The Scottish Enlightenment Race, Gender, and the Limits of Progress

, by
The Scottish Enlightenment Race, Gender, and the Limits of Progress by Sebastiani, Silvia, 9780230114913
Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
  • ISBN: 9780230114913 | 0230114911
  • Cover: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2/21/2013

  • Buy New

    Print on Demand: 2-4 Weeks. This item cannot be cancelled or returned.

    $108.35
  • eBook

    eTextBook from VitalSource Icon

    Available Instantly

    Online: 180 Days

    Downloadable: 180 Days

    $79.71

The Scottish Enlightenment shaped a new conception of history as a gradual and universal progress from savagery to civil society. Whereas women emancipated themselves from the yoke of male-masters, men in turn acquired polite manners and became civilized. Such a conception, however, presents problematic questions: why were the Americans still savage? Why was it that the Europeans only had completed all the stages of the historic process? Could modern societies escape the destiny of earlier empires and avoid decadence? Was there a limit beyond which women's influence might result in dehumanization? The Scottish Enlightenment's legacy for modernity emerges here as a two-faced Janus, an unresolved tension between universalism and hierarchy, progress and the limits of progress.
Loading Icon

Please wait while the item is added to your bag...
Continue Shopping Button
Checkout Button
Loading Icon
Continue Shopping Button