
The Enlightenment and Its Shadows
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 1. July 2026
Book
Hardback
244 pages
978-1-041-34983-9 (ISBN)
Description
The Enlightenment, a broad and complex phenomenon, is a vital part of the history of European culture. It shaped intellectual life from the middle of the seventeenth century until the early nineteenth century and in its shadows many intellectual battles are still being fought. The contributors to this original and provocative book, The Enlightenment and Its Shadows (originally published in 1990) subject both Enlightenment and subsequent responses to it to critical scrutiny.
Passionately committed to an interdisciplinary approach, the contributions are drawn from a variety of disciplines: art history and theory, government, history, language and linguistics, literature, philosophy, sociology, music, economics-and present a distinctively broad and polemical view of the Enlightenment, which is enhanced by the imaginative use of numerous illustrations. The essays demonstrate the continuing importance of the Enlightenment to a range of debates of the time on such issues as human rights, nature, economics, and colonialism. They focus on England, Scotland, France, and Germany, and their innovative approach does justice to the complexity of figures like Voltaire, Ferguson, Kant, Burke, and Rousseau.
Essential reading for students of the history, literature, culture, philosophy, and politics of Europe between 1650 and 1820, the book will be invaluable for general readers interested in the period.
Passionately committed to an interdisciplinary approach, the contributions are drawn from a variety of disciplines: art history and theory, government, history, language and linguistics, literature, philosophy, sociology, music, economics-and present a distinctively broad and polemical view of the Enlightenment, which is enhanced by the imaginative use of numerous illustrations. The essays demonstrate the continuing importance of the Enlightenment to a range of debates of the time on such issues as human rights, nature, economics, and colonialism. They focus on England, Scotland, France, and Germany, and their innovative approach does justice to the complexity of figures like Voltaire, Ferguson, Kant, Burke, and Rousseau.
Essential reading for students of the history, literature, culture, philosophy, and politics of Europe between 1650 and 1820, the book will be invaluable for general readers interested in the period.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
General and Postgraduate
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-041-34983-9 (9781041349839)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Peter Hulme | Ludmilla Jordanova
The Enlightenment and Its Shadows
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
Routledge
€39.49
Available for download

Peter Hulme | Ludmilla Jordanova
The Enlightenment and Its Shadows
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
Routledge
€39.49
Available for download
Persons
Peter Hulme
Ludmilla Jordanova
Ludmilla Jordanova
Content
1. Introduction 2. The spontaneous hand of nature: savagery, colonialism, and the Enlightenment 3. Candide and native America 4. Music in the Enlightenment 5. Difficult difference: Rousseau's fictions of identity 6. Mercier's Enlightenment utopia: progress and social ideals 7. Adam Ferguson and the enterprise culture 8. Imagining the Republic: the sign and sexual politics in France 9. Reflections on Burke's Reflections, 1790-1990 10. Human rights and the corruption of governments, 1789-1989 11. Enlightenment as autonomy: Kant's vindication of reason 12. The authoritarian response