Enlightenment Contested: Philosophy, Modernity, and the Emancipation of Man 1670-1752 - Softcover

Israel, Jonathan I.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199541523 ISBN 13: 9780199541522

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Jonathan Israel presents the first major reassessment of the Western Enlightenment for a generation. Continuing the story he began in the best-selling Radical Enlightenment , and now focusing his attention on the first half of the eighteenth century, he returns to the original sources to offer a groundbreaking new perspective on the nature and development of the most important currents in modern thought.

Israel traces many of the core principles of Western modernity to their roots in the social, political, and philosophical ferment of this period: the primacy of reason, democracy, racial equality, feminism, religious toleration, sexual emancipation, and freedom of expression. He emphasizes the dual character of the Enlightenment, and the bitter struggle between on the one hand a generally dominant, anti-democratic mainstream, supporting the monarchy, aristocracy, and ecclesiastical authority, and on the other a largely repressed democratic, republican, and "materialist" radical fringe. He also contends that the supposedly separate French, British, German, Dutch, and Italian enlightenments interacted to such a degree that their study in isolation gives a hopelessly distorted picture.

A work of dazzling and highly accessible scholarship, Enlightenment Contested will be the definitive reference point for historians, philosophers, and anyone engaged with this fascinating period of human development.

About this title

About the Author

Jonathan Israel is Professor of Modern European History, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

Review

"Enlightenment Contested is full of wonderful things."--John Dunn, Literary Review

"Mr. Israel's groundbreaking interpretation looks to establish itself as the one to beat."--The Economist

"An enormously impressive piece of shcholarship. The breadth and depth of the author's reading are breathtaking and Enlightenment Contested is set to become the definitive work for philosophers as well as historians on this extraordinary period."--Keith Richmond, Tribune

"Brilliantly presented and dense with learning."--Simon Blackburn, THES

"Evocative and compelling."--John Dunn, Literary Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0199541523
• ISBN 13: 9780199541522
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1024