Deism in Enlightenment England: Theology, Politics, and Newtonian Public Science (Politics, Culture & Society in Early Modern Britain) (Politics, Culture and Society in Early Modern Britain) - Hardcover

Jeffrey R. Wigelsworth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0719078725 ISBN 13: 9780719078729

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2009

Synopsis

This is the first complete study of English deists as a group in several decades and it argues for a new interpretation of deism in the English Enlightenment. While there have been many recent studies of the deist John Toland, the writings of other contemporary deists have been forgotten. With extensive analysis of less known figures such as Anthony Collins, Matthew Tindal, Thomas Chubb, and Thomas Morgan, in addition to unique insights into Toland, "Deism in Enlightenment England" offers a much broader assessment of what deism entitled in the eighteenth century. By, considering in the same book, the politics and natural philosophy of deists set squarely into the context in which each was created, it is seen how these two avenues of their thought were inseparable.This book illustrates how a specific deist conception of God provided the link between deists' political and natural philosophy even in people who have been mistakenly labelled as godless. Such a conclusion is set explicitly against categorizations of deists as participants in a radical enlightenment, existing outside mainstream avenues of thought, and determined to topple the institutions of the establishment with their writings. Readers will see how previous interpretations of English deists, which place these figures on an irreligious trajectory leading towards modernity, need to be revised. This book uses deists to address a number of topics and themes and theme in English history and will be of particular interest to scholars of, Enlightenment history, history of science, theology, and politics and the early modern era.

About this title

About the Author:

Jeffrey R. Wigelsworth is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at Dalhousie University

About this edition

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0719078725
• ISBN 13: 9780719078729
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272