LCLO51517
REMI
MOHANDAS
ENLIGHTENMENT
PHILOSOPHY
The
Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that originated in the 17th and 18th
centuries in Europe
and
America giving birth to the vision of an “age of reason” not only for Western
civilization, but for
humanity
as a whole. The common element was trust in universal and uniform human reason
as adequate to solve the central problem and to establish the essential norms
in life, together with the belief that the application of reason was rapidly
dissipating the darkness of superstition. For some thinkers the model for
reason was the inductive procedure of
science. The most famous definition of Enlightenment
is that of German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804): “Enlightenment is
man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability
to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is
self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of reason, but in lack of resolve
and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude! ‘Have
courage to use your own understanding!’— that is the motto of enlightenment”.
In
England the thought and the world outlook of the Enlightenment is been traced
from Francis Bacon, through John Locke to late eighteenth century such as William Godwin in France,
Descartes through Voltaire to
Diderot in Germany , Leibniz to the
critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant .
Neoclassical Period (1600-1785)
This
period takes it name from the restoration of the Stuart to the England throne
in 1600, at the end of the commonwealth lasting till 1700. The early puritan
regime reflected in the literature of the period. The theaters was back to the vigorous
life after the revocation of the ban placed by the puritan in 1642. Sir George Etherege, William
Wycherely , William Congreve and John Dryden developed the comedy of manners
called Restoration comedy . Dryden , Thomas Otway and the other playwright developed the
tragedy called Heroic drama.
Dryden
(1631-1700)
It
is called the age of Dryden because
Dryden was the most dominating and most representative literary figure
of the Age. Dryden occupied a place in English critical history . Samuel Johnson
called him the ‘Father of English Criticism’ and agreed on his Essay of
Dramatic Poesy that modern English Prose begins here. In addition to the essay
he wrote numerous prefaces, prologue which together set the stage for late
poetic and critical development.
The
poem Heroic Stanza written in 1659 celebrated the achievement of Cormwell. The poetry of Dryden can be divided into
three- Political Satire, Doctrinal Poem
and The Fables. He wrote several poems including mock heroic Mac Flecknoe in 1682 and political satire Absalom and
Achitophel in 1681.
The
Augustine Age.
The
18th century English literature has been called the Augustan Age,
The neoclassical Age and the Age of Reason. The original Augustan Age was the
brilliant literary period of Virgil , Horace, and Ovid under the Roman Empire
Augustus. The term was applied to the literary period in England from 1700 to
1745. Alexander pop is associated with
the epoch know as Augustine Age, depicts the fact that other writers such as
Jonathan Swifth and Daniel Defoe had more lasting influence. The literature of
this period which conformed to Pope’s aesthetic principle is distinguished by the
striving for harmony and precision.
Alexander
Pop
An
Essay on Criticism was written in . the essay was an attempt to identify and
refine his own position as a poet and as
a critic. His contribution to neoclassical criticism is very important in the
period. The essay is modeled on the Horatian form and it followed a survey and
consideration of the criticism in general , an examination of the important
causes for literary misjudgment , characteristics of an ideal critic ,and a
short account of the history of criticism .
The
essay of pop remains a significant document in Augustine criticism . But it has
elicited widely divergent views from his critics and admirers. Atkins say of his work
‘The
work is , in short , a mosaic not without its precious stone , and is the
result of wide and judicious selection among ‘the mazes of the school’.
Samuel
Johnson
Samuel Johnson
was a writer and lexicographer
and a major figure in the 18th century literature. Johnson is renowned for his two volume
Dictionary of the English Language in 1755 and the most famous poem The Vanity
of Human Wishes , a speculation of the emptiness of the worldly pursuits.
Johnson acknowledge that the greatest of art is to imitate nature , but which
are most proper for Imitation. He also commented about Shakespeare and his
works. He reaffirms the excellence of Shakespeare’s work and called
Shakespeare as the poet of the nature.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)
One of the first commercial women
writers of the age. She is a victim of gender biases and also an important
feminist personality of the neoclassical age. Her function as a poet in
society is masculine. She is one of the founders of English novel and her first
novel Oroonoko (1688) is an
opposition about slavery. She defends the value of drama by contrasting it
favorably with traditional learning as thought in the universities. The
French playwright Corneille appeals to experience rather than classical rules
but as a feminist Behn appeal to experience female experience. In her
opinion drama is for entertainment. The male writers of her age
criticized her writings but she responded. She comments that equality in
society is only possible through female education. The male writers of her age
treated women as indecent in literature. She found female education as a
solution to those actions of the men.
Enlightenment
Enlightenment
was a bored intellectual tendency , literature , language and arts religion and
political theory which lasted from 1680 to until the end of 18th
century. The Enlightenment has been called the Age of Reason . The thinkers
were not uniformed but they saw themselves as no initiating an era of
humanitarian, intellectual and social progress. . Enlightenment thought was
integral to the rise of liberalism and the ascendancy to power of the bourgeois
class through the French Revolution of 1789 and subsequent throughout Europe.
The Enlightenment was a celebration of
ideas about human mind was capable of. Egalitarianism
was the buzzword of the century, and it meant the promise of fair treatment for
all people, regardless of background. Citizens began to see themselves on the
same level as their leaders, subject to the same shortcomings and certainly
subject to criticism if so deserved. The idea of a collective, national
intelligence led many to imagine that virtually all the world’s serious
problems would soon be solved. Discussion and debate were considered healthy
outlets for pent-up frustrations, not signs of internal weakness. One of the
beneficial effects of the Industrial Revolution was a surge in the amount of
reading material available to the general public. Consequently, the cost of
such material decreased to the point that literature was no longer the sole
purview of aristocrats and wealthy merchants. Literacy rates are believed to
have risen dramatically during the eighteenth century.
