In Defence of the Enlightenment - Softcover

Todorov

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1843548143 ISBN 13: 9781843548140

Publisher: Atlantic, 2010

Synopsis

Tzvetan Todorov argues that although our liberal democracies are the offspring of the Enlightenment, they also illustrate the ways in which its ideas have been distorted and perverted. People living in contemporary democracies are often baffled by phenomena which resist easy judgement: globalisation and media omnipotence; disinformation and state-sponsored torture; moralism and the right of intervention; the dominance of economics and the triumph of technology. In this book, Todorov shows that we cannot learn lessons from the past unless we know how to relate them to the present. He demonstrates that what remains relevant to today is the spirit expressed in the core principles and values for which the Enlightenment stood. In a period of great uncertainty, In Defence of the Enlightenment could not be more timely.

About this title

About the Author:

Tzvetan Todorov is a Honorary Director of Research at the CNRS in Paris. Critic, philosopher and historian, he has written many books including Facing the Extreme and Hope and Memory, which has been translated into eleven languages. He has recently received the international Principe de Asturias prize for his achievements.

Review:

"'Hope and Memory is a book with wisdom on every page. If you want to understand the 20th century and be forewarned against the 21st, you must read it.' John Gray, Independent 'Graceful and gigantic...a fascinating tour through the subtlety, integrity, and brute honesty of Todorov's thought.' The New York Times Book Review 'Todorov invigorates the debate over morality with rigor and grace, Aristotelian fineness, fluid prose, and his own virtues of compassion, humility, and realism.' Washington Post"

About this edition

• Publisher: Atlantic
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1843548143
• ISBN 13: 9781843548140
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144