Enlightenment's Frontier

"Enlightenment's Frontier" looks at the eighteenth-century Scottish Enlightenment – which gave birth to modern-day environmentalism – and sheds new light on Scottish thinkers such as Carl Linneaus, David Hume and Adam Smith. In this groundbreaking new book, Fredrik Albritton Jonsson argues that Smith's defence of free markets was actually based on idealized notions of self-regulating natural systems. He explores Smith's liberal view of the fragile environment and compares it with rival interpretations of natural order, which stressed the need for governance. The Enlightenment was a time of great advancement in Scotland, scientifically, economically and otherwise, with nationwide literacy rates soaring above 75 percent. Jonsson argues that the mountainous highlands contributed greatly to the thinking during this time, inspiring a forgotten link between nature and virtue. He examines three key themes – population politics, internal colonization, and natural history – and says debates about the natural world influenced all three.