The Pragmatic Enlightenment: Recovering the Liberalism of Hume, Smith, Montesquieu, and Voltaire

by Dennis C. Rasmussen

Book Overview

This is a study of the political theory of the Enlightenment, focusing on four leading eighteenth-century thinkers: David Hume, Adam Smith, Montesquieu, and Voltaire. Dennis C. Rasmussen calls attention to the particular strand of the Enlightenment these thinkers represent, which he terms the pragmatic Enlightenment. He defends this strand of Enlightenment thought against both the Enlightenment's critics and some of the more idealistic Enlightenment...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1107622999
• ISBN13: 9781107622999
• Release Date: November 2017
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 359 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"