The Enlightenment: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

This is much more of an introduction to how current historians and philosophers are positioning themselves vis `a vis the Enlightenment and vis `a vis one another. It is thus very helpful to learn (if you haven’t been thinking about the Enlightenment for awhile) that a scholar named Jonathan Israel has been attempting to move Spinoza closer to the center of the Enlightenment’s pivotal thinkers and stressing Spinoza’s ‘materialism’. Robertson is not too taken with this approach, but he explains it briefly.Robertson is also at pains to argue that the Enlightenment did not seek to efface religion from the world. The picture is much more complicated than that and Robertson explains many of the details. He is particularly interested in the Enlightenment notions of natural law, political economy, et al. He does not put science at the center of the historical narrative (as those of my generation would have). For us, the Enlightenment emerges from 17thc science and, equally important, 17thc scientific ideology. Science challenges the church and the aristocracy for intellectual hegemony, but it is muted in England because of the dangers that attend it. Hence the Royal Society omits politics from its agendas and has its (very early) history written by a Bishop, Thomas Sprat. Voltaire is very taken with both English science and English liberty and promulgates them to Europe. The key doctors of the period, who are Dutch, are also Newtonians. Thus, when elites sought their professional services they received a hearty taste of English science/scientific ideology. One of Johnson’s early works was a life of the principal Dutch physician, Herman Boerhaave.For Robertson the Enlightenment is principally a European phenomenon, though he is well aware of Gibbon, Hume, et al. though he does not discuss their reactions to the extremes of the European, i.e. French, Enlightenment. The ‘English Enlightenment’ is far more moderate than the French, and the Enlightenment begins there.Robertson mentions the changes in epistemology which are at the center of the Enlightenment but he does not pursue the manner in which Kant both culminates certain currents and leads to Romanticism in others. There is no mention of Scottish Common Sense philosophy. Some of my philosophic friends, Dan Robinson, for example, take the thought of Thomas Reid very, very seriously and would argue that Hume’s thought must be seen in light of Reid’s responses to it.The book is very thoughtful and very interesting, particularly to those who are already immersed in Enlightenment thought and want a current update. If the historical narrative of the Enlightenment is more important to you and you want a true “introduction” to it, this book will prove to be less useful, since it is more ‘thematic’ than a coherent narrative. In some ways the author is too close to the subject and discusses it in the manner that he might use with his colleagues rather than with general readers.

It might be useful to you to know that the author says that he has here taken "an intellectual-historical approach to the Enlightenment" (page 128).I feel that that this book is too abstruse to be a true "introduction" for high school graduates or almost any college graduate.I'm guessing that an advanced undergraduate in philosophy or history might find it introductory. (Confirmations or disagreements are welcome.)

I was expecting more, even for a short introduction. This book reads like a long rambling dreary academic lecture by someone more interested in talking about the people of the enlightenment or about people that talked about the people of the enlightenment than the actual thoughts and ideas of the enlightenment. One might say that Robertson spent most of the time talking about the candle rather than the flame of the light it created.If I were at a party had listened to the droning on about people as if name dropping to try to impress others at the party, I expect I and others would have spent more time drinking than they otherwise would.I read very little about the context of the contributors of the enlightenment and how their contributions introduced new thought or how their thought created change in how society operated. It will certainly be possible to read further by studying the people that Robertson mentioned, but that is because of the omissions in this introduction. There was inadequate discussion of the break from control of thought and behavior by religious entities to what is typically referred to as secular thought. The contributions of the enlightenment thinkers to sociology, anthropology, mathematics, physics, archaeology, and other scientific disciplines was largely ignored.

Item arrived on time & as described. Very pleased.

Pretty much a bare bones introduction to the Enlightenment with all the key players and viewpoints well represented. To understand “modern thought” one must be exposed to these intellects but look elsewhere to really get the gist of their philosophies.

Excllent

interesting informative narrative.

great book.

The Enlightenment and its contemporary relevance are hotly debated by philosophers and historians. A main reason is clarified by the author: “The new perspective received a fresh boost after World War II, as literary scholars and historians across the Continent sought to offer Europe a better past than the one it had recently experienced. Instead of the nationalism and racial doctrines of the 19th century, they looked back to the now much more attractive 18th century, and found ‘the Enlightenment’” ( p. 10). But, as clarified early in the booklet, the Enlightenment was much to complex a phenomena to meet present concerns, values and Western European hopes: “Precisely because the Enlightenment is a historian’s construction, it has been allowed to expand to fit the changing interests of modern scholarship. It is almost as if we think that something as progressive as the Enlightenment claimed to be, ought to have expressed every new or interesting idea, and to have embraced every good cause” (p.12). As clearly stated by the author towards the end of the text, “I am less inclined to insist on the Enlightenment’s continuing relevance to our own time” (p. 108). Taking into account the emerging epoch of metamorphosis driven by increasing novogenesis powers supplied to unprepared humanity by science and technology, this view is all the more pertinent. I myself conclude from this (and other) writings that the historic facts of the Enlightenment being terminated by the French Revolution, followed by the Napoleonian Wars and then World War One, the horrors of Nazism and failures of Communist, and World War Two with its horrors – that enlightening humanity is a very difficult and perhaps impossible endeavor. For sure, at present most of humanity and its leaders it is not “enlightened; and proposals to enlighten it may be utopian.Whether my reading is plausible or not and what to do if my assessment is correct, despite many opiniond to the contrary, is another question. I have no readymade answer. But learning from the Enlightenment episode and what followed is essential for coping with the future. This short introduction helps doing so. Therefore, I recommend it to all concerned about the future of humanity, in addition to history-interested readers.Professor Yehezkel DrorThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem

This book assumes a lot of sophisticated prior knowledge of the period and the issues, eg.theological/doctrinal complexities, personalities involved etc. It does not explain these sorts of things for the general reader. Instead it gets very detailed and into the complexities from the outset.Probably best suited to current university undergraduates studying this period or above.

Densely packed and, I am afraid, rather turgid - it certainly didn't bring "The Enlightenment" to life for me. I also felt that the relationship to, and role of, "The Scientific Revolution" was poorly explored - the may both be post-hoc constructs of historians, but a little more explanation would have been useful.

A concise treatment of the subject. Product and service excellent.

Great book, delivered on time, many thanks