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Enlightenment

See Main Page for a guide to all contents of all sections.

Contents

The Enlightenment
- Precursors
- The Enlightenment as a Propaganda Project
- The Enlightenment and Political Analysis
- The Enlightenment Evaluation of the Human Condition
- The Enlightenment and Economics
- Enlightenment and Philosophy
- Enlightenment Attitudes
- The Social Setting
- Enlightenment Philosophy - Full Texts
- Enlightenment Politics and Economics - Full Texts
Religion in an Age of Reason
- Opposition to Religion
- Rational Christianity
- Evangelicalism
- Catholic Pietism
- Jewish Responses

The Enlightenment

WEB Eighteenth Century Resources [At Rutgers]
WEB Web Guide to Historians and Philosophers [At Scholiast]
WEB Restoration and Eighteenth Century English Literature [At ACCD]
Listing of the major British authors, with dates of their works, and links to the works when online.
SUMMARY: Rebirth of Philosophy: Empiricism and Rationalism
Precursors
- John Locke: see Constitutionalism Page for links to all his texts online here.
- Voltaire (1694-1778): On John Locke, from Letters on the English or Lettres Philosophiques, c. 1778 [At this Site]
The Enlightenment as a Propaganda Project
- Denis Diderot (1713-1784): Encyclopedie [At Chicago]
  This is a link to the beginning of a complete online version of the Encyclopedia.
- Denis Diderot (1713-1784): Regrets sur ma vieille robe de chambre ou avis à ceux qui ont plus de goût que de fortune, 1772, in French [At Bib. Lisieux]
- Jean La Rond D'Alembert: Preliminary Discourse to the Encyclopedia of Diderot [At WSU]
- Voltaire (1694-1778): Letters on Newton, from the Letters on the English or Lettres Philosophiques, c. 1778 [At this Site]
  RG Reading Guide
- Voltaire (1694-1778): Letters on the English or Lettres Philosophiques, full text, c. 1778 [At this Site]
- Jean Jacques Rousseau: Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar, 1782 [At this Site]
- Voltaire (1694-1778): Patrie, in The Philosophical Dictionary, 1752 [At this Site]
  Voltaire's attack on national chauvinism - and his views than people should be citizens of the world.
- Voltaire (1694-1778): Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne, 1756 [At Geneva][In French]
- Rev. Charles Davy: The Earthquake at Lisbon, 1755 [At this Site]
  It was this earthquake that was behind Candide, and Voltaire's attack on Leibniz
- Voltaire (1694-1778): Candide, 1759, excerpts [At Internet Archive, from Clinch Valley College]
- Voltaire (1694-1778): Candide, 1759 [At Project Gutenberg][Full Text]
- Voltaire (1694-1778): A Treatise on Toleration, 1763 [At WSU]
- Voltaire (1694-1778): Traité sur la tolérance, 1763 [At Geneva][In French]
- Voltaire (1694-1778): On English Government, from Philosophical Dictionary, 1764 [At Civnet]
- Voltaire (1694-1778): Les droits des hommes et les usurpations des papes, 1768 [At Geneva][In French]
- Voltaire (169-1778): Selections from the Philosophical Dictionary [At Hanover]
- Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu (1689-1755): Persian Letters, No. 11 and No. 12, 1721 [At William and Mary]
- Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu (1689-1755): Persian Letters, No. 13, 1721 [At this Site]
The Enlightenment and Political Analysis
- SUMMARY: Enlightenment Political Thought
- Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755): The Spirit of the Laws, 1748, excerpts [At this Site]
- Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755): The Spirit of the Laws, 1748, alternative excerpts [At Internet Archive, from Clinch Valley College]
- Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke: On Patriotism, 1730-1754 [At this Site]
- Jean Jacques Rousseau: A Dissertation On the Origin and Foundation of the Inequality of Mankind, Parts 1 and 2, 1755, extended excerpts, [At this Site]
- Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778): A Discourse Upon The Origin and The Foundation of The Inequality among Mankind, full text, [At this Site]
- Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-78): Second Discourse on the Origins of Inequality, 1755 [At this Site]
- Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-78): Discours sur l'Origine et les Fondements de l'Inégalité parmi les Hommes, 1755 [At Geneva][Full Text][In French]
- Jean Jacques Rousseau: The Social Contract, 1763, extended excerpts, [At this Site]
- Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-78): The Social Contract, 1763, extracts [At this Site]
- Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-78): The Social Contract, 1763, extracts [At WSU]
  RG Reading Guide
- Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-78): Du contrat social, 1763 [At Geneva][Full Text][In French]
- Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-78): Emile [Full Text][At Project Gutenberg]
- John Jacques Rousseau (1712-78): Emile, ou l'education, full text, in French and English [At Columbia ILT]
- Cesare Beccaria: An Essay on Crimes and Punishments, excerpts [At this Site]
The Enlightenment Evaluation of the Human Condition
- Jonathan Swift: A Modest Proposal [At ArtBin]
- Condorcet (1743-94): On the Future Progress of the Human Mind, 1794 [At this Site]
  RG Reading Guide
- Gotthold Ephriam Lessing (1729-1781): The Education of The Human Race, 1778 [At this Site]
The Enlightenment and Economics
- Adam Smith (1723-90): The Wealth of Nations, 1776, an epitome, [At this Site]
- Adam Smith (1723-90): Wealth of Nations, 1776, chapter 1 [At WSU]
  On the division of labor.
- Adam Smith (1723-90): Wealth of Nations, 1776, extracts [At WSU]
