Mass Enlightenment

Julia Simon is Assistant Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Washington University.

"This is an intriguing and provocative study of two major French Enlightenment philosophes from the Marxian perspective of Frankfurt School thinkers Weber, Adorno, Horkheimer, and Habermas. The picture of Diderot and Rousseau that emerges can go a long way toward changing the modes in which these authors have traditionally been regarded and taught, that is to say, as prophets of progress and heralds of the positive forces of enlightenment." — Bernadette Fort, Northwestern University"Simon's idea of reading the concerns of the Frankfurt School back into the eighteenth century is an interesting one. The book is jargon free, fun to read, and thought provoking. It seems to me to be of wide interest: to scholars of Rousseau, Diderot, and eighteenth-century French philosophy in general, as well as to literary critics, political theorists, and those interested in the Frankfurt School." — Georgia Warnke, University of California, Riverside"What I like most about this book is its coherence and synthetic clarity. Mass Enlightenment makes a strong case for thinking of Rousseau and Diderot as precursors of the tradition of critical theory." — Jay L. Caplan, Amherst College

• Preface Acknowledgments Critical Introduction 1. Alienation, Individuation, and Enlightenment in Rousseau's Social Theory 2. Rousseau and the Problem of Community: Nationalism, Civic Virtue, Totalitarianism 3. The Public Sphere, Alienation, and Commodification:Rousseau's Autobiographical Writings Transitional Interlude 4. Materialist Hermeneutics: Diderot's Rêve de d'Alembert 5. Diderot and Hegel: Alienation and the Problem of Ethical Life in Le Neveu de Rameau 6. The Public/Private Dialectic Revisited: Diderot's Art Criticism Conclusion Notes Selected Bibliography Index