Ernst Troeltsch: Kritische Gesamtausgabe.

Adair-Toteff, Christopher

Ernst Troeltsch: Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Volume 19, Briefe II (1894-1904). Edited by Friedrich Wilhelm Graf together with Harald Haury. Munich: Walter de Gruyter, 2014. Pp. xvi + 527. 187.87 [euro].

This is the second of four volumes that contain Ernst Troeltsch's correspondence. The volume begins with correspondences in 1894, the year that Troeltsch became professor at Heidelberg, and ends in 1904 when he and Max Weber traveled to St. Louis to present papers at the International Congress of Arts and Science. The letters in this volume provide a welcome corrective to the images we have of Troeltsch, the person and scholar.

Troeltsch's reputation is based primarily on his work on Protestant theology. It is almost always assumed that even in 1914, when he accepted the Berlin professorship in philosophy, he either simply remained a theologian or only began to be interested in philosophy. Neither of these assumptions is accurate, however; even Troeltsch's letters from around the turn of the century reveal that he was preoccupied with philosophical issues (122, 325, 348, 367). This preoccupation with philosophy is also demonstrated by some of his publications, including "Moderne Geschichtsphilosophie" (1903), which was in the "Festschrift" for the philosopher Kuno Fischer; and "Das Historische in Kants Religionsphilosophie" (1904), Troeltsch's lengthy contribution to the special edition of Kant-Studien. This period also includes his entries on the English Moralists, the Enlightenment, and on German Idealism for the third edition of the Realencykopadie fur protestantische Theologie und Kirche. The only book that Troeltsch published during this time was his Die Absolutheit des Christentums und die Religionsgeschichte (1901), only 129 pages in length. Troeltsch was very productive, but he complained that his work caused him much sweat and insisted that he could not write a big book because he was "a man more for essays than for books" (62, 65, 140).

Troeltsch's correspondence also reveals his dismissive attitude toward the older approach to theology; he rejected dogmatics as stupid (260, 295), and insisted that he had broken with his teacher Albrecht Ritschl. Feeling isolated in the theology department at Heidelberg, Troeltsch sought friendship with faculty members in other disciplines, especially Georg Jellinek and Max Weber (54, 179). Troeltsch also prided himself on his ability to keep his scholarly research separate from his personal piety (193, 205) and his work free from value judgments, which impressed Weber. But whatever correspondence there was between Troeltsch and Weber has been lost, and in this volume, Weber is rarely mentioned. Troeltsch's letters to his wife during the trip to St. Louis suggest that Weber appeared not to be bothered by the conflict and bustle of America, and seemed to believe that the country was the wave of the future. In contrast, Troeltsch's opinion was closer to that of Weber's wife, Marianne; she and Troeltsch were seriously affected by the hectic pace, noise, and pollution (411-17).

The image we have of Troeltsch comes largely from Marianne's biography of her husband. She frequently appreciated Troeltsch's sense of humor, but thought him too ready to compromise. The letters show that Troeltsch was not afraid of conflict--he had a penchant for entering into controversies without hesitation. These were often theological; Troeltsch repeatedly notes his ongoing polemic with Julius Kaftan (98, 115, 125,140, 187,194). Conflicts were occasionally about organizational matters--for example, his ongoing battle with his colleague Ludwig Lemme over the preparations for the celebration of the centennial of Richard Rothe's birthday (192, 195, 229).

The correspondence also shows Troeltsch as overworked, depressed, and occasionally unwell. He wrote, for instance, of his family's financial misfortune and of his hope for marital happiness (144, 182-83, 185-86, 198). Though diligent in meeting his scholarly deadlines, Troeltsch complained of being habitually late with his correspondence; and though he published an astonishingly large number of works, he always estimated that it would take years if not decades to finish some of his projects. In fact, Troeltsch never completed his proposed book on the history of theology (88, 119). He repeatedly promised it to Paul Siebeck, owner of the publishing firm J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck). Siebeck consistently relied on Troeltsch as an author and never rejected a single submission from him (18). Siebeck wanted Troeltsch to be one of the major editors of the multivolume Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, and he frequently wrote him for advice on potential submissions and collaborators (100, 109-10, 139-41).

The editors acknowledge that Troeltsch's correspondence is incomplete and lament that many letters are probably lost forever. Despite these relatively minor problems, interested scholars will greatly appreciate this volume, as it provides a more accurate and much fuller picture of Ernst Troeltsch than we have had previously.

DOI: 10.1177/0040563915605266

Christopher Adair-Toteff

University of South Florida, Tampa