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The Moral Culture of the Scottish Enlightenment Thomas Ahnert

The Moral Culture of the Scottish Enlightenment By Thomas Ahnert

The Moral Culture of the Scottish Enlightenment by Thomas Ahnert


Summary

In the Enlightenments it was often argued that moral conduct, rather than adherence to theological doctrine, was the true measure of religious belief. The author argues that this enlightened emphasis on conduct in religion relied less on arguments from reason alone than has been believed.

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The Moral Culture of the Scottish Enlightenment Summary

The Moral Culture of the Scottish Enlightenment: 1690-1805 by Thomas Ahnert

In the European Enlightenments it was often argued that moral conduct rather than adherence to certain theological doctrines was the true measure of religious belief. Thomas Ahnert argues that this characteristically enlightened emphasis on conduct in religion was less reliant on arguments from reason alone than is commonly believed. In fact, the champions of the Scottish Enlightenment were deeply skeptical of the power of unassisted natural reason in achieving enlightened virtue and piety. They advocated a practical program of moral culture, in which revealed religion was of central importance. Ahnert traces this to theological controversies going back as far as the Reformation concerning the key question of early modern theology, the conditions of salvation. His findings present a new point of departure for all scholars interested in the intersection of religion and Enlightenment.

The Moral Culture of the Scottish Enlightenment Reviews

Thomas Ahnert's cogently argued and highly original monograph amounts to a complete reversal of some of the most commonly accepted features of what the Enlightenment-and not only that in Scotland-was about.-Knud Haakonssen, University of Erfurt and University of St. Andrews -- Knud Haakonssen
Ahnert's polyglot grasp of Latin primary source materials and secondary scholarship in German, French, and Italian brings a depth and solidity to his scholarship on the Moderate theologians of eighteenth-century Scotland. His arresting revisionist case study brings back to life aspects of history which most scholars in this field can barely touch, far less revivify.-Colin Kidd, author of Union and Unionisms: Political Thought in Scotland 1500-2000 -- Colin Kidd

About Thomas Ahnert

Thomas Ahnert is a reader in history at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Religion and the Origins of the German Enlightenment: Faith and the Reform of Learning in the Thought of Christian Thomasius. He lives in Edinburgh.

Additional information

CIN0300153805VG
9780300153804
0300153805
The Moral Culture of the Scottish Enlightenment: 1690-1805 by Thomas Ahnert
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Yale University Press
20150312
224
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
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