ENGLISH

Mass Enlightenment: Critical Studies in Rousseau and Diderot

By Julia Simon

Book information

Publisher
State University of New York Press
Year
1995
ISBN
0791426386, 9780791426388
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
2 MB (1787847 bytes)
Series
SUNY Series in Social and Political Thought
Pages
254\244
Time added
2017-10-11 21:09:36
Criticism;Philosophy;Politics & Social Sciences;MoUsed & Rental Textbooks;Specialty Boutique;Politic

Description

Mass Enlightenment uncovers the tensions and contradictions associated with the rise of capitalism and mass culture as they were already making themselves felt during the second half of the eighteenth century and shows that the works of Rousseau and Diderot display a manifest awareness of the negative side of "enlightenment" and "progress". Simon explores the themes of individual freedom and moral autonomy, the growth of a consumer market, alienated social relations, the split between the public and private spheres, and the appearance of commodification as they are articulated in the writings of Rousseau and Diderot. Her careful readings of these Enlightenment theorists expose concerns over the crisis tendencies associated with capitalism and a consumer market similar to those diagnosed by the writers of the Frankfurt School.

Similar books