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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Letters

Jacob Rees-Mogg and the age of enlightenment

Jacob Rees-Mogg
Jacob Rees-Mogg shouldn’t be referred to as ‘the honourable member for the 18th century’. Photograph: Allstar

The reference to Jacob Rees-Mogg as “the honourable member for the 18th century” is a soubriquet that I find extremely distressing (Rees-Mogg’s roots tell a true Conservative tale – just not the one he wants us to hear, 22 January).

It should be noted that the 18th century was the age of enlightenment, with a long list of luminaries whose names have become bywords for the possibilities of the thinking and endeavour of which humans are capable. A quick “Kanter” through without racking one’s brain could produce Voltaire, Rousseau, Hume, Wollstonecraft, Hegel, Diderot, Paine et al.

Rees-Mogg’s entire demeanour puts me in mind of a rather more 19th-century precursor – Klemens von Metternich.

Rees-Mogg should never be confused with the search for knowledge, betterment and understanding, which characterises 18th-century intellectuals.
Toni Silver
Eastbourne, East Sussex

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