The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern EnglandHow should we live? That question was no less urgent for English men and women who lived between the early sixteenth and late eighteenth centuries than for this book's readers. Keith Thomas's masterly exploration of the ways in which people sought to lead fulfilling lives in those centuries between the beginning of the Reformation and the heyday of the Enlightenment illuminates the central values of the period, while casting incidental light on some of the perennial problems of human existence.Consideration of the origins of the modern ideal of human fulfilment and of obstacles to its realization in the early modern period frames an investigation that ranges from work, wealth, and possessions to the pleasures of friendship, family, and sociability. The cult of military prowess, the pursuit of honour and reputation, the nature of religious belief and scepticism, and the desire to be posthumously remembered are all drawn into the discussion, and the views and practices of ordinarypeople are measured against the opinions of the leading philosophers and theologians of the time.The Ends of Life offers a fresh approach to the history of early modern England, by one of the foremost historians of our time. It also provides modern readers with much food for thought on the problem of how we should live and what goals in life we should pursue. |
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The Ends of Life:Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England: Roads to ... Keith Thomas No preview available - 2009 |
The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England Keith Thomas No preview available - 2009 |
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became believed body Book called Cambridge Charles Christian Church Civil claimed classes classical common concern contemporary continued Court Culture David death desire Discourse Earl Early Modern England early modern period economic Edward eighteenth century Elizabethan English Essay expressed fame friends friendship gentry George Haven Henry History honour human idea important individuals Italy James John kind labour late later less Letters live London Lord marriage means medieval memory Middle military mind monuments moral nature never notion object observed one’s Oxford pleasure political poor practice Quaker regarded relationships Religion remarked reputation rich Richard Robert Roger Samuel seventeenth century Smith social Society souls things Thomas thought trade trans true Tudor values virtue wealth William women writer wrote York young