The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers

ISBN: 0300101503

Author: Becker, Carl L.

Condition: New

Will remain a classic-a beautifully finished literary product.-Charles A. Beard, American Historical ReviewIn this volume, the distinguished American historian Carl L. Becker challenges the belief that the eighteenth century was essentially modern in its temper. He writes, in crystalline prose, that the period commonly described as the Age of Reason was, in fact, very far from that; that Voltaire, Hume, Diderot, and Locke were living in a medieval world; and that these philosophers demolished the Heavenly City of St. Augustine only to rebuild it with more up-to-date materials.In a Foreword written for this edition, Johnson Kent Wright looks at the books continuing relevance within the context of current discussion about the Enlightenment, noting that Beckers work is likely to beguile and provoke readers for a long time to come.