The Enlightenment
(…or, the “Age of Reason”)
What is the Enlightenment?
The
German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, answered that question simply:
“Dare to Know”
In
other words, use your reason (intellect) to find answers rather than accept
traditional ideas. The reward for doing so will be freedom.
Some Foundation…
·
The early Enlightenment was deeply rooted in the
Scientific Revolution. But…
·
While the makers of the Scientific Rev. used reason
to discover natural laws that governed the physical universe, the Enlightenment
thinkers wanted to discover the natural laws that governed the affairs of human
beings and human society
·
They criticized absolute monarchy and the
established church and tried to eliminate abuses and promote individual freedom.
·
The 18th
c. writers and critics who forged the new attitudes favorable to change. They
sought to apply reason and common sense to the institutions and societies of
their day. Many of the leaders were from France.
·
They were not formally organized, although many
congregated in salons (informal discussion groups organized by wealthy
women)
They developed new ideas about government, economics, and religion and criticized the Old Regime
·
The ideas of Newton and Locke
·
The stability and commercial prosperity of Great
Britain after 1688
·
The need for administrative and economic reform in
France after the wars of Louis XIV
Consolidation of the print culture
·
Newton
o His
Law of Universal Gravitation showed the power of the human mind
o He
encouraged Europeans to study nature directly and insisted on empirical support
for general laws
o Seemed
to reveal a pattern of rationality, which thinkers began to apply to society
·
Locke
o Explained
human psychology in terms of experience
o Essay
Concerning Human Understanding (1690)
§
Everybody is Tabula rasa at birth -- all
knowledge comes from experience.
§
Implies human nature is changeable; rejects innate
knowledge. Suggests one can improve condition by taking charge of own destiny
§
Influenced 18th
c. thought by contention that every person has right to life, liberty,
property, & that there is a contractual agreement between a ruler and his
subjects
Voltaire (1694-1778)
·
François-Marie Arouet, a French writer
·
Traveled to England, where he was amazed at the
religious tolerance as well as the greater freedom to express one’s ideas in
print
·
To him, England seemed to allow for the happiness
of the individual, unlike France
·
He hated the Catholic Church for its narrowness and
bigotry. A deist, believed God created the universe, then stepped back
for it to operate under the laws of science. He felt religion crushed the human
spirit
·
Candide
(1759)
o Wrote
after an earthquake leveled Lisbon in 1755. Heard story of parishioners.
o A
deeply pessimistic work, as young Candide and his traveling companions meet
with disaster after disaster.
o Basically
says humans cannot expect to find contentment by aligning themselves with a
specific philosophy.
o One
should work for private, inner solace, or “cultivate one’s garden.”
·
Treatise on Toleration
(1763)
o Voltaire had defended Jean Calas, a Protestant falsely accused of murdering his converting son
o The
Parliament in Toulouse ordered his execution and Calas was brutally tortured to
death in 1762
o Voltaire
published his Treatise and pushed for a reexamination of the
evidence
o The
authorities had reversed their decision by 1765, but it was obviously too late
for Calas
o Voltaire
used it as a foundation for his fight against religious dogmatism and the
struggle for religious toleration
Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
·
President of the Bordeaux parliament, he was, like
Voltaire, inspired by Britain’s political system.
·
He believed that societies and their political
institutions could be studied in a scientific manner.
·
Spirit of the Laws
(1748)
o He
incorrectly interpreted the British constitution. Wrote of English separation
of powers among the branches of government providing for checks and balances,
something which did not exist in British politics.
o He
did not believe in a republic as he associated it with anarchy. Rather, he
wanted France to reestablish aristocratic authority to limit royal absolutism.
·
Another of his universal ideas was his anti-slavery
sentiments; he deplored slavery as being against natural law
His ideas influenced the writers of the American Constitution, as well as the French Constitution of 1791
Diderot and the Encyclopedia
·
One
of the greatest collaborative efforts of the Enlightenment by a community of
scholars known as the Republic of Letters
·
The
first of 28 volumes appeared in 1751, with Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau
contributing articles.
·
Both
a gathering of knowledge and a means of spreading the philosophes’ often
radical ideas.
