SOURCE: “Schleiermacher, Rationalism, and Romanticism,” in Friedrich Schleiermacher: The Evolution of a Nationalist, University of Texas Press, 1941, pp. 17-42.

In the following excerpt, Dawson traces the development of Schleiermacher's nationalism and his response to the romanticist philosophy in the context of his Speeches on Religion.

The subtle, subjective influence of Pietism upon Schleiermacher was an excellent preparation for the next step he took in his evolutionary progress toward nationalism: the study of rationalism. When he cast off the yoke of rigid Moravian Pietistic doctrines in order to study at Halle, he did more than just leave one institution for another. He cut himself off from a basic interpretation of the relationship of man to God and of man to society. Discarding his theological interpretation of human relations necessitated a vigorous search for a suitable substitute with which he would be able to evaluate society. Almost accidentally he turned...