The Specter of Reason: The Historicization of theEnlightenment

In the wake of World War II, intellectuals andhistorians whose faith in progress had been shakenlooked to the eighteenth century as the source ofmodernity's ills. From the Holocaust, to Soviettotalitarianism, to the bland conformity of masssociety in 1950s America, the Enlightenment wasviewed as the cradle of some of the twentiethcentury's most undesirable qualities.Beginning in the interwar period, historiansbegan to discuss what the Enlightenment symbolized;from debates on its scope, influence, and present-dayrelevance, there was a concerted effort even beforeWorld War II to identify the philosophical movementsof the eighteenth century which came to shape themodern world. Yet after World War II and during theearly years of the Cold War, historians sought todefine the West's intellectual heritage todistinguish it from its ideological opponent, theSoviet Union. And it is here that the majority ofEnlightenment historiography begins.This book should appeal to intellectualhistorians, political theorists, those interested inthe history of religious criticism, and anyonecurious about contemporary liberal and conservativeresponses to the Enlightenment.

Autorentext

Michael LeFlem was educated at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University and Florida State University, where he received his MA in 2008. He currently resides in Chicago, IL and teaches intellectual history at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, IL.

Klappentext
In the wake of World War II, intellectuals and historians whose faith in progress had been shaken looked to the eighteenth century as the source of modernity's ills. From the Holocaust, to Soviet totalitarianism, to the bland conformity of mass society in 1950s America, the Enlightenment was viewed as the cradle of some of the twentieth century's most undesirable qualities. Beginning in the interwar period, historians began to discuss what the Enlightenment symbolized; from debates on its scope, influence, and present-day relevance, there was a concerted effort even before World War II to identify the philosophical movements of the eighteenth century which came to shape the modern world. Yet after World War II and during the early years of the Cold War, historians sought to define the West's intellectual heritage to distinguish it from its ideological opponent, the Soviet Union. And it is here that the majority of Enlightenment historiography begins. This book should appeal to intellectual historians, political theorists, those interested in the history of religious criticism, and anyone curious about contemporary liberal and conservative responses to the Enlightenment.