Description
Book SynopsisOften described as the culmination of the French Enlightenment, the Encyclopédie was collected to not only serve as a comprehensive reference work, but to change the way men think about every aspect of the human and natural worlds. In his celebrated Preliminary Discourse to the compilation, d''Alembert traced an entire history of modern philosophy and science designed to chart the way toward a sweeping Baconian project of improving the world through usable knowledge. This anthology is the first endeavor to bring together the most significant political writing from the entire twenty-million-word compendium. It includes eighty-one of the most original, controversial and representative articles on political ideas, practices, and institutions, many translated into English for the first time. The articles cover such topics as the foundations of political order, the relationship between natural and civil liberty, the different types of constitutional regimes, the role of the state in economi
