HP]