What is the
Enlightenment?
(also called the Neoclassical
Period)
It begins with a
rejection. . . .
•Of dogma
•Of superstition
•Of traditional religion
•Of factionalism
•Of (in some cases) monarchy
•Of disorder
The 1600s had a different ideology
--one steeped in supernatural politics.
Alchemy, Angelology, Demonology
The Great Chain of Being
Divine Right of Kings
The Great Chain of
Being
God
Angelic Beings
Humanity
Animals
Plants
Minerals
. . .but that led to
dire political
schisms when a
monarch died
without a clear
heir.
The War of the Roses, anyone?
The
Plantagenet
Family Tree
..if you think
‘Plantagenet’ does
not sound very
‘English’, you’re
right…they were
originally French
…about as sensible as the DSI’s conspiracy theory
The Renaissance saw
many countries become
Protestant, shattering the
fifteen-hundred-year-old
spiritual monopoly of
Catholicism.
Renaissance Reformation!
Martin Luther in Germany –
challenged many ideas (e.g.
freedom from God's punishment of
sin could not be purchased with
money, salvation was a free gift
from god in return for faith, not
‘good works’), – wrote the
‘Ninety Five Thesis’ which
initiated the foundation of
the Protestant Church
Jan Hus
In Eastern Europe
– challenged the
nature & functions
of the church
(burnt alive)
Henry VIII in Britain –
formally separated
England from the Catholic
Holy Roman Empire –
created the Church of
England with himself as
the head
But that dreaded
factionalism lead to
religious wars-some continuing offand-on for a century.
England, Germany, and Holland became Protestants allies.
They fought repeatedly against Catholic France, Spain, and
Italy. Later, Protestant groups turned on each other--with
Anglican persecutions against Jansenists, Anabaptists,
Quakers--and in America, Puritans against Quakers, etc.
. . . And to
heresy
trials
‘heresy’ – a
challenge to
established
religious dogma
And to the
auto-da-fé
That is the execution of individuals
who dissented from standard scriptural
interpretations--usually by public
burning. The practice began in 1215 in
medieval Catholicism, but Protestants
picked it up in Geneva and London in
the mid-1500s. John Calvin oversaw
the public burnings of Michael Servetus
and other theological dissidents. Martin
Luther moved away from toleration of
Jews early in his career to increasing
anti-semiticism later in his preaching.
And to ever
increasing
numbers of witch
burnings
Witch trials were actually
higher in number during
the Renaissance reign of
King James I than in any
decade of the medieval
period in Britain.
And the
Inquisition’s
growth.
The Inquisition received
official Church sanction in
1215, but the height of its
activity in Spain and France
actually peaked in the
1500s and 1600s--i.e,
Renaissance times.
Not even Galileo
was safe.
The church arrested Galileo
For heretical ideas such as
heliocentricism. Threatened with
torture, he publicly recanted his
science and lived his last days under
permanent house arrest.
Western Christian biblical references Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and Chronicles 16:30 include text
stating that "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." In the same tradition, Psalm 104:5
says, "[the LORD] set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." Further, Ecclesiastes 1:5
states that "the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.” This meant that the
Idea the earth spun on its axis or revolved around the sun was incompatible with literalist readings
of scripture--and many medieval and Renaissance church authorities forbade such teachings.
The printing press dazzled the
early Renaissance . . .
But the overflow of new ideas was also
frightening--leading to national censorship,
book burnings, the index librorum
prohibitorum, pamphlet wars.
Worn out by 200 years of this bickering,
warfare, dissension, and fanaticism,
Europe was ready for a change by the late
1600s and early 1700s.
“I said, a change, a change,
would do you good.”
--Cheryl Crow, “A Change.”
That change was the
Enlightenment!
What is the Enlightenment
attitude?
(1) A desire for rationality, logic, consistency.
(2) A rejection of emotionalism
(3) A preference for evidence, not faith
(4) Increased interest in science, mathematics,
geometry
(5) An admiration for Greece and Rome and an
abhorrence for everything medieval.
(6) A preference for the artificial over the natural,
technology over wilderness.
What is the
Enlightenment socially?
(1) A disdain of “messiness” and “chaos” as being
unharmonious.
(2) A preference for democracy.
(3) A preference for civilized, polite discussion of ideas.
Conclusions reached by intelligent debate--not force.
(4) A desire to create social standards based on reason-not tradition.
(5) An embrace of monotheistic Deism rather than
traditional Trinitarian doctrines.
What is the Enlightenment
aesthetically?
(1) A desire for geometric shapes, orderly
repetition in mathematical patterns.
(2) A disdain of “messiness” and “chaos” in art and
clothing and hairstyles as being unharmonious.
(3) Greco-Roman architecture
(4) Endless Heroic Couplets
(5) Satire as a means of social critique
See for instance
Enlightenment
gardens.
Here, the “messiness” of the natural world must bow before
pure geometry. In such a garden, the chaos of nature is tamed
to match the orderly design of human intellect.
Straight lines, 90 degree
corners, the stuff to warm
the heart of an
Enlightenment thinker.
Thus, hedge--mazes appear
across Europe.
Even the untidiness of natural hair disturbs Enlightenment society. Thus, the tradition
of the perfectly coiffed wig appears in the age of Washington and Jefferson and Marie
Antoinette. Powdered porcelain make-up and other cosmetics become fashionable
and artificial “beauty” patches (bits of black cloth with adhesive) are used to create
artificial moles or freckles (or to hide natural ones.) It is an age of absolute artifice.
