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The Enlightenment Invention of the Modern Self
- Narrated by: Leo Damrosch
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
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Summary
In 24 lectures that let you see the world through the eyes of the Enlightenment's greatest writers, follow the origin of new ways of thinking-ideas we today take for granted but are startlingly recent-about the individual and society. You'll discover how these notions emerged in an era of transition from a world dominated by classical thought, institutional religion, and the aristocracy to one that was increasingly secular, scientific, skeptical, and middle class.
These lectures are essentially about ideas and about books-how great ideas are alive and powerful in the pages of significant written works. The guiding premise is that the best way to appreciate the thinking of a given period is to explore its literature. You'll note or discuss at length a range of novels, autobiographies, and biographies from the 1670s to the 1790s, including The Pilgrim's Progress, Candide, The London Journal, The Social Contract, Confessions, and Songs of Innocence and of Experience.
If you haven't already done so, this is your opportunity to familiarize yourself with this remarkable collection of works. What was, after all, the modern self that the Enlightenment invented? This engaging lecture series suggests that it was a new human insight, one that rejected absolute or easily generalized explanations and embraced the conflict, confusion, and paradox of life. It was a new and dynamic account of human life-one that continues to both benefit and afflict us. And in the company of a master educator, you can finally discover why our everyday lives in the modern world are indebted to the writings of the Enlightenment thinkers.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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- amazoncustomer
- 12-07-22
An excellent course!
Brilliantly explained and with great clarity, the relationship between the new empiricism of The Enlightenment and how this translated into literature and its subsequent rejection through Romanticism. The course pulled together things that seemed superficially to be unconnected to me: science, epistemology, poetry, psychology, definitions of self, literature. Very worthwhile and fascinating.
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- North Yorkshire
- 19-06-22
Really excellent!
I had really enjoyed Damrosch's Great Course on Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - he divided the material into interesting sections, explained his arguments very clearly and directly and brought in perfect examples and evidence. He read it in an engaging tone and it was just great.
I was a bit dubious about this one - was the self really invented in the Enlightenment? The first few chapters were ok but after we got into the Enlightenment it was fantastic. His account of Boswell was engaging and his summary of Diderot was both clear and deep. The chapters on Rousseau were managed to be both clearer and deeper. It carried on getting better. I had read most of these books but hadn't got this much out of them. There is such skill and mastery in being this 'across it'.
This was free on Audible - I wouldn't have taken the plunge otherwise. I haven't tried any courses by other people, but if you think you are interested you certainly will like this.
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- Georgina
- 14-11-20
Fascinating overview of emerging theory of self
I was looking to understand Rousseau's Theories in the context of the century's wider philosophical landscape and cultural movements and particularly his theories relating to the self. This was perfect, He speaks well and he carried me through his lectures with ease and enjoyment. My essay on Rousseau's Authenticity and Jane Austen became much easier to tackle!
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