How the Scots Invented the Modern World

Product Information

It is only natural, Herman suggests, that a country that once ranked among Europe's poorest, if most literate, would prize the ideal of progress, measured "by how far we have come from where we once were. Scotland’s upper and middle classes were losing that hard-driving entrepreneurial edge which had been a part of their cultural heritage.

Herman was impressed by the fact that so many prominent individuals who had a significant impact on modernity had come from such a specific geographic location and time-frame. He stresses the opened doors to trade led to rapid enrichment of the port cities of Scotland and world-wide contacts. Politeness for Shaftesbury encapsulated all the strengths of a sophisticated culture: its keen sense of understanding, its flourishing art and literature, its self-confidence, its regard for truth and the importance of intellectual criticism, and, most important, an appreciation of the humane side of our character. One of those pillars of "worldlie strength" that Knox despised was political authority, or more precisely the power of monarchs. th Century Scotland is yet another example of how a nation can transform itself within a few generations by copying wealthier nations rather than resenting them.When the ruler or rulers failed to act in the people’s interest, Buchanan wrote, then each and every citizen, even “the lowest and meanest of men,” had the sacred right and duty to resist that tyrant, even to the point of killing him. Adam Smith would compose the founding text of modern economics— Inquiry Concerning the Wealth of Nations—in a language that was, it is all too easy to forget, a foreign tongue to him. Listening to the narrator get the names and places right makes it easier than trying to read it for my self. Scotland must have been a beleaguered country after Culloden, and the fact that they emerged into such a powerhouse of knowledge and science and learning was inspirational. It encourages men to overturn custom and tradition, and establish a new kind of law, based on a free circulation of goods and services.

In the early 1700s the Scottish Enlightenment began and with it came a greatly enhanced understanding of our world and breakthrough philosopies in economies, physics and many other sciences. O livro conta a história da Escócia na era moderna e nos mostra como um país empobrecido perde sua soberania mas, ao mesmo tempo, dá a volta por cima e influencia todo o mundo moderno na forma que ele é hoje.This time I was able to really focus and listen and I picked up so much I missed the first time and also was able to process some of the concepts more thoroughly.

The version of technology we live with most closely resembles the one that Scots such as James Watt organized and perfected. One of the significant contributions of the Scottish Enlightenment to the United States was the teachings of Hutcheson that oppressed people have a right to rise up against their oppressor and establish a free society. They galvanized its intellectual and educational institutions; they gave it a new self-image and a new sense of its place in history.

By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. The Kirk wiped out all traditional forms of collective fun, such as Carnival, Maytime celebrations, mumming, and Passion plays. The 18th-century Scottish Enlightenment, embodied by such brilliant thinkers as Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith and David Hume, paved the way for Scottish and, Herman argues, global modernity. Calvinism seemed as natural to him as breathing, and he taught a generation of Scotsmen to believe the same thing themselves.

Critics found the thesis to be over-reaching but descriptive of the Scots' disproportionate impact on modernity. Scots’ Charitable Society offer relief to those who have fallen on harder times and need a helping hand.In fact, if one were to draw up a list of the books that dominated the thinking of Europeans in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the Scottish names stand out. As a general introduction to the Scottish thinkers of the 18th century and to the subsequent activities of the Scottish diaspora, it is sensible and measured.