In
Europe, Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were the torchbearers of
Enlightenment literature and philosophy. Rousseau was a strong advocate for
social reform of all kinds. He more or less invented the autobiography as it is
known today. His most important work, however, was Emilie, a massively influential piece
of non-fiction that argues for extensive and liberal education as the means for
creating good citizens. Rousseau’s work on behalf of social empowerment and
democracy would remain influential long after his passing. In the genre of the
novel, Jonathan Swift is probably most well-remembered. In all honesty, the
Enlightenment was a bit of a dry spell for English literature. Working in the
shadow of the Elizabethans presented creative difficulties for English writers,
as no one could quite determine how to follow up after Shakespeare and Marlowe.
John Locke 1632–1704
An
English political theorist who focused on the structure of governments. Locke
believed that men are all rational and capable people but must compromise
some of their beliefs in the interest of forming a government for the people.
In his famous Two Treatises of
Government (1690), he championed the idea of a representative government
that would best serve all constituents. The major works are Essay concerning Human Understanding, Two
Treatises on Government, Thoughts on Education, and Letters Concerning
Tolerations. He says that mind at birth is blank state upon which
experiences would write. He considers experience as the beginning of
knowledge. The government was the product of contract and its basis was
the concern of people. Thus the king has to operate within the framework of a
‘rule of law’.
Joseph
Addison (1672-1719)
Addison
was best known as a poet, dramatist and essayist. He contributed much to the development
eighteenth century essay as a literary form. With the collaboration of
his friend Richard Steele he published number of essay in the periodicals such
as “tattler” and “spectator”. It was his great ambition to bring philosophical,
political and literary discussion within the reach of the middle classes.
The essay is an attempt to probe the truth of thing, in a dramatic and witty
manner for the moral enlightenment of the readers. Both of them used their
periodicals for literary, moral and educational purposes.
Addison
was influenced by the thoughts of
classical writers such as Aristotle ,Longinus and Milton. Like the psychology of Locke
they made use of more recent
observation. Steele calls his age as “corrupt age” concentrating more on luxury
and wealth rather than the virtues of friendship and innocence. In
Spectator there are many essays dealing with literary critical issues such as
nature of tragedy, wit, genius, and sublime. Like Pope he also attempted to
distinguish true and false wit. Addison finds Dryden’s definition of wit
as “a propriety of words and thoughts adapted to the subjects” to be broad; it
is possible to apply all writing not only to wit. On the basis of Locke’s
definition of wit Addison produced a definition of false wit. True wit consists
in the resemblance and congruity of ideas whereas false wit is based on single
letters. By holding the values of classical age both Steele and Addison tries
to cultivate moral values among the people.
David Hume (1711–1776)
A
Scottish philosopher and one of the most prominent figures in the field of skepticism during the Enlightenment.
Hume took religion to task, asking why a perfect God would ever create an
imperfect world, and even suggested that our own senses are fallible, bringing
all observations and truths into question. Hume’s skepticism proved very
influential to others, such as Immanuel
Kant, and was instrumental in the shift away from rationalist thought
that ended the Enlightenment. . His major philosophical works are A Treaties of Human Nature(1740), An Enquiry
Concerning Human Understanding(1748), An Enquiry concerning the
principles of morals(1751) and Political Discourses (1752) etc.
His works are generally considers as the manifesto of enlightenment
Mary Wollstonecraft
One of the first feminist writers of modern times.
Mary Wollstonecraft was a radical thinker whose central notions were framed by
the debates and issues that arose directly out of the French Revolution of
1789. Her Vindication of the Rights of
Men (1790), like Thomas Paine’s
The Rights of Man, was a
defense of the Revolution against the
scornful attacks expressed in Burke’s Reflections
on the Revolution in France. The argument is that if woman be not
prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the
progress of knowledge and virtue for truth must be common to all.
Wollstonecraft’s two central ideas are that not only men but also women have
the ‘gift of reason’ and secondly, no authority can simply coerce women into
fulfilling a given set of duties. What she is essentially appealing to are the
enlightenment principles of reason, duty, freedom, self-determination and even
patriotism; her feminism consists in the demand that these same principles
extend to women. Wollstonecraft recommends national day schools which will be
free to all classes of society, and where both sexes will be educated together.
She also had a national feeling that of Dryden. She says these national schools
cultivate friendship and love between boys and girls. Mary Wollstonecraft is
the female representation of enlightenment society as well as philosophy,
because she views enlightenment in the eyes of a woman, not the literary
figure. So her principles paves base for the development of enlightenment
period’s woman. Later her views are interpreted as feminist, but largely she is
the represent of woman in the enlightenment philosophy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abrams, M. H.A Glossary of
Literary Terms. Wadsworth: Cengage, 2012. Print
Habib, M. A. R.A History of Literary
Criticism: From Plato to the Present. New Delhi: Blackwell, 2006.
Print
Habib, M. A. R. Literary Criticism
from Plato to the Present: AN INTRODUCTION. Singapore: Blckwell,
2011.Print
Klages, Mary.Literary Theory:
A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Continuum, 2006. Print
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