Encyclopaedic Liberty

Often described as the culmination of the French Enlightenment, the Encyclopédie was collected to not only serve as a comprehensive reference work, but to "change the way men think" about every aspect of the human and natural worlds. In his celebrated “Preliminary Discourse” to the compilation, d’Alembert traced an entire history of modern philosophy and science designed to chart the way toward a sweeping Baconian project of improving the world through usable knowledge. This anthology is the first endeavor to bring together the most significant political writing from the entire…