·
To
avoid censure, those ideas often had to be hidden in obscure articles or hidden
by irony
·
Enlightenment
thought spread over the Continent into German and Russian circles
·
He lived a troubled and solitary existence,
antagonizing many of the philosophes at one point or another, who hated
his use of emotion over reason
·
Perhaps the most radical of the philosophes
as he believed in direct democracy
Following his death, his ideas became more influential, especially to radical French Revolutionaries
·
The Social Contract (1762)
“All men are born free, but everywhere they
are in chains.”
o Had
little faith in an individual’s potential to use reason to lead a more
satisfactory life
o Explained
that the focus should be on reforming the overall community, since only through
the individual’s attachment to society could powerless people hope to achieve
anything
o Sovereignty
would be expressed via the general will of the populace; only by surrendering
to this could the individual hope to find genuine freedom
·
Rousseau helped to set the stage for the Romantic
Movement of the late 18th and 19th
c.
·
Émile (1762)
o Deals
with a young man who receives an education placing emotion over reason. To
achieve this, the man is encouraged to Explore nature to heighten his
sensitivity.
o Challenged
social fabric by questioning the concepts of material and intellectual progress
and the morality of a society in which commerce and industry were the most
important activities.
·
He raised the fundamental question: “What really constitutes the good life?”
·
The philosophes condemned outmoded and
unjust laws and systems of justice, especially the use of torture and capital
punishment
·
Cesare Beccaria
and On Crimes and Punishment
o Called
for an overhaul of jurisprudence. He said those accused of crimes should
be allowed basic rights, and argued against torture to gain admissions of
guilt, as well as capital punishment.
o His
work can be seen in the humanitarianism found in the Enlightenment, which
extended from ending flogging in the British navy to the call for better
treatment of animals.
·
A Scottish economist and most influential advocate
of laissez-faire.
·
The Wealth of Nations
(1776)
o He
argued against mercantilism: a system of navigation acts, tariffs, and
monopolies that stood as the economic foundation for most of Europe
o He
argued that individuals should be free to pursue economic gain without being
restricted by the state. Rather than producing anarchy, it would produce an
“invisible hand,” which would lead to meeting supply and demand
Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794)
·
The philosophes believed in the progress of human
beings and society toward a more perfect condition
·
Humans were basically good, but corrupted by
society. If society was reformed, human goodness would overcome the corruption.
·
Condorcet’s Progress of the Human Mind
(1795)
o Traced
the development of human history through nine eras, contending that in the 10th
era, peace, virtue, and justice would prevail
·
Women figured prominently in the Enlightenment as
they helped philosophes avoid trouble with the authorities. However, the
thinkers were not huge advocates of the rights and abilities of women.
·
Montesquieu implicated the indictment of the
treatment of W. European women; Rousseau, while a radical on many issues, felt
that men and women should occupy separate spheres & that women should not
have equal educations
·
Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication
of the Rights of Women, which said women should have the right to vote
and hold office, was the first to openly state such ideas.
·
Several monarchs were inspired by the philosophes
to rethink some practices within their own realms. They are generally referred
to as the Enlightened Absolutists
o Catherine
the Great of Russia
o Joseph
II of Austria
o Frederick
II of Prussia
·
These monarchs found that the writings of the philosophes
on such questions as economic and educational change could mesh with their own
desires to enhance the power of their states within the community of European
nations and their personal authority within the state.
·
Catherine the Great
o She
read Montesquieu and Voltaire and invited Diderot to visit Russia
o Recognizing
the backwardness of Russia, she began revising and codifying Russian law
o Her
infatuation with the Enlightenment set the stage for the primacy of French
culture and ideas among the Russian aristocracy
·
Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great)
o Influenced
by French culture & manners
o He
wanted to make the capital, Berlin, a cultural center and invited Voltaire to
be chief luminary
o Like
Catherine, he was inspired by Enlightenment rationalism to seek reform and
codify Prussian law as well as to reorganize Prussian economy
·
Emperor Joseph II (Hapsburg)
o Impressed
by religious toleration (as he wanted to reduce the Catholic church’s power in
his realm)
o 1781:
Edicts of Toleration granting Jews, Lutherans, and Calvinists freedom of
worship
o Still
limits however: Protestants could enter Hapsburg civil service, but Jews still
barred and forced to pay special taxes for right to worship.
o Angered
aristocracy by making them responsible for taxes; abolished serfdom