Age of Enlightenment and Democratic Revolution |

Table of Contents
- Eighteenth Century: Art, Literature and Society
- Eighteenth Century Resources on the Web
- David Hume
- Edmund Burke
- Jean Jacques Rousseau--The Communitarian
- 18th Century America and the American Revolution
Eighteenth Century Art, Literature and Society
Eighteenth Century Resources on the Web
David Hume
Edmund Burke
Jean Jacques Rousseau--The Communitarian
- The Well--This is a site worth visiting. It raises some interesting questions about what we mean by community, particiapation and friendship. Sites like the Well force us to ask questions about the meaning of community. One of the traditional components of a community in Aristotle or Rousseau's sense is one of physical proximity. Both theorists suggest the need for the community to be small and that the economic system should distribute wealth in a reasonably equitable manner. They also stress the need for a community of sharee values, traditions and beliefs. A community is created though participation in the decisions that shape our lives. We engage in long standing dialogue. Is it possible to talk about a Virtual Community where proxity makes little sense and where the exchange of ideas is not rooted in community concers and problems (schools, safe neighborhoods, work). Is it perhaps necessary to change the meaning of community and is the change still community in a meaningful sense. Some of the element of community seem to be there. Many of the people in these Internet discussion groups like The Well exchange concerns, ideas, and feelings weekly if not daily. These discussions have gone on for years and they are often of considerable intensity. Certainly there links to each other are closer than the attachments many of us have to our neighbors. ("How, how are you" How's the wife? dog? cat? With our neighbors we share a space and little else. In a Newsgroup we might exchang ideas for years on an almost continual basis. Some other sites and articles worth examining are:
- Blacksburg Electronic Village Gopher-- An attempt to foster community networking.
- CSF: Communictations for a Sustainable Future--Gopher Server of Conflict Resolution Materials
- Electronic Democracy Must Come From Us-- Dangers of too large a role of government in the Internet
- The Electronic Public Interest versus the Private Good--The need for the government to assure that access to the Internet is open to all in the community
18th Century America and the American Revolution
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