Work · German Idealism & Its Heirs
On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers
Religion is a sense and taste for the infinite.
Introduction
Schleiermacher published the book anonymously in Berlin in 1799, while serving as a hospital chaplain at the Charité and living among the early Romantics. It consists of five speeches: a defence of speaking about religion at all, a speech on the essence of religion, one on education to religion, one on religious community and church, and one on the historical religions, including Christianity. The second speech defines religion as intuition and feeling of the universe, distinct from metaphysics and morality. Schleiermacher revised the text for new editions in 1806 and 1821.
Read the full text
Free full text, often an older edition or translation
Connections
Builds on
- Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order1677 · Baruch de Spinoza
More works by Friedrich Schleiermacher
As of November 2026 · Improve this page · How Agora is made