Counter-Enlightenments: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present

by GARRARD; GRAEME

• ISBN13: 9780415187251
• ISBN10: 0415187257
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-10-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The Enlightenment and its legacy are still actively debated, with the Enlightenment acting as a key organizing concept in philosophy, social theory and the history of ideas. Counter-Enlightenments is the first full-length study to deal with the history and development of the Counter-Enlightenment thought from its inception in the eighteenth century right through to the present. Engaging in a critical dialogue with Isiah Berlin's work, this book analyses the concept of Counter-Enlightenment and some of the most important conceptual issues and problems it raises. Graeme Garrard explores the diverse forms of Counter-Enlightenment thought, with a wide-ranging review of the principle figures of the past two hundred and fifty years, and he assesses the persuasiveness of the most common and important criticisms of the Enlightenment.

Author Biography

Graeme Garrard teaches political theory and European thought at Cardiff University, UK.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgements	xiv
Introduction	1	(15)
Cleaning the stables	5	(5)
The Enlightenment perversion of reason	10	(1)
Overview of the book	11	(5)
First shots	16	(20)
Introduction	16	(1)
The Counter-Enlightenment republic of virtue	17	(12)
Prophet of the secret heart	29	(7)
Counter-Enlightenment and Counter-Revolution	36	(19)
Introduction	36	(2)
A philosophic revolution	38	(4)
The triple conspiracy against throne, altar and society	42	(6)
Crime and punishment	48	(7)
The return of faith and feeling	55	(19)
Introduction	55	(1)
The mighty womb of revelations	56	(7)
Night, sacred night	63	(5)
Midnight of the soul	68	(6)
The strange case of Friedrich Nietzsche and the Enlightenment	74	(6)
We children of the Enlightenment	74	(3)
Volte-face	77	(3)
Enlightened totalitarianism	80	(15)
Introduction	80	(1)
From Marx to Max Weber	81	(4)
Counter-Enlightenment liberalism	85	(4)
The epigones of Burke	89	(4)
Conclusion	93	(2)
The postmodern challenge	95	(14)
Introduction	95	(3)
The disciplinary society of the eighteenth century	98	(3)
Androcentric Enlightenment	101	(3)
The curious Enlightenment of Professor Rorty	104	(5)
From Enlightenment to nothingness	109	(13)
Introduction	109	(2)
The road to nowhere	111	(3)
The failure of the `Enlightenment project'	114	(3)
Gray's Elegy	117	(5)
Conclusion: hits and misses	122	(11)
Introduction	122	(1)
The necessity of faith	122	(2)
A very cautious optimism	124	(1)
Enlightenment without revolution	125	(1)
Reason perverted	126	(2)
Truth and tolerance	128	(2)
Knowledge and happiness	130	(3)
Notes	133	(32)
Bibliography	165	(18)
Index	183