One of the chief opponents of the Enlightenment (from the French "siecle de lumières, " or Age of the Enlightened) was Joseph de Maistre, French political philosopher and diplomat. The Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that celebrated reason, the power by which humans improve their condition. This synthesis of ideas concerning God, reason, nature, and humans led to revolutionary developments in philosophy, art, and politics.

Maistre was born at Chambery, Savoy, then in the French-speaking area of Sardinia, Italy, but now part of France, on April 1, 1753. His family had served the state for generations, his father being a civil servant and former president of the senate. After being educated by Jesuits and then at the royal college in Chambery, Maistre went to Turin to study law. In 1787, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a member of the Savoy...