On Burning Ground: An Examination of the Ideas, Projects and Life of David WilliamsVoltaire Foundation, 1993 - 351페이지 David Williams rebelled against his puritanical background and became one of the most significant Welsh thinkers of the eighteenth century. His reputation has been that of an intriguing and fascinating maverick with a powerful independent streak. He is variously known for being the founder of the first deist chapel in Europe holding public worship, as a daring educationalist inspired by Rousseau, as a political theorist who championed a new concept of political liberty - perhaps his strongest claim to originality - or more commonly, as the founder of the Royal Literary Fund which was a benevolent fund for writers and worked to improve their status. Only this latter role has won Williams general praise, while his hostility to Christianity and his sympathy for French revolutionary ideas repelled many others. These individual causes, however, all reflect a particular view of the world and it is this and Williams's contribution to the history of ideas that the book attempts to elucidate. Williams considered a form of secular public worship based on natural religion to be a fundamental means of binding a community together on the basis of universal moral principles. He also believed education prepared the young for membership in such a community. The establishment of such a community required an awareness of the role of literary and philosophical genius. His concept of political liberty required an organisational structure founded on powerful local units for which he found a parallel in pre-Norman England, as well as the commitment to absolute intellectual liberty. Such ideas made him an enemy of superstition and authoritarian structures. Indeed, he held political liberty to be more important than civil liberty, leading him to accept restrictions on freedom of movement and association when they threatened his concept of community. The book exploits new manuscript, newspaper and bibliographical material unavailable to earlier writers. Among the most significant are Williams's letters to Brissot which trace the development of his views on France during the Revolution. |
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17 페이지
... England reviled ? and the terms gothic and barbarous applied even to the present state of knowledge in England ? These queries are grounded on reports , occasioned by Mr. Williams's friends . – If they are not satisfactorily answered ...
... England reviled ? and the terms gothic and barbarous applied even to the present state of knowledge in England ? These queries are grounded on reports , occasioned by Mr. Williams's friends . – If they are not satisfactorily answered ...
187 페이지
... England under Alfred and the revolutionary France of 1790 , on the one hand , and England , whether in 1688 or 1790 , on the other , could not have been more pointed . At neither time did England have a political existence that Williams ...
... England under Alfred and the revolutionary France of 1790 , on the one hand , and England , whether in 1688 or 1790 , on the other , could not have been more pointed . At neither time did England have a political existence that Williams ...
325 페이지
... England und Ital- ien . Leipzig : Im Verlage Dykischen Buchhandlung , 1787 Ash , John , Sentiments on education ... England with a con- tinuation by G. Gregory , D. D. & c . Lon- don : T. Bensley , 1795 - Historic gallery , Pall Mall ...
... England und Ital- ien . Leipzig : Im Verlage Dykischen Buchhandlung , 1787 Ash , John , Sentiments on education ... England with a con- tinuation by G. Gregory , D. D. & c . Lon- don : T. Bensley , 1795 - Historic gallery , Pall Mall ...
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accepted According appeared association attended Attribution became believed body Brissot chapel character Christian civil liberty claimed club condition consistent constitution convention correspondence David Williams described developed direct dissenters DW's earlier early edition effect England English established existence experience expressed France Franklin French friends happiness human ideas important Incidents included institutions intellectual interest knowledge later laws Lectures on education Lectures on universal Lessons Letters on political Literary Fund liturgy London March Margaret Street meeting mind minister moral nature never noted objective Observations opinion original person Philosopher political liberty position practice printed produced proposed public worship published reason references reform relation religion religious remarked role social society studies theory Thomas thought translation Treatise truth universal principles virtue Williams's writings wrote