The Enlightenment in Practice

The Enlightenment in Practice
Author :
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Total Pages : 531
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780801464379
ISBN-13 : 0801464374
Rating : 4/5 (374 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Enlightenment in Practice by : Jeremy L. Caradonna

Download or read book The Enlightenment in Practice written by Jeremy L. Caradonna and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public academic prize contests—the concours académique—played a significant role in the intellectual life of Enlightenment France, with aspirants formulating positions on such matters as slavery, poverty, the education of women, tax reform, and urban renewal and submitting the resulting essays for scrutiny by panels of judges. In The Enlightenment in Practice, Jeremy L. Caradonna draws on archives both in Paris and the provinces to show that thousands of individuals—ranging from elite men and women of letters artisans, and peasants—participated in these intellectual competitions, a far broader range of people than has been previously assumed. Caradonna contends that the Enlightenment in France can no longer be seen as a cultural movement restricted to a small coterie of philosophers or a limited number of printed texts. Moreover, Caradonna demonstrates that the French monarchy took academic competitions quite seriously, sponsoring numerous contests on such practical matters as deforestation, the quality of drinking water, and the nighttime illumination of cities. In some cases, the contests served as an early mechanism for technology transfer: the state used submissions to identify technical experts to whom it could turn for advice. Finally, the author shows how this unique intellectual exercise declined during the upheavals of the French Revolution, when voicing moderate public criticism became a rather dangerous act.


The Enlightenment in Practice Related Books

The Enlightenment in Practice
Language: en
Pages: 531
Authors: Jeremy L. Caradonna
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-03-15 - Publisher: Cornell University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Public academic prize contests—the concours académique—played a significant role in the intellectual life of Enlightenment France, with aspirants formulati
Enlightenment Biopolitics
Language: en
Pages: 320
Authors: William Max Nelson
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2024 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A wide-ranging history tracing the birth of biopolitics in Enlightenment thought and its aftermath. In Enlightenment Biopolitics, historian William Max Nelson p
The Work of France
Language: en
Pages: 247
Authors: James R. Farr
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2008-12-16 - Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This clearly written and deeply informed book explores the nature and meaning of work in early modern France. Distinguished historian James R. Farr considers th
In Search of Moral Authority
Language: en
Pages: 194
Authors: Van Nguyen-Marshall
Categories: Foreign Language Study
Type: BOOK - Published: 2008 - Publisher: Peter Lang

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Search of Moral Authority: The Discourse on Poverty, Poor Relief, and Charity in French Colonial Vietnam is a pioneering exploration of the discourses on pov
Europe’s Welfare Traditions Since 1500, Volume 2
Language: en
Pages: 465
Authors: Thomas McStay Adams
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2023-01-26 - Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Tracing the interwoven traditions of modern welfare states in Europe over five centuries, Thomas McStay Adams explores social welfare from Portugal, France, and