Nirupama Suneetha, A-3, Enlightenment Philosophy

Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement in Europe from around 1680 till the end of the 18^th century. Immanuel Kant defines Enlightenment as “man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity”. He further says, “Immaturity is the inability to use one’s own understanding without the guidance of another”. The motto of Enlightenment, therefore, is Sapere aude. It is a Latin phrase which literally means dare to know. That is to say, have courage to use your own understanding. (Kant 1)

The Enlightenment followed the Medieval Age. The Medieval Period was characterized by staunch religious fervour and the authority of Church. It was era of irrationality and superstition. By the 1500s itself the Scientific Revolution had begun. But it was seen only as a tool of goodness and appreciation of God’s creation. Otherwise it was considered as something ‘unorthodox’ or harmful. People who questioned faith or religious practices were punished cruelly. People had no individual rights.

The Enlightenment period replaced this line of thought with that of reason and the capacity to think on one’s own. There was a shift in thinking which was purely based on sacred texts and religion to that of rational thinking. The ideas of enlightenment weakened the authority of church and paved way for many revolutions in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Individuality was very important for the enlightenment thinkers. This is why some critics call this era as the Age of Reason, though the terminology is a bit ambiguous.

The Enlightenment thinkers did not think uniformly, in the sense, they did not have a common outlook. The only point of similarity between them was the importance they gave to thinking and individuality. They thought it was imperative to cultivate a society free of religious intolerances where individuals took decisions not based on moral or religious grounds but on rationality and freedom and also to purge the human thought from believing in irrational prejudices and superstition. The American and the French Revolution were directly inspired by the Enlightenment ideals. They finally paved way for the 19^th century Romanticism.

This movement of Europe was most prevalent in England, France, and Germany. Generally Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes and Benedict Spinoza are considered as the pioneers of Enlightenment thought. In England the enlightenment thought is usually traced from Bacon through John Locke to the late 18^th century thinkers such as William Godwin. In France, we start off from Descartes to Voltaire and Diderot, and in Germany, from Leibniz to the “critical philosophy” of Immanuel Kant. In America, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson represented the principles of the French and English Enlightenment which helped to shape the Constitution of America.

The major part of the neoclassical age had coincided with the 18^th century Age of Enlightenment. More than a rigid literary period, it can be considered as a tendency in literature from the early 17^th century till around 1750. These writers tried to imitate the classical models of writing. The word Neoclassical comes from two words – neo means new and classical i.e., to imitate the classical writers. They also gave importance to reason which is the basic feature of the enlightenment philosophy. To an extent, they can also be considered as the heirs of the Renaissance humanists. It goes without saying that many of the neoclassical writers were influenced by the enlightenment philosophy. The major writers during this era were Alexander Pope, Aphra Behn, Dryden etc.

Francis Bacon was an English philosopher. The Advancement of Learning and The Organonare his major works. In his works he propagated the method of induction i.e. we form conclusions based on actual observance and not merely deduct things. He advocated that the method of induction is a more authentic method than the method of deduction which was followed during the medieval age. This is a more scientific method because we apply reason to the observed facts than merely form random conclusions.

Rene Descartes was a French rational philosopher. Like Bacon, he too questioned the ideals of medieval philosophy. He also propagated scientific method as a source of knowledge. In his work Discourse on Method, he comes up with appreciating the discipline of mathematics and mathematical certainty, and a need to apply the same to philosophy and other disciplines. He is best known for his philosophical statement – Je pense, donc Je suis. It is a French phrase which means I think, therefore I am. He identified his self with the process of thinking and made a distinction between the mind and the body. He explains that that the mind is something which can think, whereas the body belongs to the material world. This concept is often referred to as his notion of dualism. Thus, he had a mechanistic view of the world.

            Baruch Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher. He had closely studied the works of Descrates. He had very rationalistic and unorthodox views, and this led to his expulsion from his own community. He was charged of Heresy. Through his unorthodox views of the Bible, he upset the Christian theologians. He too believed in the method of deduction and had a mechanistic view of universe. However he did not believe in Descartes’ notion of dualism for he believed that the Universe is composed of a single universe. This for him is God.

            These three eminent figures though in different parts of the world initiated the idea of enlightenment. Empiricism and rationalism which were the two characteristic aspects of the Enlightenment philosophy were taken from their works. Bacon talked about the need to form conclusions based on experience and observation while Descartes talked about the need to use our reason when we understand something.

