...Enlightenment HIS104: World Civilizations II (ADH1412A) Instructor: Christopher Davies The enlightenment of the 18th century brought about new ways for religions and politics for the French Revolution. With the new ideas would help impact the French Revolution from 1789 to 1799. The enlightenment ideas about religion and society shaped the policies of the French Revolution. “The constant arrival of ships meant that ideas from Europe also traveled across the ocean, including those from Enlightenment thinkers and later revolutionary France. Some inhabitants of Saint Domingue embraced these ideas, but others reviled them. The grandsblancs especially became concerned when certain Enlightenment thinkers attacked slavery. They also disliked the emphasis on the rights and freedoms of the middle class, represented on Saint Domingue by the petitsblancs and gens de couleur. The petitsblancs, meanwhile, welcomed idealistic notions of justice and freedom because they resented the aristocratic dominance of the grandsblancs.” Getz, T.R. & Brooke, J.E. (2012). World history: The human experience from 1500. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. There were a lot of impacts related to the French Revolution as for political, social and culture. The political impacts that were related to the French Revolution are the political ideologies Nationalism and socialism. French nationalism, and nationalism as such, paradoxical in four ways. In their conception...
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...Bradford and the settlers of Plymouth Plantation were not only religiously devout but had an entirely different set of values from those of the Enlightenment. Bradford has little or no acceptance of diversity. In Bradford’s writings he expresses a feeling of complete alienation from people who were not of the separatist colony with which he arrived. He describes the native people of America as savages who he fears. He shows little or no acceptance of anyone besides the separatists. Bradford makes a reference to some of the men who traveled with him by telling that he was, “occasioned partly by the discontented and mutinous speeches of that some of the strangers amongst them had let fall from them in the ship.” They strangers he refers to are the men on the Mayflower that came for economic opportunity. Bradford’s negative view of any that came for or tried to achieve economic advance shows a clear difference of Bradfords values from that of Enlightenment writers. Bradford being a puritan sees economic prosperity as a distraction from the practicing the will of god. When more settlers begin to arrive in Plymouth Plantation the community and economy expand. Bradford writes, “many were much enriched, and commodities grew plentiful; and yet in other regards this benefit turned to their hurt, and this accession of strength to their weakness.” The commodities were also a means for distraction in Bradford’s mind as they may make one wander from the path they take to get to heaven...
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...Subjects to Citizens: Locke, the Enlightenment and the French Revolution The idea of people as citizens rather than as subjects originates in 16th century Europe, during the Early Modern Period. During this period, European social order was in a state of flux as the rule of kings was confronted with a persistent and determined challenges defined by social forces that were pushing for more secular and democratic governments. There were both individuals and events that today may be seen as powerful drivers of those forces, and among them are John Locke, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution. As such a force, the Enlightenment, which began during the mid-17th century and remained a major political and philosophical phenomenon until approximately 1800, had tremendous impact in the rise and triumph of democracy over monarchy. The Enlightenment was catalyzed by the persistent discourse of a number of philosophers and historians, one of the foremost of which was John Locke. The magnitude of change introduced by the Enlightenment is rendered more clearly when viewing that period in context of the preceding era—the Medieval Period, during which the rule of kings prevailed, sustained by an embedded religious institutions that qualified the lineages of kings for ruler ship through divine ordainment. The Church enjoyed considerable reciprocity from the crowns by doing so, because rulers recognized the equity that religion held in the minds of their “subjects”...
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...A More Enlightened Contemporary Society What is Enlightenment?, an explication that was written in 1784 in Prussia by the philosopher Immanuel Kant, discusses the principles that he deems to be truths surrounding significant topics such as freedom, reason, and an individual’s and/or societal necessity to be fully mature, in terms that he described as being scholar. Here, what is most evident is the reality that while he perceived the society as being unprepared to be fully mature, he nevertheless held faith on his belief that an age is fast approaching when societies will truly exhibit advances that will benefit them not only in political terms, but more so in their spiritual beliefs. As such, the importance of this particular literary work of Kant can be based on the fact that he is able to detail the most important factors that needed to be discovered by the society before they can be truly regarded as being free; where their liberties are safeguarded by their own appreciation of their individual and communal enlightenment. Keeping in mind Kant’s definition of enlightenment as being “released from their own self-imposed immaturity” (Kant 1), he furthers his discussion by expressing his belief that his generation is yet to attain maturity, which he correlates with enlightenment. As such, he offers a clear description between an enlightened age from that of an age of enlightenment, wherein an enlightened age is exhibiting a society of mature individuals—those who do not...
