The Legacy of the Enlightenment: Ambivalences of Modernity

Going against the grain, this refreshing book argues for a non-ideological portrait of the Enlightenment as having been, above all else, a self-critical enterprise.

The Enlightenment has come under substantial attack over the past several years, with some going so far as to recommend leaving behind its thinkers and their Eurocentric prejudices. In response, the most orthodox defenders of the Enlightenment have insisted that its values are not just foundational but indispensable and that ab...