The book shows how his life, philosophical thought and literary style can best be understood in the light of the paradoxical view of human nature.

Coleman has applied philosophical analysis to the writings of Diderot, Montesquieu, Dubos, Batteux, Andre, and Crousaz, among others, to reflect on the fine arts of the first two-thirds of the eighteenth century.

The Harmony of Reason is the first book-length critical study of Kant's Critique of Judgement, shedding new light on this often-overlooked work and Kant's other writings on aesthetics.