Moderate and Radical Liberalism

The Enlightenment Sources of Liberal Thought

Series: 

This book provides a new reading of one of the most significant chapters in the history of social and political thought – the transition from the late Enlightenment to early liberalism. In contrast with prevailing interpretations of the emergence of liberalism, which emphasize the conservative liberal reaction of the nineteenth century, it presents a more optimistic depiction of how formerly radical principles of the Enlightenment were eventually adopted by the mainstream of moderate early liberalism. To substantiate this innovative interpretation the book provides a detailed history of late Enlightenment and early liberal social and political thought on both sides of the Atlantic.

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Copyright Year:
2022
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ISBN:
978-90-04-50804-0
Publication:
31 Jan 2022
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-50803-3
Publication:
27 Jan 2022
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Nathaniel Wolloch, Ph.D. (1998), is an independent scholar from Israel. He has published widely on the intellectual history of the long eighteenth century, including The Enlightenment’s Animals: Changing Conceptions of Animals in the Long Eighteenth Century (Amsterdam University Press, 2019).
"The seventeen dense chapters […] analyze the main intellectual trends in the evolution of Enlightenment and liberal ideas from the mid-eighteenth to late-nineteenth century. […] The emphasis is on the continuities rather than discontinuities in the transition from Enlightenment to liberalism. Wolloch uses the distinction between political moderation and radicalism as a heuristic roadmap to navigate this complex transition. "

----Aurelian Craiutu, in: History of European Ideas published online: 05 Feb 2024
Preface

Introduction

1 The Problem of Religion and the State in the Enlightenment
 1 Radical Beginnings

 2 Moderate and Radical Ideas about Religion

 3 Rousseau’s Religion

 4 Mendelssohn, Lessing, and the German Religious Enlightenment

 5 Kant on Religion and Progress


2 Defining the Radical Enlightenment
 1 The French Radical Enlightenment

 2 Robespierre and Rousseau

 3 Radical Enlightenment in Italy

 4 Radical Enlightenment in Britain


3 Dutch Republicanism and the Patriot Movement

4 The Development of Edward Gibbon’s Conservatism
 1 Gibbon’s Early Radicalism

 2 Gibbon and the American Revolution

 3 Gibbon and the French Revolution


5 Adam Smith between the Moderate and Radical Enlightenments
 1 Moral Philosophy and Democratic Leanings

 2 Smith and the American Revolution

 3 Smith and the French Revolution


6 Political Economy and Liberalism

7 Edmund Burke between Enlightenment and Conservatism
 1 Burke on Religion and Toleration

 2 Constitutional Monarchy, the Critique of Corruption, and Political Change

 3 The Nature of the Political Order

 4 Imperialism and Justice

 5 Abolition and Other Enlightenment Causes


8 From Radical Enlightenment to Moderate Liberalism Destutt de Tracy and Benjamin Constant
 1 Destutt de Tracy and Idéologie

 2 Benjamin Constant between Radicalism and Moderation


9 The Enlightenment and Liberalism in America
 1 Enlightenment in the Revolutionary Era

 2 William Leggett and Jacksonian Democracy


10 The Enlightenment and Liberalism in Latin America

11 Women and Revolution
 1 Women and Revolution in the Eighteenth Century

 2 Women and Revolution in the Nineteenth Century


12 Fichte and Hegel between the Enlightenment and Conservatism
 1 Johann Gottlieb Fichte from Radicalism to Nationalism

 2 Hegel as an Enlightened Liberal


13 Romanticism, Nationalism, and Liberalism
 1 The Problem of Nationalism and Liberalism

 2 Romanticism and Liberalism


14 French Liberal Historians and the Legacy of the French Revolution
 1 François Guizot

 2 Augustin Thierry

 3 François Mignet

 4 Adolphe Thiers

 5 Jules Michelet

 6 Edgar Quinet

 7 Alphonse de Lamartine


15 Alexis de Tocqueville on Culture, Colonialism, Revolution, and Democracy
 1 Progress and Stadial Theory

 2 China, the Barbarians, and the Roman Empire

 3 The North American Indians

 4 The Algerian Challenge

 5 Tocqueville on Religion, Revolution, Democracy, and Women


16 Lord Macaulay Radicalism in Moderate Garb
 1 Macaulay on Abolition, Religion, and Women

 2 Progress, Ireland, and India

 3 Macaulay on Democracy and Revolution


17 The Radical Liberalism of John Stuart Mill
 1 Mill on Utilitarianism and Enlightenment

 2 Religion and Free Will

 3 Abolition, the Rights of Women, and other Enlightened Causes

 4 Civilization and Colonialism

 5 The French Revolutions

 6 Democracy, Liberty, and Political Economy

 7 Representative Government and Individual Liberty


Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Scholars and students, both undergraduates and post-graduates, of political thought, the Enlightenment, liberalism, democracy, republicanism, attitudes toward women, and colonialism. Should interest academic libraries, specialists, and college teachers.
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Publisher:
Brill
Language:
English
Pages:
982 pp. (xiv + 968)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004508040

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