Elise Reimarus, an Enlightened Radical. Analysis and Interpretation of Freiheit (1791) with a First Spanish Translation.

Abstract

In this article I analyze the content of the book Freiheti, published anonymously in 1791 and recently attributed to the writer Elise Reimarus (1735-1803). It is a fundamental work of the Enlightenment period, which, however, has not yet received sufficient attention from scholars. In addition to providing a presentation of the text, examining the state of the art and offering an analysis of the book's content, I include the first Spanish translation of the text. My aim is to show that in fulfilling her goal of defining what freedom is, Reimarus conveys a double message. On the one hand, the philosopher praises the Hamburg constitution and calls upon her fellow citizens to obey the laws that make true freedom possible. On the other hand, she addresses the princes of Europe to call on them to introduce reforms in their political structures that guarantee human rights, equality and justice, as well as defending the legitimacy of political revolution, the need to adopt a democratic form of government and freedom of thought and expression. For all these reasons, and taking into account the way in which scholars define it, I believe that Elise Reimarus can be considered as an exponent of what is known as the radical Enlightenment.