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In his Éléments de philosophie (1759; “Elements of Philosophy”), d’Alembert wrote: D’Alembert was calling attention to the self-examination for which the 18th century is famous, and he was undoubtedly referring to the activities of mathematicians (like himself), jurists, economists, and amateur moralists rather than to those of narrow philosophical specialists. But the 18th century was clearly the “century of philosophy par excellence” in a more technical sense also, for it was the period in which philosophizing first began to pass from the hands of gentlemen and amateurs into those of true professionals. The chief sign of this shift was the ...(100 of 35939 words)