Friedrich Muench's Thoughts on Women
While Friedrich Muench was certainly a student of the Age of Reason, his views on the role of women in society were hardly enlightened. In this piece from an 1849 publication, The Spirit of the Age, Muench employs his reasoning skills to advocate for the traditional role of women. One can see clearly in this text the influence of the Enlightenment idea that the universe is a logical system created by God and that men and women were part of that overall design. In addition, the influence of his favorite philosopher, Immanuel Kant, is evident in the idea that men and women were bestowed with skills that fit their respective duties in life. Of course, monarchs would use similar reasoning in making an argument for the divine right of kings to rule.
Also interesting is that Muench fails to fully recognize that change is also an important part of that divine system of the universe. It's puzzling that he could make the argument that Christianity and chivalry changed civilization over time, and yet not conclude that society might change further. Here he seems trapped by the Enlightenment tendency to believe that civilization had reached its zenith and could improve no further, so his reasoning falls well short of being a good predictor of things to come, such as a female candidate for a major political party having a legitimate shot at the U.S. presidency. However, we should cut Muench some slack in this failure to recognize change as an important factor because Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species would not come until 1859, 10 years later. At the time of this writing, there were several competing proto-evolutionary theories in vogue regarding the "transmutation of species" that the theory of evolution would eventually supplant.
Also interesting is that Muench fails to fully recognize that change is also an important part of that divine system of the universe. It's puzzling that he could make the argument that Christianity and chivalry changed civilization over time, and yet not conclude that society might change further. Here he seems trapped by the Enlightenment tendency to believe that civilization had reached its zenith and could improve no further, so his reasoning falls well short of being a good predictor of things to come, such as a female candidate for a major political party having a legitimate shot at the U.S. presidency. However, we should cut Muench some slack in this failure to recognize change as an important factor because Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species would not come until 1859, 10 years later. At the time of this writing, there were several competing proto-evolutionary theories in vogue regarding the "transmutation of species" that the theory of evolution would eventually supplant.
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"German-Speaking Women in Nineteenth Century Missouri: The Immigrant Experience"
This is a chapter from Women in Missouri History, ed. LeeAnn Whites et al, University of Missouri Press, 2004, 42-63. Linda Pickle is a retired professor of German at Western Kentucky University. It quotes Friedrich Muench and speaks about the experience of female immigrants in Missouri.
Contented Among Strangers
Another earlier work by Linda Pickle quotes Friedrich Muench. See Chapter 3, "Adventure, Alienation and Adaptation."
