Perhaps French thought is no longer the toast of the anglosphere, but its specter still haunts modern society. The Enlightenment was founded on two contradicto

Perhaps French thought is no longer the toast of the anglosphere, but its specter still haunts modern society. The Enlightenment was founded on two contradictory values: (1) Reverence for reason (2) Dogmatic adherence to 'liberal' values. In the name of the former, French thinkers devoted themselves to the latter with disastrous results. Myths like human perfectibility still muddy our thinking. And 'natural rights' remain hallowed, even among atheists, who seem remarkably unconcerned about their accompanying metaphysical baggage.