The author describes the influence on the Enlightenment of the intellectual currents that had been active in France, particularly the historical and humanistic
esprit critique
and the scientific
esprit moderne
. The second volume probes the writings of Morelly, Helvetius, Holbach, Mably, and Condorcet as they reveal the transformation of the
esprit philosophique
into the
esprit revolutionnaire
.
Originally published in 1978.
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