Age of the Passions

The eighteenth century is often described as the age of reason. This book argues that it should also be considered the age of the passions. Eighteenth-century writers recognised the passions as the springs of human life and actions. They began to explore self-interest, sociability and love in ways that would have momentous consequences for the development of western culture. The century’s philosophes did not merely acknowledge the existence of the passions; they sought to manipulate them for the