Providence, Progress, Degeneration: Early Modern Ideas of Historical Transformation

3 credits · Undergraduate

Against the background of works of both Renaissance historians and seventeenth-century state-of-nature theorists, eighteenth-century authors developed new theories of multi-staged historical existence. Readings may include selections from authors such as Vico, Rousseau, Voltaire, Smith, Gibbon, Lessing, Kant, and Herder. FORMATS: Lecture | Seminar