Commerce and Peace in the Enlightenment

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Commerce and Peace in the Enlightenment
Authors and Contributors      Edited by Bela Kapossy
Edited by Isaac Nakhimovsky
Edited by Richard Whatmore
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:362
Dimensions(mm): Height 230,Width 150
ISBN/Barcode 9781108403979
ClassificationsDewey:940.25
Audience
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 13 December 2018
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

For many Enlightenment thinkers, discerning the relationship between commerce and peace was the central issue of modern politics. The logic of commerce seemed to require European states and empires to learn how to behave in more peaceful, self-limiting ways. However, as the fate of nations came to depend on the flux of markets, it became difficult to see how their race for prosperity could ever be fully disentangled from their struggle for power. On the contrary, it became easy to see how this entanglement could produce catastrophic results. This volume showcases the variety and the depth of approaches to economic rivalry and the rise of public finance that characterized Enlightenment discussions of international politics. It presents a fundamental reassessment of these debates about 'perpetual peace' and their legacy in the history of political thought.

Author Biography

Bela Kapossy is Professor of History at Universite de Lausanne, Switzerland. He has been involved in a number of research projects on enlightenment political and economic thought and has written widely on Swiss, French and British intellectual history. Isaac Nakhimovsky is Assistant Professor of History and the Humanities at Yale University, Connecticut. Richard Whatmore is Professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, where he is also the Director of the St Andrews Institute of Intellectual History. He has written a number of books and published articles in many of the major academic journals in intellectual history.

Reviews

'Commerce and Peace in the Enlightenment is a stimulating and well-crafted testament to the influence of a beloved mentor and colleague.' Paul Cheney, Journal of Modern History