Books & ideas

Moral Socialism

Julien Le Mauff — 2026-02-18T15:55:56Z

How can we move beyond the double deadlock of state socialism and market capitalism? For Lea Ypi, returning to Kant and the Enlightenment offers a perspective to provide a new ground to freedom as social responsibility, and to open up towards a cosmopolitan horizon against the authoritarianism of profit.

Modernity's broken promises

Manjeet Ramgotra — 2025-08-27T07:37:00Z

Was the Enlightenment already in crisis at the end of the 18^th century? This unsettling hypothesis is examined through the lens of several thinkers who diagnosed the collapse of the ideals of peace, liberty, and progress amid empire, revolution and economic ruin.

The left's Enlightenment origins

Marie Deschamps — 2024-06-20T13:41:00Z

For over a century, the left has owed its political identity and major political victories to a critical adherance to the Enlightenment. This is why, Stéphanie Roza argues, abandoning this legacy is dangerous.

God is in the street

Mathieu Marraud — 2023-11-16T09:07:00Z

What if the eighteenth century in France was an age of Catholic fervor? Through a study of religious processions, Gaël Rideau presents a tableau of urban life that, in the very midst of theEnlightenment, was marked and organized by public expressions of faith.

When Art Colonises

Guillaume Mazeau — 2020-09-28T07:00:00Z

In a wide-ranging essay on the construction of race in Enlightenment art, Anne Lafont tracks down the responsibility of images in the naturalization of racial difference and the justification of colonialism.

Enlightened Vegetarians

Sophie Audidière — 2020-03-05T07:59:16Z

In the eighteenth century, vegetarianism was viewed as a philosophical question in its own right, at the intersection of debates about animal suffering and good health. It was also a controversial issue that saw anti-Christianism and social criticism produce similar positions.

Collectors, Dealers and Artists

Marion Amblard — 2020-02-06T08:33:54Z

Being the capital of the arts in western Europe in the 18^th century, Rome was also an important centre for art dealing. An innovative, interdisciplinary approach allows to investigate different aspects of this particular art market in the age of the Grand Tour.

Grand Tourism: Educational Journeys in 18th Century Europe

Marion Amblard — 2018-10-29T08:00:00Z

The Grand Tour was a journey on the European continent undertaken by 17^th and 18^th-century British aristocrats to perfect their education. This book reveals the importance, within this trip, of a city until now overlooked by scholarship: Turin, a political and cultural crossroad.

Scotland: Nation, Enlightenment and Empire

Clarisse Godard Desmarest — 2018-09-13T07:00:00Z

A new exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh explores the changes undergone in Scotland in the fields of science, technology and literature over a century (1760-1860). It also offers a nuanced narrative of Scotland's role in the British Empire.

Living the Enlightenment

Christophe Litwin — 2015-05-18T05:30:00Z

Enlightenment philosophy was invented in salons and coffee houses. It was spread by men and women of letters, but also in the dynamic context of major cities. In his book, Stéphane Van Damme explores the history of these Enlightenment practices.