Description
Explore the transformative era of The Secular Enlightenment, a compelling narrative that chronicles how the Enlightenment period reshaped the everyday realities for ordinary individuals. This groundbreaking book delves into the lives of iconic figures like Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau, while also giving a voice to the oft-overlooked freethinkers, freemasons, and materialists of the time. Author Margaret Jacob, a distinguished historian, expertly illustrates how this era ushered in a newfound secular perspective that transcended traditional Christianity, fostering a framework where cultural, social, and intellectual advancements flourished.
Experience the journey through vibrant cities such as London, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Naples, using rare archival materials that highlight the profound shift in how human experiences were understood. The secular enlightenment transformed everyday activities; churches became places of architectural admiration instead of prayer, and Sundays were filled with newspapers and literature that challenged societal norms. Jacob reveals that individuals sought personal and commercial success during this time, viewing achievements as rewards for their actions rather than divine favor.
This landmark work serves as both an intellectual and cultural history of the profound impact of secular thought in 18th-century Europe and its ripple effects throughout the American colonies. Perfect for history enthusiasts, students of enlightenment philosophy, or those seeking to understand how secularism evolved in modern society, The Secular Enlightenment is a must-read that broadens the perspective on our shared past.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780691161327
Format: Trade binding
Year: 2019
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780691161327
Format: Trade binding
Year: 2019
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Description:
A major new history of how the Enlightenment transformed people's everyday lives
The Secular Enlightenment is a panoramic account of the radical ways that life began to change for ordinary people in the age of Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau. In this landmark book, familiar Enlightenment figures share places with voices that have remained largely unheard until now, from freethinkers and freemasons to French materialists, anticlerical Catholics, pantheists, pornographers, readers, and travelers.
Margaret Jacob, one of our most esteemed historians of the Enlightenment, reveals how this newly secular outlook was not a wholesale rejection of Christianity but rather a new mental space in which to encounter the world on its own terms. She takes readers from London and Amsterdam to Berlin, Vienna, Turin, and Naples, drawing on rare archival materials to show how ideas central to the emergence of secular democracy touched all facets of daily life. Human frailties once attributed to sin were now viewed through the lens of the newly conceived social sciences. People entered churches not to pray but to admire the architecture, and spent their Sunday mornings reading a newspaper or even a risque book. The secular-minded pursued their own temporal and commercial well-being without concern for the life hereafter, regarding their successes as the rewards for their actions, their failures as the result of blind economic forces.
A majestic work of intellectual and cultural history, The Secular Enlightenment demonstrates how secular values and pursuits took hold of eighteenth-century Europe, spilled into the American colonies, and left their lasting
Experience the journey through vibrant cities such as London, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Naples, using rare archival materials that highlight the profound shift in how human experiences were understood. The secular enlightenment transformed everyday activities; churches became places of architectural admiration instead of prayer, and Sundays were filled with newspapers and literature that challenged societal norms. Jacob reveals that individuals sought personal and commercial success during this time, viewing achievements as rewards for their actions rather than divine favor.
This landmark work serves as both an intellectual and cultural history of the profound impact of secular thought in 18th-century Europe and its ripple effects throughout the American colonies. Perfect for history enthusiasts, students of enlightenment philosophy, or those seeking to understand how secularism evolved in modern society, The Secular Enlightenment is a must-read that broadens the perspective on our shared past.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780691161327
Format: Trade binding
Year: 2019
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780691161327
Format: Trade binding
Year: 2019
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Description:
A major new history of how the Enlightenment transformed people's everyday lives
The Secular Enlightenment is a panoramic account of the radical ways that life began to change for ordinary people in the age of Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau. In this landmark book, familiar Enlightenment figures share places with voices that have remained largely unheard until now, from freethinkers and freemasons to French materialists, anticlerical Catholics, pantheists, pornographers, readers, and travelers.
Margaret Jacob, one of our most esteemed historians of the Enlightenment, reveals how this newly secular outlook was not a wholesale rejection of Christianity but rather a new mental space in which to encounter the world on its own terms. She takes readers from London and Amsterdam to Berlin, Vienna, Turin, and Naples, drawing on rare archival materials to show how ideas central to the emergence of secular democracy touched all facets of daily life. Human frailties once attributed to sin were now viewed through the lens of the newly conceived social sciences. People entered churches not to pray but to admire the architecture, and spent their Sunday mornings reading a newspaper or even a risque book. The secular-minded pursued their own temporal and commercial well-being without concern for the life hereafter, regarding their successes as the rewards for their actions, their failures as the result of blind economic forces.
A majestic work of intellectual and cultural history, The Secular Enlightenment demonstrates how secular values and pursuits took hold of eighteenth-century Europe, spilled into the American colonies, and left their lasting