Download or read book Visions of the Enlightenment written by Michael Sauter and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2009-06-17 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.