Download or read book The Pragmatic Enlightenment written by Dennis C. Rasmussen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a study of the political and moral thought of the Enlightenment, focusing on four key eighteenth-century thinkers: David Hume, Adam Smith, Montesquieu, and Voltaire. Dennis C. Rasmussen argues that these thinkers exemplify a particularly attractive type of liberalism, one that is more realistic, moderate, flexible, and contextually sensitive than most other branches of this tradition.