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Enlightenment --- Aufklärung --- Eighteenth century --- Philosophy, Modern --- Rationalism

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In this concise and powerful book, one of the world's leading historians of the Enlightenment provides a bracing and clarifying new interpretation of this watershed period. Arguing that philosophical and historical interpretations of the era have long been hopelessly confused, Vincenzo Ferrone makes the case that it is only by separating these views and taking an approach grounded in social and cultural history that we can begin to grasp what the Enlightenment was-and why it is still relevant today. Ferrone explains why the Enlightenment was a profound and wide-ranging cultural revolution that reshaped Western identity, reformed politics through the invention of human rights, and redefined knowledge by creating a critical culture. These new ways of thinking gave birth to new values that spread throughout society and changed how everyday life was lived and understood. Featuring an illuminating afterword describing how his argument challenges the work of Anglophone interpreters including Jonathan Israel, The Enlightenment provides a fascinating reevaluation of the true nature and legacy of one of the most important and contested periods in Western history.The translation of this work has been funded by SEPS-Segretariato Europeo per le Pubblicazioni Scientifiche.

Enlightenment --- Enlightenment. --- Aufklärung --- Eighteenth century --- Philosophy, Modern --- Rationalism --- Historiography.

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Philosophy, Modern --- Enlightenment. --- Aufklärung --- Eighteenth century --- Rationalism --- Modern philosophy

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According to Carlo Ginzburg, culture is not only the scholars’ knowledge, but it is also made of all the mixture of a population attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. In this sense, objects are one of the culture’s main expressions. Using materiality as a key, the volume analyses the history of the Neapolitan society during the Eighteenth century in some of its multiple articulations: aristocracy, law men, middle class, lower class. The idea of defining the strata of the ancien regime society is now considered unfeasible, partly because the criteria of definition and legitimation were multiple and different at the time: legal certifications, occupation, geographical origin, wealth. In this complicated universe, owning specific goods was part of the process of definition of the individual affiliation to a group, in terms of having a similar life style, as well as adopting the same ideals. The objects, inherited and annotated into inventories, useful to understand this phaenomenon, were not only precious dresses and jewels, but also iron spoons, lead cruxes, or glass beads. Despite their physical features, the value of these goods was not just economic; it stands also in the symbolic meaning they carried. La cultura, come ha affermato Carlo Ginzburg, non è solo la sapienza dei dotti, ma anche quel «complesso di atteggiamenti, credenze, codici di comportamento» che caratterizza una popolazione. Una delle sue espressioni fondamentali è costituita dagli oggetti. Utilizzando la materialità come chiave di accesso, il volume indaga la storia della società napoletana durante il Settecento in alcune delle sue molteplici articolazioni: aristocrazia, togati, ceto medio e popolo. L’idea di definire con precisione le componenti della società di antico regime si è ormai dimostrata utopistica, anche perché i criteri di definizione e di legittimazione erano allora molteplici e variegati: attestazioni giuridiche, occupazione, provenienza geografica, potere economico. In questo complicato universo, il possesso di specifici beni costituiva un elemento importante nel definire l’appartenenza degli individui a un gruppo, in quanto assunzione di un comune stile di vita, ma soprattutto in quanto condivisione di elementi ideali. Le ricchezze da cui è possibile cogliere queste dinamiche socio-culturali, lasciate in eredità e annotate negli inventari, non erano solo costituite da sontuosi gioielli o abiti sfarzosi; potevano essere anche cucchiai di ferro, crocifissi di piombo o perle di vetro colorato. Eppure, quali che fossero le loro caratteristiche, gli oggetti non avevano solo un valore economico, ma erano anche portatori di significati simbolici.

Material Culture --- Naples --- Social History --- Eighteenth Century --- Inventories

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This study examines concepts of morality and structures of domestic relationships in Samuel Richardson’s novels, situating them in the context of eighteenth-century moral writings and reader reactions. Based on a detailed analysis of Richardson’s work, this book maintains that he sought both to uphold hierarchical concepts of individual duty, and to warn of the consequences if such hierarchies were abused. In his final novel, Richardson aimed at a synthesis between social hierarchy and individual liberty, patriarchy and female self-fulfilment. His work, albeit rooted in patriarchal values, paved the way for proto-feminist conceptions of female character.

English literature --- Eighteenth-century novel --- Samuel Richardson --- ethics --- gender