Geschichte der Zärtlichkeit

The Code Civil, introduced by Napoleon on March 21, 1804, marks a historical turning point: unlike in canon law, sex within marriage is no longer subject to a legal obligation. In a liberal state governed by the rule of law, it can, as Enlightenment philosophers argue, only be an act of freedom. However, this new freedom causes uncertainty. At the same time, a reflection begins on how to regulate the happenings in bourgeois bedrooms differently. Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, and later Freud referred to the free negotiation of marital intercourse as "tenderness." In an impressive combination of meticulous text analysis and historical research, Johannes Kleinbeck's history of tenderness not only traces the fears and longings that the authors experienced in light of this upheaval but also uncovers a core aspect of bourgeois philosophy that cannot be separated from a specifically modern form of patriarchal power exercise. Since then, anyone questioning the possibilities of sexual freedom must not only examine legislation to what extent it grants sexual self-determination but also analyze the everyday interactions in which gender-specific scopes of action are outlined.