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The Shape of the New

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The Shape of the New

Four Big Ideas and How They Made the Modern World

Princeton UP,

15 min read
10 take-aways
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Adam Smith and other thinkers of the Enlightenment are the architects of the modern world.

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8

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University of Washington professors Scott L. Montgomery and Daniel Chirot trace the roots of the modern world’s political and economic philosophies. They analyze the capitalist theories of Adam Smith, the capitalist critiques of Karl Marx, the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin, and the model of modern democracy forged by Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. They discuss the reactionary movements – including fascism and religious fundamentalism – that fought to suppress Enlightenment ideals. The authors present this complex material at a brisk pace, deftly summarizing hundreds of years of Western thought. While always politically neutral, getAbstract recommends their absorbing cultural overview to policy makers, international-development executives, economic planners, NGO officials, and teachers or students of history, economics or politics.

Summary

“The Power of Ideas”

An idea can change the world. A theory of economics or a new model of biology can inflame passions and stir forces that lead to epic historical events. Words scratched on paper in one century may spark war and revolution in another, or may lead to astonishing technological breakthroughs or unprecedented levels of prosperity. Many of the modern era’s characteristics and events have their roots in the ideas of intellectuals who lived in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Four ideas proved particularly significant:

  1. The free market – In The Wealth of Nations, 18th-century economist Adam Smith analyzed how markets function and outlined the contours of modern capitalism.
  2. The communist utopia – Karl Marx’s 19th-century critique of capitalism paved the way for the communist revolutions of the 20th century.
  3. Evolution and natural selection – Charles Darwin’s 1859 book, The Origin of Species, offered a secular alternative to traditional religious interpretations of the natural world and humanity’s place in it.
  4. American democracy – After the...

About the Authors

Scott L. Montgomery teaches at the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington where Daniel Chirot is a professor of Russian and Eurasian studies. Chirot, whose books include Why Not Kill Them All: The Logic and Prevent of Mass Political Murder, is founding editor of the journal East European Politics and Societies. Montgomery’s other books include Does Science Need a Global Language?: English and the Future of Research.

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