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The Riddle of the Modern World

Of Liberty, Wealth and Equality

  • Book
  • © 2000

Overview

Authors:
  1. Alan Macfarlane

    1. King’s College, Cambridge, UK

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. The Riddle of the Modern World

    1. The Riddle of the Modern World

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 1-10

  3. Liberty

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11
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    2. Baron de Montesquieu’s Life and Vision

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 13-28

    3. Liberty and Despotism

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 29-46

    4. The Defence of Liberty

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 47-69

  4. Wealth

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 71-71
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    2. Adam Smith’s Life and Vision

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 73-89

    3. Growth and Stasis

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 90-106

    4. Of Wealth and Liberty

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 107-122

    5. From Predation to Production

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 123-149

  5. Equality

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 151-151
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    2. Alexis de Tocqueville’s Life and Vision

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 153-166

    3. ‘America’ as a Thought Experiment

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 167-192

    4. How the Modern World Emerged

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 193-220

    5. Liberty, Wealth and Equality

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 221-247

  6. An Answer to the Riddle?

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 249-249
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    2. Ernest Gellner and the Conditions of the Exit

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 251-268

    3. The Riddle Resolved?

      • Alan Macfarlane
      Pages 269-294

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 295-326
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Keywords

About this book

What conditions the chances of liberty, wealth and equality at the start of the third Christian millennium? Why did human civilizations develop so slowly for thousands of years, and then transform themselves during the last three hundred? This study of four great thinkers who lived between 1689 and 1995, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, De Tocqueville, and Ernest Gellner, weaves their lives and works together and through their own words shows how they approached the question of the nature of man, his past and his future.

Authors and Affiliations

  • King’s College, Cambridge, UK

    Alan Macfarlane

About the author

ALAN MACFARLANE is Professor of Anthropological Science at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1986. His previous books include Marriage and Love in England 1300-1840 (1986), The Culture of Capitalism (1987), The Savage Wars of Peace (1997).

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Riddle of the Modern World

  • Book Subtitle: Of Liberty, Wealth and Equality

  • Authors: Alan Macfarlane

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403913913

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History Collection, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2000

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-0-333-98450-5Published: 11 July 2000

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4039-1391-3Published: 11 July 2000

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 326

  • Topics: History of Science, History of Philosophy, Modern History, Social Sciences, general

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