Description
Book SynopsisExamines Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Darwin, and Karl Marx--heirs of the Enlightenment who embodied its highest ideals about progress--and shows how their thoughts, over time and in the hands of their followers and opponents, transformed the very nature of our beliefs, institutions, economies, and politics--Amazon.com.
Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 One of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2015 One of Bloomberg Businessweek's Best Books of 2015, chosen by Diana Farrell "I was struck again and again by the extraordinary breadth, erudition and lucidity of this book."--Fareed Zakaria, New York Times Book Review "This is a gem of a book in that it has the audacity to paint in big strokes to portray a great intellectual history that puts our often competing, current belief systems into their 18th and 19th century contexts. In light of the increasingly perplexing news headlines, this type of bold context setting is a real gift."--Diana Farrell, President and chief executive officer, JPMorgan Chase Institute in Bloomberg Best Books of 2015 "Montgomery and Chirot offer a sweeping defense of intellectual liberalism and an examination of its indelible influence on the modern world... Thoughtful, highly readable, and provocative."--Choice
Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction: Ideas as Historical Forces 1 PART I: INVENTORS OF MODERNITY AND WHAT BECAME OF THEIR IDEAS 17 1 Adam Smith: The Science of Man, Morality, and Money 19 2 Karl Marx: The Tragic Consequences of a Brilliant Theory 81 3 Charles Darwin: Struggle and Selection in the Realm of Ideas 148 4 Making Democracy: The Jefferson-Hamilton Debates 215 PART II: SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS REACTIONS AGAINST ENLIGHTENMENT 279 5 Counter-Enlightenment: From Antimodernism to Fascism 281 6 Christian Fundamentalism: The Politics of God in America 336 7 Purifying Islam: The Muslim Reaction against the Western Enlightenment 379 Conclusion: The Power of Ideas and the Importance of the Humanities 418 Bibliography 439 Index 473
