Aspects Of Enlightenment

This is an introductory account of social theory and the central role of enlightenment within it. Tom Osborne argues that: contemporary social theory can only fail when viewed as a "e;science of society"e;, and rather than focusing upon the question of society or even "e;modernity"e; should focus on the question of human nature. The most immediate and central topic of such a social theory should be the question of enlightenment.; However, the book departs from traditional accounts locating the vocation of social theory in the system of values established in the original Enlightenment by the French philosophers and others.; Rather it makes a strong argument for the ethical status of enlightenment, going on to analyze particular "e;regimes of enlightenment"e; in modernity, namely those associated with the social ethics of science, expertise, intellect and art.