Böcker i The Enlightenment World-serien

The essays in this edited collection look at the role of poetry in the development of Enlightenment ideas. As scholarly disciplines began to emerge - anthropology, linguistics, psychology - the ancient art of poetry was invoked to create new ways of defining and expanding this philosophy of human science.

This collection foregrounds progress as "improvement" as a constitutive theme of Scottish writing during the long eighteenth century. It explores improvement as the animating principle behind Scotland¿s post-1707 project of modernization, a narrative both shaped and reflected in the literary sphere.

The writers known as the English deists were not simply religious controversialists, but agents of reform who contributed to the emergence of modernity. This title claims that these writers advocated a failed ideology which itself declined after 1730. It argues for an evolution of their ideas into a more modern form.