Writing enlightenment
Writing enlightenment
This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the republican political thought of free-thinker John Toland, which has shown that the challenges which he posed to religious commonplaces were not simply philosophical issues, but were fundamentally linked to the power of contemporary civic and ecclesiastical institutions. His cultural significance was determined not simply by the intelligence and acuity of his ideas, but by the fact that they were circulated in concert amongst the political elite and a wider public audience. Toland's affinity with people in power illustrates the role his ideas played in the elite circles of early eighteenth-century European politics, and indicates how receptive political and intellectual culture in the period was to the cultural intent of such ideas.
Keywords: John Toland, religious commonplaces, cultural significance, political elite, European politics, political culture, intellectual culture
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