The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy - Hardcover

Gottlieb, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713995440 ISBN 13: 9780713995442

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2016

Synopsis

The author of the celebrated The Dream of Reason vividly explains the rise of modern thought from Descartes to Rousseau

Western philosophy is now two and a half millennia old, but much of it came in just two staccato bursts, each lasting only about 150 years. In his landmark survey of Western philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance, The Dream of Reason, Anthony Gottlieb documented the first of these, which came in the Athens of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Now, in The Dream of Enlightenment, Gottlieb expertly navigates the second great explosion of thought, taking us to northern Europe in the wake of its wars of religion and the rise of Galilean science. In a relatively short period - from the early 1640s to the eve of the French Revolution - Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, and Hume all made their mark. The Dream of Enlightenment tells their story and that of the birth of modern philosophy.

As Gottlieb explains, all these men were amateurs: none had much to do with any university. They tried to fathom the implications of the new science and of religious upheaval, which led them to question traditional teachings and attitudes. What does the advance of science entail for our understanding of ourselves and for our ideas of God? How should a government deal with religious diversity - and what is government actually for? Such questions remain our questions.

Yet it is because we still want to hear them that we can easily get these philosophers wrong. It is tempting to think they speak our language and live in our world; but to understand them properly, we must step back into their shoes. Gottlieb puts readers in the minds of these frequently misinterpreted figures, elucidating the history of their times while engagingly explaining their arguments and assessing their legacy. The Dream of Enlightenment creates a sweeping account of what they amounted to, and why we are still in their debt.

About this title

Review:

Wondrously perceptive and exceptionally well-written (Edward O. Wilson)

I have never seen a discussion of philosophy as fun to read (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)

The Dream of Enlightenment is an entertaining introduction to a range of daring thinkers of the long Enlightenment from Descartes to Rousseau. The author has a light touch, and his book is a joy to read. He manages to convey the excitement of ideas, and the humanity of thinkers, without swamping readers with complexity. (Economist)

Vivid and illuminating ... a compact but fairly comprehensive survey, along with much historical detail ... Gottlieb's highly readable book can be recommended as an engaging personal introduction to some of our most brilliant moral and intellectual ancestors. (Thomas Nagel New York Review of Books)

He wears his learning lightly with an engaging and entirely comprehensible sequence of crystal-clear paragraphs. ... His prose is as witty as it is punctilious, peppered with clever, memorable lines. ... Because Gottlieb does not take an excessively idealistic view of the power of reason, he is able to put the achievements of the thinkers in this book in their place, neither exaggerating nor diminishing them. He is as crisp in his criticism of the thinkers he admires as he is of their shallower opponents. (Julian Baggini Financial Times)

He writes with easy elegance and pace as he takes you on a tour of some of the high points of Enlightenment thinking ... Gottlieb sweeps away a considerable stock of mythologies. He ... provides incisive and winning exegesis. (Richard Bourke Literary Review)

From the Back Cover:

In a short period - from the early 1640s to the eve of the French Revolution - Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz and Hume made an extraordinary mark on Western thought. The Dream of Enlightenment illuminates their lives, arguments and legacy, and tells the story of the birth of modern philosophy.

'Wondrously perceptive and exceptionally well-written' Edward O. Wilson

'The Dream of Enlightenment follows Anthony Gottlieb's superb The Dream of Reason - now a modern classic - and looks set to become one too' Dominic Green, Spectator

'A joy to read ... an entertaining introduction to a range of daring thinkers of the long Enlightenment' Economist

'His prose is as witty as it is punctilious, peppered with clever, memorable lines' Julian Baggini, Financial Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0713995440
• ISBN 13: 9780713995442
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320