The pragmatic enlightenment : recovering the liberalism of Hume, Smith, Montesquieu, and Voltaire / Dennis C. Rasmussen, Tufts University.

Includes bibliographies and index.

This is a study of the political theory of the Enlightenment, focusing on four leading eighteenth-century thinkers: David Hume, Adam Smith, Montesquieu and Voltaire. Dennis C. Rasmussen calls attention to the particular strand of the Enlightenment these thinkers represent, which he terms the 'pragmatic Enlightenment'. He defends this strand of Enlightenment thought against both the Enlightenment's critics and some of the more idealistic Enlightenment figures who tend to have more followers today, such as John Locke, Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Bentham. Professor Rasmussen argues that Hume, Smith, Montesquieu and Voltaire exemplify an especially attractive type of liberalism, one that is more realistic, moderate, flexible, and contextually sensitive than most other branches of this tradition--

Cover; The Pragmatic Enlightenment; Title; Copyright; Contents; A Note on the Citations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Hegemonic Universalism?; 1 Morality in Context; The Importance of Context in Hume's Empirical Sentimentalism; Smith, the Impartial Spectator, and the Influence of "Custom and Fashion"; Montesquieu and the Indeterminate Nature of Natural Law; Culture and Circumstance in Voltaire's Treatise on Metaphysics; Conclusion; 2 Pragmatic Liberalism; The Moderate Spirit of Montesquieu's Liberalism; Voltaire's Practical, Pragmatic Politics.

Convention and Context in Hume's Political ThoughtSmith's Historical Case for Commercial Liberalism; Conclusion; Blind Faith in Reason?; 3 The Age of the Limits of Reason; Daring Not to Know; The Uses and Limits of Natural Science; Moderating Religion; Conclusion; 4 The Perils of Political Rationalism; The Dull Rasp of Politics; Progress without Teleology; Conclusion; Atomistic Individualism?; 5 The Social and Encumbered Self; "The Minds of Men Are Mirrors to One Another"; "How Selfish Soever Man May Be Supposed ... "; "Society Is as Old as the World."

"That Flexible Being Who Adapts Himself in Society to the Thoughts and Impressions of Others"Conclusion; 6 Negative Liberty for a Positive Community; Montesquieu, Doux Commerce, and the Risks of Republican Virtue; Voltaire and the Value of the Royal Exchange; Hume and the "Indissoluble Chain" of Commercial Society; Smith on Commerce and Community; Conclusion; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

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