The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought

This major work of academic reference provides a comprehensive overview of the development of western political thought during the European Enlightenment. Written by a distinguished team of international contributors, this Cambridge History is the latest in a sequence of volumes that is now firmly established as the principal reference source for the history of political thought. Every major theme in eighteenth-century political thought is covered in a series of essays at once scholarly and accessible, and the essays are complemented by extensive guides for further reading, and brief biographical notes of the major characters in the text, including Rousseau, Montesquieu and David Hume. Of interest and relevance to students and scholars of politics and history at all levels from beginning undergraduate upwards, this volume chronicles one of the most exciting and rewarding of all periods in the development of western thinking about politics, man (and increasingly woman), and society.

Citations and abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. The Ancien Régime and its Critics: 1. The spirit of nations Sylvana Tomaselli; 2. The English system of liberty Mark Goldie; 3. Scepticism, priestcraft, and toleration Richard H. Popkin and Mark Goldie; 4. Piety and politics in the century of lights Dale K. Van Kley; Part II. The New Light of Reason: 5. The comparative study of regimes and societies Melvin Richter; 6. Encyclopaedias and the diffusion of knowledge Daniel Roche; 7. Optimism, progress, and philosophical history Haydn Mason; 8. Naturalism, anthropology, and culture Wolfgang Pross; Part III. Natural Jurisprudence and the Science of Legislation: 9. German natural law Knud Haakonssen; 10. Natural rights in the Scottish Enlightenment James Moore; 11. The mixed constitution and the common law David Lieberman; 12. Social contract theory and its critics Patrick Riley; Part IV. Commerce, Luxury, and Political Economy: 13. The early Enlightenment debate on commerce and luxury Istvan Hont; 14. Physiocracy and the politics of laissez-faire T. J. Hochstrasser; 15. Scottish political economy Donald Winch; 16. Property, community, and citizenship Michael Sonenscher; Part V. The Promotion of Public Happiness: 17. Philosophical kingship and Enlightened despotism Derek Beales; 18. Cameralism and the sciences of the state Keith Tribe; 19. Utilitarianism and the reform of the criminal law Frederick Rosen; 20. Republicanism and popular sovereignty Iring Fetscher; Part VI. The Enlightenment and Revolution: 21. The American Revolution Gordon S. Wood; 22. Political languages of the French Revolution Keith Baker; 23. British radicalism and the anti-Jacobins Iain Hampsher-Monk; 24. Ideology and the origins of social science Robert Wokler; Biographies; Bibliographies; Index.

Mark Goldie is a University Senior Lecturer in History and a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge.
Robert Wokler (1942–2006) taught for many years at the University of Manchester, and subsequently taught at Yale University, Connecticut.