Matthew Bell

@matthewgbell.bsky.social

180 followers 610 following 67 posts

Prof of German and Comp Lit, KCL. Goethe, the classical tradition, histories of the human sciences. And for pleasure: cricket, birds, German wine, Cornwall.

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Psychology 36%

Philosophy 19%

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Jan 14

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... Very excited about this, and deep thanks to the fantastic folk at Princeton for making it happen.

Goethe

A new intellectual biography of Goethe, examining the paradox of his thought

press.princeton.edu

Reposted by Matthew Bell

Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 17h

Think you know everything about Goethe? He was a poet, a scientist, a rebel… and a total genius. Daniel Johnson breaks it all down in The Critic. Read the review of @matthewgbell.bsky.social's book here:

Goethe, a man of ideas | Daniel Johnson | The Critic Magazine

Goethe seemed to have lived many lives, for no man in history has shown glimpses of genius across such a wide range of human endeavour.

thecritic.co.uk

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 1d

Excellent review of my ‘Goethe: A Life in Ideas’ by Daniel Johnson in The Critic thecritic.co.uk/issues/novem... “Bell’s brilliant biography does full justice to this greatest of German Dichter und Denker”

Goethe, a man of ideas | Daniel Johnson | The Critic Magazine

Goethe seemed to have lived many lives, for no man in history has shown glimpses of genius across such a wide range of human endeavour.

thecritic.co.uk

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Oct 8

This is barely scratching the surface. It’s not just that you need at least 20 tabs open — they all need to stay arranged in the same left-to-right sequence, with the tabs that must always be open on the left, and the less necessary tabs on the right. How else can you possibly do it?

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Oct 8

www.kcl.ac.uk/news/researc...

Research sheds new light on contradictions between Goethe's writing and political beliefs | King's College London

Professor Matthew Bell, Professor of German and Comparative Literature in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, reveals how Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s political ideas pervade his li...

www.kcl.ac.uk

Reposted by Simon Glendinning, Matthew Bell

Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · Oct 3

Goethe: A Life in Ideas by @matthewgbell.bsky.social gets a sharp, illuminating review from Ritchie Robertson in @litreview.bsky.social! “Deeply learned, crisply written.” Read it here: literaryreview.co.uk/darkness-light-2

Ritchie Robertson - Darkness & Light

Ritchie Robertson: Darkness & Light - Goethe: A Life in Ideas by Matthew Bell

literaryreview.co.uk

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Oct 2

‘many strengths’, ‘great lucidity’, ‘clear eyed’, ‘deeply learned, crisply written biography’, ‘it will henceforth be among the indispensable studies of Goethe’.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Oct 2

literaryreview.co.uk/darkness-lig...
My 'Goethe: A Life in Ideas' reviewed by Ritchie Robertson in the Literary Review

Ritchie Robertson - Darkness & Light

Ritchie Robertson: Darkness & Light - Goethe: A Life in Ideas by Matthew Bell

literaryreview.co.uk

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Sep 29

I thought it was Denis, after a heavy night.

Reposted by Matthew Bell

Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · Sep 19

In this important and ambitious work, @matthewgbell.bsky.social offers a wide-ranging intellectual biography of Goethe, tracing the evolution of his thought and reassessing its value.

Out now! Explore a free sample: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Goethe: A Life in Ideas by Matthew Bell. A new intellectual biography of Goethe, examining the paradox of his thought.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Sep 9

Published today by the good folk at Princeton.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Sep 1

Only 8 days to wait until the publication of this baby

Cover image of Matthew Bell's book 'Goethe: A Life in Ideas', showing a marble bust of Goethe

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Jul 9

Done. Thanks for the prompt.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Jun 16

That was my dad’s favourite beer. Enjoy!

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Jun 13

Definitely Volvos do this.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Jun 5

“Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men.”

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · May 3

‘Do not make the patient suspect that he has melancholy. Rather just treat him for indigestion; help him against his excessive belief, terror and joy; and keep him from [too much] thinking’ (al-Razi, 'Comprehensive Book', c. 900 CE, quoting Rufus of Ephesus, 'On Melancholia', c. 100 CE)

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Mar 25

I’m increasingly thinking that AI is going to be a blessing for universities. The output of LLMs shows us, clear as day, how much better our students can do things if we teach and assess them well.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Mar 25

In a way this is a relief. The Meta AI engine has been trained on my book, but thankfully hasn’t been able to say anything useful about it.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Mar 25

Utter drivel and pap. And some of it just made up. The book only mentions Benjamin once in passing. It also says very little about Freud.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Mar 25

Uh oh. Here we go.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Mar 7

If revenge is best served cold, this was piping hot.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Mar 7

At a stroke Reform have removed the whip from 20% of their MPs.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Mar 1

Talking of which, anyone heard from Liz Truss lately?

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Feb 19

Currently indexing this. Sure am gonna miss it when it’s published.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Jan 25

I bought all the Joy Division and early New Order releases when they came out. Playing them tonight on my 1970s-style hifi. A refurbed Technics SL1200Mk2, an original Yamaha CA-2000 amp from the late ‘70s, and modern but 1970s-style JBL speakers.

Joy Division and New Order records stacked in front of a big 1970s hifi system

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Jan 24

Goethe to Charlotte von Stein, 1 December 1807

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Jan 19

“Sorry, I know you’re busy, but I’ve got this really great idea about a meal you could make me.”

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Jan 18

Someone has to say Dominic Cummings.

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · Jan 15

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j... Glowing review of the brilliant Keon West’s new book.

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