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This paper explores
a puzzling but under-explored theme in eighteenth-century history: the
apparent
absence of an English Enlightenment in a century marked elsewhere by
Anglophilia and a recognition that England was a primary beacon of
modernity.
It frames the question not only in terms of the historiography of the
Enlightenment, but also with reference to debates about English
exceptionalism.
In addition, it asks basic questions about method, and provides a
tentative
sketch of an answer and an account of how cultural battle-lines were
drawn in
England. Nevertheless, the paper also questions whether the
Enlightenment in
general tends to be construed in ways that exaggerate the extent to
which
English culture was an outlier. Connoisseurs of Brexit might note that
it touches upon certain historical aspects of England’s relationship
with
Europe.