Materialism was another important aspect of Enlightenment which found its voice in the theories of Thomas Hobbes. He was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy. He too proposed a materialistic view of the universe, even that of the mind. He is best known for his work Leviathan. The work is an attempt to explore the human nature. In this work, he justifies the absolutist rule. To explain his stand, he says that human nature is essentially bad. He constantly fights for power and material benefits. However a group of individuals who are in power are more inclined to misuse it in quest of more power than required for stabilising the society. This, according to him, is why a single absolute ruler is better than an oligarchy or democracy. The power and wealth of the nation and that of the ruler is more or less the same, so he will be able to lead his nation on a  more stable and successful manner. He also asserts that it is the ruler’s responsibility to assure that his citizens are well protected.

            It is impossible not to mention John Locke in the context of Enlightenment philosophy. He was an English philosopher and is considered as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Some critics often consider him as the ‘Father of Classical Liberalism’. He is also one of the first of the British empiricists who followed the tradition of Bacon. The Later Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire, Rousseau, etc were influenced by his ideals. This is best reflected in the United States Declaration of Independence.

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises on Civil Government are his most important works. He opposes Descartes’ view that ideas are borne in our minds. Instead he says that our mind is like a blank slate. Our experiences get recorded in this blank slate. The ideas that come from our mind arise out of our experience. That is through our sensation and reflection. Therefore, all of our knowledge must come from experience of the physical world, through sensory perception. Locke’s chief argument against innate ideas, is that if such ideas existed, they would be universal in all men. However, he argues, there is not one single idea that is universally held.

Locke’s empiricist notions were further developed by David Hume. He was a Scottish philosopher. Critics call him a British Empiricist along with Locke, Bacon and Hobbes because of his empiricist approach to philosophy. Heis best known today for his highly influential system of radical and philosophical empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism.A Treatise on Human Nature published in 1739 is his most important work. Although it was not well-received in his own time, it is now a classic text.

Hume was a rationalist and an empiricist. His claim that proof was required in order to establish a truth had created chaos during his time. Like Locke, Hume believed that the mind is a blank slate at birth, but disagrees with the idea that we possess the innate capacity to reason. Hume believes that there are no innate ideas or capacities within us, but that everything is acquired through experience, including our capacity to reason and hold ideas.

Giambattista Vico was an Italian political philosopher, historian and another of the greatest Enlightenment thinkers. He condemned the progress of modern rationalism and was an advocate of classical antiquity. He is best known for his ScienzaNuova, often published in English as New Science.

Vico was a predecessor of systemic and complexity thinking, as opposed to Cartesian analysis. He is rightfully cast as a counter-Enlightenment thinker. He advocated rhetoric and humanism. His conjecture can be more easily understood by contrasting it with the Cartesian rationalism, especially the emphasis laid by Descartes on the geometric method.

However the extent to which Vico disagreed with the ideals of Enlightenment is not clear. He too was involved in similar philosophical research as the other eighteenth century thinkers. He calls his most important work as science and asserts the influence of Bacon on him. He was also influenced by Malebranche. So although he was an advocate of classical antiquity and ancient rhetoric, we don’t know to what extent he supported or condemned the ideals of Enlightenment.

The point of dispute between Vico and Descartes was the importance each gave for imagination and that of rhetoric. Descartes states in the very opening of his Discourse on Method his discontent with rhetoric and culture as sources of certainty. He feels that if one can state an idea clearly, there isn’t a need for rhetoric to defend it. On the otherhand, Vico wrote most of his works advocating the importance of rhetoric.

The Enlightenment philosophy was also popular in France. Jean Jacques Rousseau was a philosopher and a writer of the 18^th century France who was an important figure during the Enlightenment era. His political philosophy had influenced Enlightenment in Europe especially France. Rousseau was against all sorts of authority and believed in individuality. He was of the view that people need not be ruled by person or structure as they are individuals themselves. His notions of individual liberty helped foster the spirit of French Revolution.

A Discourse on the Sciences and Arts and The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality are his two major philosophical works. Through his works, he proposed that human beings are inherently good and that they are corrupted by the complex historical events.

There is an ambiguity whether Rousseau can be considered Enlightenment or a Counter-enlightenment thinker. As such, it is appropriate to consider Rousseau, at least chronologically, as an Enlightenment thinker. The major idea put by the Enlightenment thinkers was to give a foundation to philosophy based on reason and not tradition or culture. Rousseau had influenced later Enlightenment critics like Immanuel Kant.

