Theological Ethics as Cultural Theory: Hybrid edition of F.D.E. Schleiermacher's Christian Ethics and its systematic and historical development

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Jörg Dierken; Professor Dr. Arnulf von Scheliha; Sarah Schmidt, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Notger Slenczka
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology ; History of Philosophy
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 452482296

Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher, “the Kant of Protestant theology”, is one of the great system architects of classical German philosophy. His lectures on Christian Ethics occupy a central position in his work in several respects, particularly because they complement his dogmatic doctrine (Glaubenslehre) and his lectures on practical theology, as well as his lectures on philosophical ethics. Christian Ethics also plays a special role in the genesis of his work, since the lecture volumes document the development of Schleiermacher’s thinking over the last three decades of his effectiveness, especially with regard to its central program of permeating contemporary culture with the “spirit of Christianity”. The scientific interest in Schleiermacher’s ethics as cultural philosophy has risen sharply in the last twenty years. However, the considerable boom in research based on Schleiermacher’s philosophy of culture and (Christian) ethics suffers from the fact that lectures on both Philosophical Ethics and Christian Ethics are only available in an insufficient form, and critical text editions that comply with today’s editorial standards are lacking. The research project rests on three pillars of competence: Edition (BBAW, Schleiermacher Research Departement), digital humanities (BBAW, DH project group TELOTA) and historical-systematic research (HU Berlin, MLU Halle Wittenberg, WWU Münster). These form an integral link, unleashing synergies in three directions, fulfilling the urgent requirement to open up Schleiermacher’s Christian Ethics, central for his thinking and its historical effects, in terms of text and content. The aim of the project is, on the basis of creating a historical-critical digital edition of the entire inventory of Christian Ethics manuscripts, to present it in open access, based on current DH standards, and to connect it with a print-edition of selected materials within the framework of the Critical Complete Works (KGA). This would include all of Schleiermacher’s extant manuscripts from 1809 onward, as well as all transcripts of his scholars from six years, that were passed down, starting in 1820. The text witnesses should be able to be read in synoptic view, parallel to one another, and be linked together by a theme structure, a subject index register and be arranged according to chronological aspects. On the basis of sources on the Ethics that are new and, in part, edited for the first time, the historical-systematic research strand opens up a central component of Schleiermacher’s system as Christian social and institutional theory. Thus, on one hand, it offers objective commentary on the edition. On the other hand, a reconsideration of Schleiermacher’s position and the benefit for current philosophical and theological ethics debates is prepared and initiated.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants