Why the Enlightenment Matters

Adam Wakeling is a historian based in Melbourne. While he has a day job as a lawyer, he is also the author of The Last Fifty Miles: Australia and the End of the Great War; Stern Justice: The Forgotten Story of Australia, Japan and the Pacific War Crimes Trials; A House of Commons For a Den of Thieves: Australia’s Journey from Penal Colony to Democracy and the subject of our podcast today, Why the Enlightenment Matters: The Shift in Our Thinking that Made the Modern World.

Anti-Enlightenment Thinking, Past and Present

The Enlightenment was as remarkable as it was unexpected, but it led directly to the benefits we enjoy today.

QuilletteAdam Wakeling

Adam is a frequent contributor to Quillette and is currently working on a critical biography of George Orwell. In this episode, among other topics we talk about why the Enlightenment took place when and where it did, the most important pillars of Enlightenment thinking, the work of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Adam Smith; the importance of the Netherlands to the Enlightenment project; and how to defend Enlightenment values today. As Adam was visiting Sydney this week, I decided to interview him in person. Since I don’t have a recording studio and work only from my laptop, this presented a few technical challenges, but I believe it was well worth it. I hope you enjoy my interview with Adam Wakeling.