  On prices
- Adam Smith (1723-90), Of Colonies, from The Wealth of Nations, 1776 [At American Revolution]
- Adam Smith (1723-90), The Cost of Empire, from The Wealth of Nations, 1776 [At American Revolution]
- Adam Smith (1723-90): The Principle of the Mercantile System, 1776, from Wealth of Nations. [At this Site]
- Adam Smith (1723-90): Wealth of Nations, Full Text. [At Artbin]
- Adam Smith (1723-90): The Wealth of Nations, in chapter files, full text, [At Bibliomania]
Enlightenment and Philosophy
- David Hume: Of the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature [At this Site]
- David Hume (1711-1776): Of the Standard of Taste, 1760 [At this Site]
- Edmund Burke: On Taste, c. 1756 [At this Site]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): On Paternalism, from On the Relationship of Theory to Practice in Political Right, 1792 [At Civnet]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): Critique of Pure Reason, 1781, (1929 Norman Kemp Smith translation), excerpts [At this Site]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics , 1783 [At Minnesota State][Full text]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): What is Enlightenment?, 1784 [At this Site]
- Michel Foucault (1926-84): What is Enlightenment? [At Foucault.info]
Enlightenment Attitudes
- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745): Hints Towards An Essay On Conversation, 1713
- Daniel Defoe: On The Education Of Women, 1719 [At this Site]
- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762): Selected Prose and Poetry [At U Oregon]
- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762): Prose and Poetry of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, full text, [At UVA]
- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762): Smallpox Vaccination in Turkey, [At this Site]
- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762): Dining With The Sultana, 1718 [At this Site]
The Social Setting
- The First English Coffee-Houses, c. 1670-1675 [At this Site]
- Paris Salons in the 18th Century [At this Site]
  On Enlightenment society hostesses.
- James Boswell: Life of Samuel Johnson, full text [At Adelaide]
Enlightenment Philosophy - Full Texts
- Michel de Montaigne: Essays, 1575 [At HK][Full Text]
  More a pre-cursor than an Enlightenment thinker!
- John Locke (1632-1704): An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690 [At Oregon State][Full text]
- George Berkeley: A treatise concerning the principles of human knowledge, 1710 [At Adelaide][Full Text]
- George Berkeley: A Defence of Free-Thinking in Mathematics [At Trinity College Dublin][Full Text]
- Gottfried Leibniz: The Monadology, 1714. [At Marxists.org][Full Text]
- Adam Smith (1723-90): Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759 [At McMaster][Full text]
- David Hume: Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding [At Eserver] or Parts I-VII and Parts VIII-XII [At Artbin][Full Text]
- David Hume: Essays on Suicide and Immortality, 1783 ed. [At Infidels.org][Full Text]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): The Metaphysical Elements of Ethics, 1780 [At Gutenberg Project][Full Text]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): The critique of pure reason, 1781 [At Project Gutenberg][Full Text]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): Critique of Pure Reason, 1781 , (1929 Norman Kemp Smith translation) [At Chinese University of Hong Kong][Full Text]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): Introduction to the metaphysics of morals, 1785 [At Marxists.org][Full Text]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): Fundamental principles of the metaphysic of morals, 1785 [At Project Gutenberg][Full Text]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): Critique of practical reason, 1788 [At Project Gutenberg][Full Text]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): Critique Of Judgment, 1790, [At Adelaide][Full Text]
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): The Science Of Right, 1790, [At Adelaide][Full Text]
Enlightenment Politics and Economics - Full Texts
- Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws, Translated by Thomas Nugent, revised by J. V. Prichard, 1914 ed., [At Constitution.org][Full text]
- Jean Jacques Rousseau: A Discourse on Political Economy, 1755, [At Constitution.org][Full text]
- Adam Smith (1723-90): Wealth of Nations 1776 [At Project Gutenberg][Full text]
- Adam Ferguson: An Essay on the History of Civil Society, 1767 [At McMaster][Full text]
- Caesar Beccaria: A Discourse on Public Economy and Commerce [At McMaster][Full text]
- Caesar Beccaria: A Discourse on Public Economy and Commerce [At Bristol][Full text]
- David Hume (1711-1776): Selected Essays, [At Constitution.org][Full texts]
- David Hume (1711-1776): Of the Original Contract, 1748, [At Constitution.org][Full text]
- David Hume (1711-1776): Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth, 1754, [At Constitution.org][Full text]
- David Hume (1711-1776): Of Interest [At McMaster][Full text]
- David Hume (1711-1776): Of the Balance of Trade [At McMaster][Full text]
- David Hume (1711-1776): Of Money, 1752 [At McMaster][Full text]
- Jeremy Bentham: Defence of Usury, 1787 [At Mcmaster][Full text]
- Blackstone's Commentaries, with notes by St. George Tucker, 1803, [At Constitution.org][Full text]
- David Ricardo (1772-1823): The principles of political economy and taxation, 1815 (third ed. 1821) [At McMaster][Full text]
- James Kent: Commentaries on American Law, 1826, [At Constitution.org][Full text]

