The author of the celebrated The Dream of Reason vividly explains the rise of modern thought from Descartes to Rousseau In a short period
- from the early 1640s to the eve of the French Revolution
- Descartes Hobbes Spinoza Locke Leibniz & Hume all made their mark on Western thought The Dream of Enlightenment tells their story & that of the birth of modern philosophy What does the advance of science entail for our understanding of ourselves & for our ideas of God? How should a government deal with religious diversity
- & what is government actually for? Their questions remain our questions & it is tempting to think these philosophers speak our language & live in our world; but to understand them properly we must step back into their shoes Gottlieb puts readers in the minds of these frequently misinterpreted figures elucidating the history of their times while engagingly explaining their arguments & assessing their legacy Gottlieb creates a sweeping account of what they amounted to & why we are still in their debt