Chapter 8 The Enlightenment

							    Chapter 8
The Enlightenment
                Age of Enlightenment
 ‫ ﺣ‬Man’s emergence from his nonage (Immanuel Kant)
 ‫ ﺣ‬Ecrasez l’infame-erase the infamous thing (superstition) ; sapere aude –
   dare to know
 ‫ ﺣ‬Secularization
 ‫ ﺣ‬Freedom of thought; toleration
 ‫ ﺣ‬Unity of mankind under natural right/law/reason
 ‫ ﺣ‬State is a fusion of power and force; progress
 ‫ ﺣ‬Simplify/clarify/popularize/apply science
 ‫ ﺣ‬Progress/reason/science/civilization
 ‫ ﺣ‬skepticism/deism/optimism/utilitarianism

 ‫ ﺣ‬Paris, France, Republic of Letters, salons, Madame Geoffrin
 ‫ ﺣ‬Censorship, public opinion, abstract letters
 ‫ ﺣ‬The reading public expanded (47%)


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                          Montesquieu
 ‫ ﺣ‬Landed aristocrat, judge with bourgeoisie connection
 ‫ ﺣ‬Admired Britain, influence on America

 ‫ﺣ‬   < Spirit of the Laws > (1748)
     ‫ ﻣ‬Government varied according to environment
     ‫ ﻣ‬Attacks against absolutism; power should be divided
 ‫ ﺣ‬Practical political liberty; “Power should be a check of power”
 ‫ ﺣ‬Division of E/J/L; political liberty; or else there would be an end to
   everything

 ‫ ﺣ‬Church can undue centralization
 ‫ ﺣ‬Thought the church useful but irreligious
 ‫ ﺣ‬Separation of church and state!! =))




1689 – 1775                                                                 8
                              Voltaire
 ‫ ﺣ‬Bourgeoisie
 ‫ ﺣ‬Faculty of pen; < Candide > (1759)

 ‫ < ﺣ‬Philosophical Letters on England >
 ‫ < ﺣ‬Universal History >

 ‫ ﺣ‬Religious toleration
     ‫ ﻣ‬Jean Calas
     ‫ ﻣ‬Ecrasez l’infame; bigotry, intolerance, superstition
     ‫ ﻣ‬Natural morality/religion based on reason not superstition

 ‫ ﺣ‬Supported enlightened despotism; Frederick the Great
 ‫ ﺣ‬Surrender political liberty for intellectual freedom

1694 – 1778                                                         8
                  Jean-Jacques Rousseau
 ‫ﺣ‬   Geneva
 ‫ﺣ‬   No social aptitude; money; sense of money
 ‫ﺣ‬   Psychologically complex, paranoid

 ‫ﺣ‬   Religious by temperament, but against church
 ‫ﺣ‬   Presence of feeling (compassion) “Man of Feeling”
 ‫ﺣ‬   Mystical insights better than clear, rational ideas
 ‫ﺣ‬   Critic of the Enlightenment

 ‫ﺣ‬   < Origins of the Inequality among Men > (1753)
      ‫ﻣ‬   Civilization is evil
      ‫ﻣ‬   State of nature is better; “Child of Nature”
 ‫ﺣ‬   < Emile > (1762)
      ‫ﻣ‬   A sense of aristocratic artifice; French upper class lose faith in superiority
      ‫ﻣ‬   Humanitarianism, compassion
 ‫ﺣ‬   < Considerations on Poland >
      ‫ﻣ‬   Father of nationalism, democracy




1712 – 1778                                                                                8
              Jean-Jacques Rousseau
 ‫ < ﺣ‬The Social Contract > (1762)
     ‫ﻣ‬   General Will, agreement among the people themselves
     ‫ﻣ‬   Through a contract the brutish person obtains natural rights and laws
     ‫ﻣ‬   Those who refuse to obey the General Will are forced to be free
     ‫ﻣ‬   Emancipation from the restraints of society, nature, and one’s friends


 ‫“ ﺣ‬Man is born free and everywhere he is chains”
 ‫“ ﺣ‬Each of us puts in common his person and his whole power
   under the supreme direction of the general will and in return
   we received every member as an indivisible part of a whole”
 ‫“ ﺣ‬Life is nasty, brutish, and short” xD


1712 – 1778                                                                       8
                                                   Others
 ‫ﺣ‬   Denis Diderot (1713 – 1784)
      ‫ﻣ‬   < Encyclopediae > (1751 – 1772)
      ‫ﻣ‬   Distinguished list of contributors (Voltaire, Montesquieu, d’Alembert, Buffon, Turgot , Quesnay)
      ‫ﻣ‬   A positive force for social progress
      ‫ﻣ‬   Widely known and read
 ‫ﺣ‬   Edward Gibbon
      ‫ﻣ‬   < Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire > attacks on Christianity
 ‫ﺣ‬   Dr. Samuel Johnson
      ‫ﻣ‬   Not a philosophe; worried over the supernatural; religious
      ‫ﻣ‬   Compilation of a new English dictionary
      ‫ﻣ‬   Critic of Voltaire and Rousseau, “to the plantations”
 ‫ﺣ‬   Bishop Warburton
      ‫ﻣ‬   Church of England as a social institution is what pure reason would have created
 ‫ﺣ‬   Marquis de Beccaria
      ‫ﻣ‬   Humanize the criminal law
 ‫ﺣ‬   Baron Grimm
      ‫ﻣ‬   Literary newspaper in Paris
 ‫ﺣ‬   Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, Joseph II
 ‫ﺣ‬   David Hume
      ‫ﻣ‬   Skeptical Scottish philosopher
 ‫ﺣ‬   Condorcet
      ‫ﻣ‬   French Revolution
      ‫ﻣ‬   <Sketch on the Progress of the Human Mind > (1794)



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                   Against the Enlightenment
 ‫ﺣ‬   Isaac Watt
 ‫ﺣ‬   Handel
      ‫ﺣ‬    < The Messiah > (1741) < Oh Come, All Ye Faithful >
      ‫ﺣ‬    < The Spacious Firmament on High >
               ‫ﺣ‬   “spacious, ethereal, spangled”
               ‫ﺣ‬   God has created a math perfect world
               ‫ﺣ‬   “God Original”
 ‫ﺣ‬   Bach
 ‫ﺣ‬   Pietism
      ‫ﺣ‬    Among Lutherans
      ‫ﺣ‬    Stressed the inner spiritual experience
 ‫ﺣ‬   John Wesley
      ‫ﺣ‬    Student at Oxford
      ‫ﺣ‬    Humanitarian work
      ‫ﺣ‬    Itinerant preaching (250,000 mi/50 years)
      ‫ﺣ‬    Great Awakening (1740s) with George Whitfield
      ‫ﺣ‬    Methodism: individual worth, spiritual consciousness
 ‫ﺣ‬   Lavater
      ‫ﺣ‬    Physiognomy
 ‫ﺣ‬   Mesmer
      ‫ﺣ‬    Séances, animal magnetism, mesmerism
      ‫ﺣ‬    Royal Academy of Sciences
 ‫ﺣ‬   Freemasonry
      ‫ﺣ‬    Masons resembled typical enlightenment thinkers except for secrecy
      ‫ﺣ‬    Illuminati (search for inner light) aroused suspicion and was suppressed




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