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Content snapshot
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Violence
None
No violence
Language
None
No strong language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief discussion of Sade's work in a scholarly context
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Barely any
Mild; challenges readers to think about the ethics of knowledge without offering easy answers
What this book is about
Literary scholar Roger Shattuck's 1996 cultural study examines the idea of forbidden knowledge — the suggestion that some areas of inquiry should remain off-limits — through case studies including Frankenstein, the Marquis de Sade, atomic science, and the social sciences. Shattuck argues for the recovery of a sense of moral limits on knowledge without retreating to censorship. A serious intellectual work aimed at educated general readers.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Discusses the Marquis de Sade in scholarly context
Challenges assumptions about the value of unlimited inquiry
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