In this magisterial survey of the Enlightenment, Jonathan Israel returns to the primary texts to offer a major new reinterpretation of the nature and development of the important currents in philosophical thinking, arguing that supposed national enlightenments are of less significance than the rift between conservative and radical thought.

I: INTRODUCTORY ; 1. Early Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Modern Age ; 2. Philosophy and the Making of Modernity ; II: THE CRISIS OF RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY ; 3. Faith and Reason: Bayle versus the Rationaux ; 4. Demolishing Priesthood, Ancient and Modern ; 5. Socinianism and the Social, Psychological, and Cultural Roots of Enlightenment ; 6. Locke, Bayle, and Spinoza: A Contest of Three Toleration Doctrines ; 7. Germany and the Baltic: Enlightenment, Society, and the Universities ; 8. Newtonianism and Anti-Newtonianism in the Early Enlightenment: Science, Philosophy, and Religion ; III: POLITICAL EMANCIPATION ; 9. Anit-Hobbesianism and the Making of 'Modernity' ; 10. The Origins of Modern Democratic Republicanism ; 11. Bayle, Boulainvilliers, Montesquieu: Secular Monarchy versus the Aristocratic Republic ; 12. 'Enlightened Despotism': Autocracy, Faith, and Enlightenment in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe 1689-1755 ; 13. Popular Sovereignty, Resistance, and the 'Right to Revolution' ; 14. Anglomania, anglicisme, and the 'British Model' ; 15. The Triumph of the 'Moderate Enlightenment' in the United Provinces ; IV: INTELLECTUAL EMANCIPATION ; 16. The Overthrow of Humanist Criticism ; 17. The Recovery of Greek Thought ; 18. The Rise of 'History of Philosophy' ; 19. From 'History of Philosophy' to Histoire de l'Esprit humain ; 20. Italy, the Two Enlightenments, and Vico's 'New Science' ; V: THE PARTY OF HUMANITY ; 21. The Problem of Equality ; 22. Sex, Marriage, and the Equality of Women ; 23. Race, Radical Thought, and the Advent of Anti-Colonialism ; 24. Rethinking Islam: Philosophy and the 'Other' ; 25. Spinoza, Confucius, and Classical Chinese Philosophy ; 26. Is Religion Requisite for a Well-Ordered Society? ; VI: RADICAL PHILOSOPHES ; 27. The French Enlightenment prior to Voltaire's Lettres Philosophiques (1734) ; 28. Men, Animals, Fossils: French Hylozoic materialisme before Diderot ; 29. Realigning of the parti philosophique: Voltair, Voltairemanie, antivoltairianisme 1733-1747 ; 30. From Voltaire to Diderot ; 31. The 'Unvirtuous Atheist' ; 32. The parti philosophique Embraces the Radical Enlightenment 1747-1752 ; 33. The 'War of the Encyclopedie: The First Stage 1745-1752 ; 34. Postscript ; Bibliography ; Index

`Review from previous edition 'Brilliantly presented and dense with learning.' ' - Simon Blackburn, THES `'An enormously impressive piece of scholarship. The breadth and depth of the author's reading are breathtaking and Enlightenment Contested is set to become the definitive work for philosophers as well as historians on this extraordinary period.' ' - Keith Richmond, Tribune `'Mr Israel's groundbreaking interpretation looks set to establish itself as the one to beat.' ' - The Economist `'Evocative and compelling.' ' - John Dunn, Literary Review `'Enlightenment Contested is full of wonderful things' ' - John Dunn, Literary Review