From Enlightenment to Deconstruction. A definitive intellectual history of the French thinkers who built—and then dismantled—the modern world.
Categories : Non-Fiction , 350 THB ,
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Enlightenment, Reason, and Punishment:
A History of French Thought from the Century of Liberty to the Collapse of Humanism
By Piriyadit Manit
Embark on an intellectual odyssey through the land that redefined the modern world over five centuries. From the tremors of the 16th century to the world-shattering upheaval of 1789—this is the story of France.
Enlightenment, Reason, and Punishment traces the evolution of ideas through the works of over 30 philosophers whose visions ignited political revolutions and offered a sanctuary of hope for the disenfranchised.
Why did France become the global symbol for the struggle for rights and liberties?
Where did the concepts of Liberty and Rationality find their genesis?
How did a society transition from "blind loyalty" to the "sovereignty of Reason"?
The journey begins in the 16th century, as the Renaissance mind severed ties with Medieval dogma—an era often disparaged by subsequent thinkers as an intellectual dark age. By reclaiming the legacy of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, French thinkers revived the classical belief in man as a "rational animal."
By the 17th century, René Descartes established Rationalism as the bedrock of the French intellect. By placing Reason at the altar of existence, he liberated the individual; when one is enlightened by reason, there is no longer a need for the external shackles of political absolute, religious orthodoxy, or inherited tradition.
The narrative surges into the 18th-century Enlightenment, exploring Voltaire’s wit, Rousseau’s social contract, and the structural critiques of Montesquieu and Diderot. Moving into the 19th century, the book analyzes the three great ideological currents—Socialism, Nationalism, and Liberal Democracy—that emerged as France navigated its turbulent transition into a Republic.
Finally, the work confronts the 20th century, a period scarred by two World Wars that triggered a profound crisis of faith in humanity. Readers will engage with the Anti-Humanism of Henri Bergson, the Existentialism of Sartre, Camus, and de Beauvoir, and the Structuralist revolution led by Saussure, Lévi-Strauss, Barthes, and Lacan. The odyssey concludes with the postmodern provocations of Deleuze, Guattari, and Foucault.
Details
▪️Format : Paperback
▪️Piyavit Tepumnuaysakul : Editor-in-Chief
▪️Sittiwat Ruangpongsatorn : Editor
▪️Designed by ● SM STUDIO | Chirawat Rotaim ●
▪️Published : October 2023
▪️Length : 352 pages
▪️ISBN : 978-616-562-053-6
▪️Dimensions (in) : 5.25 x 8.25
▪️Price : 380 THB
