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This book is about Enlightenment ideas of 'character'. It argues for their central importance in eighteenth-century thought and culture. The scope of this volume extends well beyond the confines of literary history. It examines discussions of race, nation, the self, virtue, sociability, and historical progress. The specially commissioned essays in this volume are the first, collectively, to address the broader significance of Enlightenment 'character', and to do so from an interdisciplinary perspective. The focus is on the Scottish Enlightenment, but contributors consider these debates in thei

"Enthusiasm" has been described as the intellectual opposite of the Enlightenment, its "anti-self". It stood for a religion of the "heart" rather than the "head", and was associated with the extreme, millenarian sects on the fringes of established Protestantism. The relationship between religious enthusiasm and enlightened philosophy, however, could be closer than is often thought. Here I focus on the example of the jurist and philosopher Christian Thomasius (1655–1728), who is considered to be one of the first and most influential representatives of the early Enlightenment in Protestant Germany. Usually, Thomasius is described as a sort of classical enlightened thinker who separated the question of religious truth from the pursuit of secular philosophy, and it is implied that the interpretation of Thomasius's religious beliefs contributes little, if anything, to the understanding of his philosophical views. His religious views, however, not only were regarded by contemporaries as an example of religious "enthusiasm". These "enthusiastic" religious beliefs were also more important to his philosophy than is often argued. They were part of a programme for religious and intellectual renewal and reform which, Thomasius believed, would prepare the reform of Lutheran philosophy from the obsolete, "scholastic" intellectual traditions it had inherited from the papal church. This essay examines the often complex development of Thomasius's religious views in their historical context and their significance for his wider "enlightened" intellectual interests.

Christian Wolff / The Law of Nations Treated According to the Scientific Method, (2017) -- Front Matter -- Half Title Page, p. i -- Frontispiece, p. iii -- Full Title Page, p. v -- Copyright Page, p. vi -- Contents, p. vii -- Introduction, p. ix -- Acknowledgments, p. xxiv -- A Note on the Text, p. xxv -- Abbreviations, p. xxvi -- Part: The Law of Nations Treated According to the Scientific Method, p. xxvii -- Original Title Page, p. 1 -- To the Most Excellent and Serene William Charles Henry Friso Prince of Orange and Nassau, etc., etc., etc. Hereditary Stadtholder of the Whole Confederacy of the Netherlands, Commander-in-chief of the Military and Naval Forces, and Perpetual Ruler of the East Indies, etc., etc., etc., p. 3 -- Preface, p. 7 -- Prolegomena, p. 12 -- Chapter I. Of the Duties of Nations to Themselves and the Rights Arising Therefrom, p. 28 -- Chapter II. Of the Duties of Nations toward Each Other and the Rights Arising Therefrom, p. 121 -- Chapter III. Of Ownership by Nations and the Rights Connected Therewith, p. 201 -- Chapter IV. Of Treaties and Other Agreements of Nations, and of Promises, p. 275 -- Chapter V. Of the Method of Settling the Controversies of Nations, p. 413 -- Chapter VI. Of the Law of War of Nations, p. 447 -- Chapter VII. Of the Law of Nations in War, p. 579 -- Chapter VIII. Of Peace and the Treaty of Peace, p. 698 -- Chapter IX. Of the Law of Embassies, p. 753 -- Bibliography, p. 775 -- Index, p. 781 -- Colophon, p. 812.

On the history of natural law until Grotius -- The right of Protestant princes regarding indifferent matters or adiaphora -- On the power of secular government to command its subjects to attend church diligently -- Is heresy a punishable crime? -- On the crime of sorcery -- On the right of a Christian prince in religious matters. - Includes bibliographical references (p. 279-286) and index. - Translated into English. - Formerly CIP

Anyone wishing to look beyond the paradigm of Western progress needs to understand how it came into being. In the intellectual culture of the 17th and 18th centuries, the competitive comparison of Ancients and Moderns and their respective relations to civilization and barbarism constituted one of the formative discourses. Yet alternative ideas of time and historicity are encountered not only in cultural contexts outside of Europe but also in the largely forgotten professional knowledge of the Old World: Thomism, Peripatetism, moderate forms of criticism, political theory, and legal practice. This book introduces a broad panorama of such intellectual cultures in Central Europe. It situates theological, historical, and philosophical scholarship in its institutional and epistemological environments: the Church, the Holy Roman Empire, and the emerging Habsburg Monarchy. In doing so, it identifies struggles over competing pasts - Christian, ethnic, legal - as the core of those domains' intellectual development.