The 130 years from Voltaire's Candide to Nietzsche's Anti-Christ were a period of astounding literary and philosophical development in Europe, with French and German writers not only playing leading roles but also intensely influencing one another. The course will examine French-German intellectual achievements and relations against the backdrop of the political and social metamorphoses of France and Germany from the reign of Louis XV to Bismarck's creation of the Second Reich. Readings will be drawn from the works of Voltaire, Lessing, Rousseau, Kant, Goethe, Condorcet, Schiller, Madame de Stael, Novalis, Nerval, Buchner, Baudelaire, Marx, George Sand, and Nietzsche. All readings in English translation, but students with competence in French and/or German will have the opportunity to read some works in the original. Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: active class participation, two take-home essay exams. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 25 (expected: 15-20). Preference given to German majors and by seniority.