Considering the past three centuries of economic development, how would Enlightenment philosophers critique modern capitalism? Has the West’s economic structure developed as they hoped? Would they approve of modern state-capitalism? These questions are crucial to uncovering the current applicability of Enlightenment ideals.
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Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was a writer, philosopher, and women’s rights activist in the late eighteenth century who promoted equality of the sexes and the implementation of Enlightenment political ideals. As a female intellectual in the late eighteenth century, Wollstonecraft experienced the intense social, political, and ideological divides through the French Revolution.
Who is worthy of governing? When should authority be questioned and obeyed? Is concentrated power destined to be corrupted? This article utilizes Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan (1651) to explore these questions and more.
In 1971, The New York Times began publishing a classified report that describes questionable usage of our nation’s military in Vietnam. What do The Pentagon Papers tell us about the consolidation of military power? Was the Vietnam War the type of event which Eisenhower warned of only ten years before?
Adjusted for inflation, The United States defense budget has multiplied by sixty over the last century. This article reflects on the development of the Department of Defense and the military-industrial complex, alongside the early impacts of America’s permanent wartime economy.
Among the first debates of the new republic was how to balance democracy and authority; a challenge that continues to shape American politics today. James Madison, fearing an “excess of democracy”, proposed a system of modest popular participation alongside a clearly defined ruling class.
This article briefly summarizes the crucial chapters of Wiesner-Hanks’ A History of World Societies (2018). By understanding humanity’s first steps towards modern civilization, we can acquire context to contemporary society and better realize our collective successes and failures.
