Die vorliegende Arbeit entstand wahrend meiner Tatigkeit als wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Fraunhofer-Institut fur Produktionstechnik und Automatisierung (IPA), Stuttgart. Mein besonderer Dank gilt Herrn Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h. c. E. Westkamper, der mir die erfolgreiche Durchfuhrung dieser Arbeit an seinem Institut ermoeglicht hat. Herrn Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h. c. U. Heisel danke ich fur die UEbernahme des Mitberichts und die eingehende Durchsicht der Arbeit. Mein Dank gilt auch Herrn Dr.-Ing. J. Troeger fur die wertvollen Hinweise, die sich bei der Durchsicht der Arbeit und der anschliessenden Diskussion ergaben. Aus dem grossen Kreis der Kollegen am Institut, die mich durch ihre Mitarbeit und anregende Kritik unterstutzt haben, moechte ich Herrn Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h. c. R. D. Schraft, Herrn Dr.-Ing. M. Schweizer, Herrn Dr.-Ing. H. Dreher, Herrn Dipl.-Ing. J. C. Spingier, Herrn Dipl.-Ing. F. Visel und Herrn Dipl.-Ing. W. Haase erwahnen. Ihnen allen sowie den Studenten, die am Gelingen meiner Arbeit beteiligt waren, gilt mein herzlicher Dank. Ganz besonders danke ich meiner Frau Jutta und meiner Tochter Julia Isabel, die mit viel Verstandnis und mancherlei Verzicht zum Gelingen dieser Arbeit wesentlich beigetragen haben. Dieses Buch widme ich in grosser Dankbarkeit meinem verstorbenen Vater, der meinen Werdegang gepragt und mir diesen ermoeglicht hat.

Dieses Buch hat eine lange, allzu lange Entstehungsgeschichte. Den ersten Entwurf habe ich vor einigen Jahren aus Anlass eines Seminars uber soziale Schichtung verfasst. Ich hatte die feste Absicht, ihn in den Ferien fur die Veroffentlichung umzuar beiten. Daraus wurde.dann aus Grunden, die ich im einzelnen nicht in Erinnerung habe, nichts. Wahrscheinlich waren es dieselben Grunde, die mich mehrfach veranlassten, halbwegs fertige Entwurfe beiseite zu legen, namlich andere und vermeintlich dringendere Arbeiten. Ein Freisemester gab mir jetzt die Gelegenheit, das druckreife Manuskript zu schreiben. Ich hoffe, us der Erfahrung gelernt zu haben, niemals einen Entwurf nur halbfertig in die Schublade zu verbannen. Manuskripte sind nicht wie Wein; sie werden durch Liegen lassen nicht besser. Meine Kollegin, Frau Helge Pross, hat einen Entwurf des Manuskripts mit Akribie gelesen. Fur ihre Kommen tare und ihre Kritik, die mich zum Nachdenken zwangen, mochte ich ihr herzlich danken. Meine Frau hat in vielerlei Weise dazu beigetragen, dass das Buch zu Ende geschrieben wurde. Sie hat, trotz eigenen Berufs, im Kochtopf geruhrt und viele meiner Aufgaben ubernommen. So verschaffte sie mir Zeit und Ruhe. Viel wichtiger war jedoch ihre intellektuelle Hilfe. Sie hat das endgultige Manuskript gelesen und immer wieder auf klare Gedankenfuhrung und deutliche Formulierung gedrangt."

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.The Age of Enlightenment profoundly enriched religious and philosophical understanding and continues to influence present-day thinking. Works collected here include masterpieces by David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as religious sermons and moral debates on the issues of the day, such as the slave trade. The Age of Reason saw conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism transformed into one between faith and logic -- a debate that continues in the twenty-first century.++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++British LibraryT130272London: printed for J. Johnson, 1777. xv, 1],355, 1]p.; 8

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.The Age of Enlightenment profoundly enriched religious and philosophical understanding and continues to influence present-day thinking. Works collected here include masterpieces by David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as religious sermons and moral debates on the issues of the day, such as the slave trade. The Age of Reason saw conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism transformed into one between faith and logic -- a debate that continues in the twenty-first century.++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++British LibraryT105250Dublin: printed for G. Faulkner, 1763. lxxii,270p.; 8

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.