Man's Ascent to Reason The Secularization of Western Culture

E-184: Edwin Mellen Pr. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 2002. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Hardcover. 8vo. Edward Mellen Press, Lewiston, New York, 2002. 317 pgs. First Edition/First Printing. Bound in cloth with titles present to the spine. Boards have light wear present to the extremities of the boards. No ownership marks present. Text is clean and free of marks. Binding tight and solid. The author's thesis is that the slow ascent of Man to a life of reason is best portrayed by examining the long history of secularization that religion has provoked in every age. To that end, he traces the history of secular thought in western civilization from pre-Socratic Greeks to the French enlightenment of the 18th century and beyond. Among the milestones he finds on the way are the Greek conquest of Rome, the transition to the Renaissance and the Reformation, the age of Copernicus, non-conformist thought, characteristics of the enlightenment in England and France, and sociology and secular humanism. He ends with the Triumph of Reason. E-184; 9.3 X 5.8 X 0.9 inches; 317 pages .