A little more on Philipp Blom's A Wicked Company: The Forgotten Radicalism of the European Enlightenment (Basic Books, 2010). Blom looks at the Englightenment from the points of view of Denis Diderot (1713-1784) and Baron Paul Henry Thiry Holbach (1723-1789) and their coterie, which provide fresh perspectives on Voltaire (1694-1778), Jean-Jaques Rousseau (1712-1778) -- the villain of the group, Blom posits -- and numerous other guests and correspondents, people ranging from David Hume (1711-1776) to Laurence Sterne (1713-1768), with even a little on key Americans they influenced: Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. This is such a grand, sweeping look at these thinkers, dreamers and doers that I will return to it and its hyperlinks.
Things that move to the forefront: respect for rational thinking, the scientific method and the limits of rationalism, combined with the philosophes' immense curiosity and zest for life. These things, and the unconventional lives of the protagonists within a pressurized historical context, are fine inspirational examples for the twenty-first century.
Today's Rune: Partnership.
2 comments:
The problem of comparing the mid 18th century and today is people actually had to leave their homes to acquire anything, including, reform.
Today we sit in our Barcolounger yell at the TV and count that as protest in America. No one wants to to talk about the body politic or the collusion between money and power because they have been opiated by American Idol and the next demigod for the masses.
Agreed. Then it was by force, now it's by choice. At least in the USA.
I enjoy direct action -- street protests, rallies, all that jazz. It makes me feel grounded, connected to past present and future. But other than that, it probably makes little difference -- like joining protests leading up to the invasion of Iraq.
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