20/12/23. Enlightenment Contested. Philosophy, Modernity, and the Emancipation of Man 1670-1752. Presenting a reassessment of the Western Enlightenment for a generation, this book focuses on the first half of the eighteenth century. It aims to trace to their roots the core principles of Western modernity: the primacy of reason, democracy, racial equality, feminism, religious toleration, sexual emancipation, and freedom of expression.