Mark Goldie is a University Senior Lecturer in History and a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge.

Citations and abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. The Ancien Régime and its Critics: 1. The spirit of nations Sylvana Tomaselli; 2. The English system of liberty Mark Goldie; 3. Scepticism, priestcraft, and toleration Richard H. Popkin and Mark Goldie; 4. Piety and politics in the century of lights Dale K. Van Kley; Part II. The New Light of Reason: 5. The comparative study of regimes and societies Melvin Richter; 6. Encyclopaedias and the diffusion of knowledge Daniel Roche; 7. Optimism, progress, and philosophical history Haydn Mason; 8. Naturalism, anthropology, and culture Wolfgang Pross; Part III. Natural Jurisprudence and the Science of Legislation: 9. German natural law Knud Haakonssen; 10. Natural rights in the Scottish Enlightenment James Moore; 11. The mixed constitution and the common law David Lieberman; 12. Social contract theory and its critics Patrick Riley; Part IV. Commerce, Luxury, and Political Economy: 13. The early Enlightenment debate on commerce and luxury Istvan Hont; 14. Physiocracy and the politics of laissez-faire T. J. Hochstrasser; 15. Scottish political economy Donald Winch; 16. Property, community, and citizenship Michael Sonenscher; Part V. The Promotion of Public Happiness: 17. Philosophical kingship and Enlightened despotism Derek Beales; 18. Cameralism and the sciences of the state Keith Tribe; 19. Utilitarianism and the reform of the criminal law Frederick Rosen; 20. Republicanism and popular sovereignty Iring Fetscher; Part VI. The Enlightenment and Revolution: 21. The American Revolution Gordon S. Wood; 22. Political languages of the French Revolution Keith Baker; 23. British radicalism and the anti-Jacobins Iain Hampsher-Monk; 24. Ideology and the origins of social science Robert Wokler; Biographies; Bibliographies; Index.