The Twilight Of The American Enlightenment

In the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture also threatened to erode the country’s traditional moral character. As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in The Twilight of the American Enlightenment, postwar Americans looked to the country’s secular, liberal elites for guidance in this precarious time, but these intellectuals proved unable to articulate a coherent common cause by which America could chart its course. Their failure lost them the faith of their constituents, paving the way for a Christian revival that offered America a firm new moral vision—one rooted in the Protestant values of the founders. A groundbreaking reappraisal of the country’s spiritual reawakening, The Twilight of the American Enlightenment shows how America found new purpose at the dawn of the Cold War.

In the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture also threatened to erode the country’s traditional moral character. As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in The Twilight of the American Enlightenment, postwar Americans looked to the country’s secular, liberal elites for guidance in this precarious time, but these intellectuals proved unable to articulate a coherent common cause by which America could chart its course. Their failure lost them the faith of their constituents, paving the way for a Christian revival that offered America a firm new moral vision—one rooted in the Protestant values of the founders. A groundbreaking reappraisal of the country’s spiritual reawakening, The Twilight of the American Enlightenment shows how America found new purpose at the dawn of the Cold War.

This concise literary history of the American Enlightenment captures the varied and conflicting voices of religious and political conviction in the decades when the new nation was formed. Robert Ferguson's trenchant interpretation yields new understanding of this pivotal period for American culture.

The first reference work on one of the key subjects in American history, filling an important gap in the literature, with over 500 original essays.

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Twenty-five essays, culled from the Journal of the History of Ideas, cover the unique participation of America in the international Enlightenment.

Given the significance the new world held in the minds of Enlightenment thinkers, it is remarkable that scholars have not more fully documented the Enlightenment in America. So far, the body of work on the American Enlightenment has focused almost exclusively on two areas, politics and religion. In contrast, scholars have paid little attention to the polyglot efforts of American doctors, scientists, engineers, botanists, poets and other Enlightenment actors. The Enlightenment in America fills this significant gap in the discourse. Americans did accept an early and moderate Enlightenment characterised by the work of Locke and Newton. The collection highlights the uniquely functional nature of the Enlightenment in America. For Enlightenment era, thinkers knowledge could not be divorced from utility. This goal seems to have been most fully realized in the United States. By highlighting both the material and intellectual elements of the Enlightenment, The Enlightenment in America helps to redefine the Enlightenment as more than an intellectual idea. This book was recognized by CHOICE magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title, 2009

Aims to modify the periodization for the American Enlightenment. Americans did accept an early and moderate Enlightenment characterised by the work of Locke and Newton. This collection highlights the functional nature of the Enlightenment in America.