An Essay on Man (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Alexander Pope
- First Published: 1733
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Genres: Philosophy, Essays, Poetry, Didactic literature
- Subjects: Philosophy or philosophers, Religion, God, Human race, Eighteenth century, Ethics, Life, philosophy of, Theology, Evil
Critical Evaluation:
Pope’s An Essay on Man stands as an intellectual landmark of the eighteenth century because it embodies the cosmological, theological, and ethical thought of its age. Heavily influenced by Pope’s friend Lord Bolingbroke, whose philosophy was congenial to Pope, An Essay on Man actually sums up the leading principles of the time. Arthur Lovejoy’s The Great Chain of Being (1936) provides the essential background for a thorough understanding of the traditions upon which Pope drew.
The central conception of this poem rests,...
[The entire page is 1930 words long]
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