ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the effect of Dennis C. Rasmussen's analysis. In the course of a sensible and well-argued dismissal of the charge that the Enlightenment operated with a notion of the 'unencumbered self', he once again exaggerates. Rasmussen is explicit that his book is not a comprehensive treatment, but focuses on his quartet's political theory. He is also open that it is their liberalism that is most susceptible to the caricature that they have a narrow negative view of freedom. Rasmussen's defensive strategy is effective. The elusive question as to who is 'in' and who is 'out' is only an issue, because of Rasmussen's self-identified task of recovering 'a central strand' of Enlightenment thought. Rasmussen concludes by declaring that those 'properly' classified as members of the Enlightenment were 'liberals in the broadest sense of the term', by which he means they all supported 'limited government, religious toleration, freedom of expression, commerce and humane criminal laws'.
