A Revolution Of The Mind: Radical Enlightenment And The Intellectual Origins Of Modern Democracy
by Jonathan Israel /
2009 / English / PDF
1.4 MB Download
Democracy, free thought and expression, religious tolerance,
individual liberty, political self-determination of peoples,
sexual and racial equality--these values have firmly entered the
mainstream in the decades since they were enshrined in the 1948
U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. But if these ideals no longer
seem radical today, their origin was very radical indeed--far
more so than most historians have been willing to recognize. In
Democracy, free thought and expression, religious tolerance,
individual liberty, political self-determination of peoples,
sexual and racial equality--these values have firmly entered the
mainstream in the decades since they were enshrined in the 1948
U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. But if these ideals no longer
seem radical today, their origin was very radical indeed--far
more so than most historians have been willing to recognize. InA Revolution of the Mind
A Revolution of the Mind, Jonathan Israel, one of the
world's leading historians of the Enlightenment, traces the
philosophical roots of these ideas to what were the least
respectable strata of Enlightenment thought--what he calls the
Radical Enlightenment.
, Jonathan Israel, one of the
world's leading historians of the Enlightenment, traces the
philosophical roots of these ideas to what were the least
respectable strata of Enlightenment thought--what he calls the
Radical Enlightenment.
Originating as a clandestine movement of ideas that was almost
entirely hidden from public view during its earliest phase, the
Radical Enlightenment matured in opposition to the moderate
mainstream Enlightenment dominant in Europe and America in the
eighteenth century. During the revolutionary decades of the
1770s, 1780s, and 1790s, the Radical Enlightenment burst into the
open, only to provoke a long and bitter backlash.
Originating as a clandestine movement of ideas that was almost
entirely hidden from public view during its earliest phase, the
Radical Enlightenment matured in opposition to the moderate
mainstream Enlightenment dominant in Europe and America in the
eighteenth century. During the revolutionary decades of the
1770s, 1780s, and 1790s, the Radical Enlightenment burst into the
open, only to provoke a long and bitter backlash.A Revolution
of the Mind
A Revolution
of the Mind shows that this vigorous opposition was mainly
due to the powerful impulses in society to defend the principles
of monarchy, aristocracy, empire, and racial
hierarchy--principles linked to the upholding of censorship,
church authority, social inequality, racial segregation,
religious discrimination, and far-reaching privilege for ruling
groups.
shows that this vigorous opposition was mainly
due to the powerful impulses in society to defend the principles
of monarchy, aristocracy, empire, and racial
hierarchy--principles linked to the upholding of censorship,
church authority, social inequality, racial segregation,
religious discrimination, and far-reaching privilege for ruling
groups.
In telling this fascinating history,
In telling this fascinating history,A Revolution of the
Mind
A Revolution of the
Mind reveals the surprising origin of our most cherished
values--and helps explain why in certain circles they are
frequently disapproved of and attacked even today.
reveals the surprising origin of our most cherished
values--and helps explain why in certain circles they are
frequently disapproved of and attacked even today.