I was sure I posted a reply to this earlier, but I don't see it in the thread. In that reply I disagreed w/ Maw that Israel was just "generalizing" and said it was explicitly his thesis. I said I was going to provide some quotes from his book Democratic Enlightenment to support my claim.My point is that a philosopher working during the Enlightenment could have one foot firmly in radical thought pertaining to certain issues, while the other foot is set firmly in moderate thought on others, which Israel himself acknowledges. I haven't read Revolution of The Mind, but I think, in the quote you offered, Israel is merely generalizing. I think it is very safe to say, from what I've read in his other work, that believing in a providential universe, by itself, does not necessarily entail a commitment to monarchism contra democracy. To some extent, you are right that for the radical Enlightenment philosophers, a particular metaphysics provides a consistent basis, or extension towards an egalitarian and democratic socio-political society, and I believe Israel does mention that somewhere. So, as you said, it is a "key factor", to an extent. But, as with Hume, (and Pierre Bayle, if I recall correctly), among a few other lesser names, that's not always the case. — Maw
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