Back to Index

Religion in an Age of Reason

Opposition to Religion
- David Hume (1711-1776): On Miracles, excerpts from Human Understanding [At this Site]
- Thomas Paine (1737-1809): Of the Religion of Deism Compared with the Christian Religion [At this Site]
- Thomas Paine (1737-1809): Essays on Religion [At this Site]
Rational Christianity
- John Locke: On the Reasonableness of Christianity [At Baylor]
- William Paley: Natural Theology [At Darwin Online]
- Joseph Addison: The Spacious Firmament [At Batleby]
  A Hymn, to God as Watchmaker?
- Thomas Jefferson: The Bible [At Angelfire]
  Jefferson's re-writing of the Bible "as it should be" - with no miracles and little theology.
Evangelicalism
- WEB The Wesleys and Their Times [At UMC]
  A site with many orginal texts.
- John Wesley (1703-91): Sermons [At CCEL]
- John Wesley (1703-91): Texts [index at CCEL]
- John Wesley (1703-91): Predestination Calmly Considered [At U Oregon]
- John Wesley (1703-91): Advice to a People Called Methodist, 1745 [At UMC]
- John Wesley (1703-91): The Character of a Methodist [At UMC]
- Jonathan Swift: Abolishing of Christianity in England, [At Adelaide][Full Text]
Catholic Pietism
- St. Alphonsus Ligouri (1696-1787): Uniformity with God's Will [At CCEL][Full Text]
- Pascal: Pensees [At CCEL][Full Text]
Jewish Responses
- 16th Century Hebrew Printed Bible [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
- The Instructional Bequest of The Baal Shem Tov [At Internet Archive, from havienu.org]
  The Baal Shem Tov was the founder of the Hasidic movement among Eastern European Jews.
- Moses Mendelsohn

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NOTES: Dates of accession of material added since July 1998 can be seen in the New Additions page.. The date of inception was 9/22/1997. Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site name or location]. Locally available texts are marked by [At this Site]. WEB indicates a link to one of small number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially valuable overview.