Peter Gay's 1964 collection of essays on the Enlightenment — arguing that the philosophes constituted a coherent 'party of humanity' committed to reason, toleration, and humanity against superstition and tyranny — a prelude to his two-volume Enlightenment history.
Establishes the Enlightenment as a unified intellectual and political project — not just a set of ideas but a movement committed to human liberation from ignorance and tyranny — framing the Enlightenment as still relevant and its enemies as still dangerous.
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