The Introduction to the social philosophy of European Enlightenment aims at a concise and systematic attempt to familiarize the reader with the social thought of the most important philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries. Drawing mainly from classical sources, as well as from basic secondary literature, the author develops the subject in six separate thematic units, within which the major issues that preoccupied the Enlightenment philosophers are critically presented, such as those of human nature, the social contract, education, and religion. In the concluding chapter "Enlightenment: Its Era and Our Era," particular emphasis is placed on the significance of this specific philosophical movement not only from the perspective of a History of Ideas, but also from that of a substantial philosophical reflection on the present and future of modern man.
As noted, "over a span of approximately three centuries, the philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment continues to be present in our days. Both the attempt of many intellectuals of our time to connect the Enlightenment with the tragedies of wars, massacres, and totalitarian regimes, as well as the opposing view, according to which the Enlightenment project always remains open to the historical perspective of its realization, testify, even indirectly, to the vitality of a philosophical thought that still remains a critical component of our world."