Voltaire, Denis Diderot and Jean d’Alembert were the major enlightenment thinkers in France. Voltaire had popularised the theories of Newton and Locke among the public. His important works are Philosophical Dictionary and Candide. In Candide, he makes fun of the optimism, determinism and rationalism of the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz. He stood for liberty and freedom of speech. Diderot and d’Akembert were the other leading members of the French enlightenment. Diderot was a French philosopher, critic and a writer.He is best known today as the editor and contributor to Encyclopedie along with Jean d’Alembert. Gotthold Lessing and Moses Mendelssohn were two leading figures of the German Enlightenment who advocated philosophies of religious tolerance.

Samuel Johnson, often known as Dr Johnson was an English writer who wore many caps. He was a poet, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer and a lexicographer. He is best remembered today for the dictionary he compiled – Dictionary of the English Language. Although it was not the first dictionary in English language, it was the first comprehensive dictionary.

Lives of the English Poets is another famous work of Dr Johnson. It consists of short biographies and critical assessment of 52 poets, most of whom lived during the 18^th century. He has also penned poem, the famous poem being The Vanity of Human Wishes.

The  History of Rasselas is another important work of Johnson. It is basically an apologue on happiness. There is a particular passage on poetry rendered by one of the main characters in the work, namely Imlac. This is often considered as a summary of neoclassical principles. He is also known for the essays he wrote in The Rambler, The Idler etc.

Johnson affirmed to the classical notions of literature being based on reason and truth. He was also adamant on the moral function of literature.

Joseph Addison was an English poet, essayist and a playwright. He is mostly remembered for his periodical Spectator which he found along with his friend Richard Steele. The aim of the periodical is mentioned by a character called Mr. Spectator itself – “to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality”.  The periodical provided readers with topics for well-reasoned discussions and to carry conversations in a political manner. It reminded people of the social etiquettes of the society. The periodical kept the values of the Enlightenment philosophy by promoting topics such as family, marriage and courtesy.

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher. He is one of the leading figures of modern philosophy. He lived towards the end of the Enlightenment. Like Voltaire and Hume, he too believed that reason should replace the traditions and superstitions of religion and monarchy. Although he lived during the revolution of France and America, he was largely unaffected by the events.

Kant carefully amalgamated the empiricist philosophy that was prevalent in Great Britain and rationalist philosophy of Europe. Although he was trained in rationalist tradition, he was influenced by the empiricist philosophy of Hume. Kant argued that reason is the source of morality, aesthetics arises out of detached judgements, and that the world in itself is something unknowable to human beings.

Edmund Burke was a writer, political theorist and a philosopher. His most famous work is Reflections on the Revolution in France. It is a sharp and bitter criticism on the various facets of the French Revolution of 1789. Burke has penned many political essays. He follows Hume and Addison, and adopts an empiricist perspective.

Mary Wollstonecraft was an English writer, philosopher and advocate of women’s rights. She is often considered as the first feminist writer. Her famous work Vindication of the Rights of Men was a reply to Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France. Her best known work is A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. This book is considered as the foundational text of western feminism.

            Mary Wollstonecraft can be called an Enlightenment thinker. Through her works, she proposes that men and women are equal, and that women appear to be inferior because of lack of education. She was of the view that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and wants a social order based on reason. She argues that rights cannot be based on tradition, but on reason and rationality.

Conclusion

            Enlightenment, thus, was a philosophical movement which dominated Europe during the 18^th century. Reason, liberty and individualism were very important for the Enlightenment thinkers. Empiricism and rationalism were the two characteristic features of this philosophy.

As we saw, the major part of the neoclassical movement coincided with the 18^th century Age of Enlightenment. Although many thinkers advocated this philosophy, they did not think uniformly. They only shared the idea that thinking should be based on reason. Bacon, Descartes and Spinoza are considered as the pioneers of the Enlightenment thought. Bacon believed that knowledge should be gathered upon the method of induction and not deduction. Descartes also proposed a scientific study of disciplines. Spinoza had a mechanistic view of the Universe and believed in the deductive method. Locke was the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and he is also considered as a British empiricist. His empiricist notions were further developed by David Hume who was both a empiricist and a rationalist. The notion of Enlightenment, thus, changed from one thinker to another. By the time we reach Immanuel Kant who lived towards the end of the Enlightenment, we see a new perspective. He believed that reason should replace the traditions and superstitions of religion and monarchy. He combined the empiricist philosophy and the rationalist philosophy.

The Enlightenment ideals continued till the early 19^th century and paved way for the 19^th century Romanticism.

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