Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction: A Tale of Two Enlightenments Chapter 1: Sentimentalism Before Hume I. The New Science of Human Nature II. Religious and Metaphysical Foundations III. Theories of Justice Chapter 2: Hume's Free-Standing Sentimentalism I. Sympathy and the Moral Sentiments II. Moral Development III. Hume's Normative Theory Chapter 3: Hume's Conservative Sentimentalism I. Hume's Theory of Justice II. The Sentimentalist Case Against Hume's Theory Chapter 4: Adam Smith's Liberal Sentimentalism I. The Alleged Incompatibility of Sentimentalism with Individualism II. The Space Between Actor and Spectator: Sympathy and Moral Judgment III. The Space Between Actors: Justice and Natural Jurisprudence Chapter 5: Kant's Abandonment of Sentimentalism I. The Critical-Period Position on the Foundations of Morals II. The Critical-Period Normative Evaluation of Sympathy III. The Critical-Period Theory of Affects and Passions IV. A Contrasting Pre-Critical Position Chapter 6: Herder's Pluralist Sentimentalism I. Sentimentalism and the Problem of Diversity II. From Sympathy to Diversity III. From Diversity to Empathetic Understanding IV. From Empathetic Understanding to Justice Chapter 7: Sentimentalism Today I. Sentimentalism and Social Science II. Sentimentalism and Normative Theory III. Sentimentalism and Political Practice Bibliography

About the Author

Michael L. Frazer is an Assistant Professor of Government and Social Studies at Harvard University. His research focuses on Enlightenment political philosophy and its relevance for contemporary political theory. Professor Frazer has also published articles on Maimonides, Nietzsche, John Rawls and Leo Strauss in such journals as Political Theory and The Review of Politics. Before arriving at Harvard, he studied at Yale and
Princeton Universities, and received a postdoctoral appointment in the Political Theory Project at Brown University. He lives in Somerville, MA with his wife Coral and son Oren.

Reviews

"Michael Frazer has written a thought-provoking analysis and defense of sentimentalist theory. His excellent book is well written and carefully researched, offering insightful discussions of a wide range of thinkers. It will be of great interest to students and scholars working in, among other areas, moral theory, political theory, and eighteenth-century thought."--Charles L. Griswold, Professor of Philosophy, Boston University, and author of Forgiveness: A
Philosophical Exploration
"Michael Frazer's The Enlightenment of Sympathy corrects a widely entrenched but nonetheless benighted reading of the Enlightenment. Frazer shows how the sentimentalist branch of the enlightenment anticipates much recent scholarship, both philosophical and neuroscientific, on the essential role of emotion. This precise and deft project of recovery should be read by anyone who wishes to be enthused by this superbly argued prophetic endeavor."--George E.
Marcus, Professor of Political Science, Williams College, and author of The Sentimental Citizen