Continued existence, reincarnation, and the power of sympathy in classical Weimar

In Wieland's novel Agathodamon, Apollonius ponders fundamental questions concerned with the plurality of lives, questions that have fascinated a host of poets and philosophers throughout history. Intensely aware of this tradition, the writers of German Classicism eagerly searched for answers, and one possibility for continued life, the transmigration of the soul, caught their abiding interest.

Professor Kurth-Voigt's book traces the development of these concepts in ancient literature, Judaism, and early Christianity; it outlines their discussion during the Enlightenment and indicates the importance of Orientalism for Western views on reincarnation. The final and major part of the book treats the reception of these ideas in the writings of the Weimar classicists, and shows that their interest in these matters was more profound and lasting than has hitherto been recognized.