The Enlightenment is so devoted to GrecoRoman logic and philosophy it is thus also called
the “Neoclassic Period.” A similar taste appears
in their architecture,
their plays and drama. . . .
Take a look at the Arch of Emperor
Constantine, built c. 312-315 CE.
Then look at the French Arc de Triomph du
Carrousel. Note any similarities?
Top Left:
the Parthenon of the
Acropolis, built
c. 447-438 BCE.
Bottom left:
Ragensberg Replica,
Planned in the 1790s
And built 1830 CE.
We also see it in their
obsessive and
rigorous attitudes to
standardizing language:
The French Academy
Of Language
Samuel Johnson working
on his dictionary of 1755.
…and artificial grammar rules
based on Latin , or Greek,
Shall versus Will?
or even rules of algebra!
“It is I,” or “It is me”?
Count Nouns versus
Non-Count Nouns?
Double negatives?
Reflexive pronouns?
Split infinitives?
Standardizing spelling
based on etymology?
“Incomparables” versus
positives and
superlatives?
How do these tendencies
affect the Enlightenment’s
literature?
In poetry: heroic
couplets and “perfect”
metrical patterns and a
return to classical
Greco-Roman epics. Cf.
Pope’s The Rape of the
Lock.
In both poetry and prose, a focus
on satire--the use of mockery to
point out social stupidities.
Summary
• A time in Western philosophy and cultural life, centered
upon the 18th C , in which reason was advocated as the
primary source and legitimacy for authority
• At its core was a critical questioning of traditional
institutions, customs, and morals
• Immanuel Kant described it simply as :
– ‘freedom to use one's own intelligence’ (1784)
• And gave the movement it’s motto:
– "Aude Sapere" - Dare to Think
• Held to be the source of critical ideas, such as the centrality
of freedom, democracy, and reason as primary values of
society.
1. French Revolution 1789-1799
Key features:
a) Abolition and replacement
of the French monarchy
with a radical democratic
republic.
b) Radical social change
to forms based on
Enlightenment
principles of citizenship
and human rights
•
‘Declaration of the
Rights of Man and of
the Citizen’ - removed
class privileges of the
aristocrats and nobles
c) Massive shifting of
powers from the
Roman Catholic
Church to the state.
•
The Church had been the
largest single landowner in
France, owning about 10
percent of the land in the
kingdom
• Confiscated and sold church owned land
• Abolished right to levy a tithe
• Encouraged monks and nuns to return to private life
• Made all church officers into government employees
• The types of criticism leveled against them can
be seen through the works of:
–Marquis de Montesquieu
–Voltaire
–Rousseau
–Diderot
Marquis de Montesquieu (16881755)
• Among the earliest critics of
absolute monarchy.
• Persian Letters (1721), which
purported to contain reports of an
Oriental traveler in Europe,
describing the irrational behavior
and ridiculous customs of
Europeans, delighted a large
reading audience.
• The Spirit of Laws (1748), expressed his main political
principles. It is noted for its practical common sense, its
objective recognition of geographic influences on political
systems, its advocacy of checks and balances in government,
and its uncompromising defense of liberty against tyranny.
Voltaire (1694 – 1778)
• Personified the skepticism of his century
toward traditional religion and the
injustices of the Old Regimes.
• Imprisoned twice in the Bastille and
even banished to England for three
years. On returning to France, Voltaire
continued to champion toleration. He
popularized Newtonian science, fought
for freedom of the press, and actively
crusaded against the church.
• In such endeavors, he turned out hundreds of histories, plays,
pamphlets, essays, and novels. His estimated correspondence of
10,000 letters, employed his wry wit in spreading the gospel of
rationalism and reform of abuses.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (17121778)
• Although believing in the general objectives of the
Enlightenment, Rousseau distrusted reason and
science and hated for the Old Regime.
• He gloried in human impulse and intuition, trusting
emotions rather than thought, the heart rather
than the mind. - spoke as a rebel against all
established institutions.
• He also professed admiration for "noble savages,"
who lived completely free of law, courts, priests,
and officials.
• The Social Contract (1762), was Rousseau's criticism of absolute
monarchy - "Man is born free, but today he is everywhere in chains."
Diderot (1713 – 1784)
• Authored ‘Encyclopédie’ a new
dictionary of arts and sciences to
include many of the enlightenment
ideas
• Persecuted by the nobles and
church for its attacks on their rights
and privileges but became one of
the main ways in which
enlightenment thinking was
transmitted
• Also challenged religion, particularly Christianity as being fanatical
and unreasonable – referred to Christianity as being “the most
absurd and the most atrocious in its dogma”
• Developed a purely materialistic view of life “this world is only a
mass of molecules”
• The main targets of the enlightenment were:
– Monarchy
– Religion
– Did monarchs appreciate their loss of prestige/power?
– Did the aristocrats appreciate their loss of prestige/power?
– Did the church appreciate its loss of prestige/power?
Revolution death toll estimates
– ‘Reign of Terror’
Executed with Trial: 17,000
Executed w/o Trial: 12,000
Died in jail: "thousands"
TOTAL: 40,000
– ‘Vendee rebellion’: 100,000
Encarta, "French Revolution"