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...The so-called long Age of Enlightenment in Europe, stretching from the mid-17th century into the 1830s, engendered new political, economic and social ideals and generated knowledge across the arts and sciences. But part of its impetus was outside of Europe. Dorinda Outram likens the European Enlightenment to" a world drama of cross-cultural contact" that "triggered anxieties" for Europeans about the nature of being civilized (Outram, 2004). To the 17th century English philosopher John Locke, an early archetype of an enlightened thinker, the discovery of the New World of America "enlarged the sphere of contemplation" about "civilized man" and his "savage ancestors" (Locke, 1690). There was more to discover. The scientific journeys of exploration around the Pacific in the 18th century by James Cook, another archetypal figure of the Enlightenment, were significant in creating the imagination and knowledge of the age. Although the Enlightenment was a European phenomenon, its scope became global as the scholars of Europe attempted to classify and order the peoples, plants and animals of other worlds as well as map their landscapes. Maori scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith succinctly sums up the process: "They came, they saw, they named, they claimed" (Tuhiwai Smith, 2001, p. 80). 'Discovery' was the watchword of the Enlightenment (Porter, 2000), realised only by a few Europeans but imagined by many others and evident in the fashion for paintings of drawing room explorations with globes ahd...
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...been influenced by many different things. Because of the Enlightenment, people had been influenced to look for education and freedom for all races and genders. There has been inequality between races since Europeans believed that their race was the dominant race, so, people tried to prove that this was unfair by showing a culture of different paintings and articles, from perspectives of different races and social classes, trying to convince people to see that there was inequality for some men. For example, Document 1 shows both a list of rules and a picture,...
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...Enlightenment Starting in the mid 1700’s to 1800’s a movement had set in based on rational thought and reason, it was known as the Enlightenment era also known as the Age of Reason. This era created ideas that shaped the political, economic and social institutions in the United States. Men in this era such as Thomas Paine, who was a politician and philosopher, Thomas Jefferson our third president as well as an apostle of agrarian, and Benjamin Franklin, author, scientist, philosopher, and statesman. All these men emphasize the importance of using reason and logic instead of superstition or ignorance. They focus on creating and writing, science, politics and other subjects in this era which influence decades to come (Age of Enlightenment, 2011). In today’s society these ideas have become relevant. Thomas Paine influences the Enlightenment politically and socially, because of his beliefs he was damned by many people in both America and England. Thomas Paine was born in England; he was a corset maker and excise officer in England, although showed interested in philosophy and science. He later in life then met up with Benjamin Franklin in London and soon after he sailed to Philadelphia. He found work in 1775 in the Pennsylvania Magazine writing articles and essays “on democracy, universal suffrage, and revolution, shaping the unheard of idea of democracy into the freedom the citizens of so many countries know today”. Unfortunately some of his writing landed him in jail to which...
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...In his essay titled "What is Enlightenment?" Immanuel Kant defines enlightenment as "man's leaving his self-caused immaturity." (145) In order to fully comprehend his definition, one must first clearly understand Kant's use of the term "immaturity." He explains that immaturity is not thinking for oneself because of a "lack of determination and courage to use one's intelligence without being guided by another." (145) To Kant, immaturity is the individual's fault. He explains that a pattern of immaturity is difficult to break, because it becomes comfortable for the individual to rely on others for knowledge. (145) The chief example that Kant provides to illustrate this point is domesticated animals. As an allusion to the role of government on its citizens, he explains that the animal's guardian domesticates it, and then warns it of the dangers of straying from his or her guidance. However, as Kant explains further: "this danger is not really so very great... [but] an example of this kind intimidates and frightens people out of all further attempts." (146) Much like the guardian in Kant's domesticated animal example, governments sometimes facilitate an individual's immaturity by providing the individual with a ready-made set of beliefs to which he or she can cling. (148) Kant identifies a clear distinction between the individual's pursuit of enlightenment as opposed to that of the public: "It is difficult for the isolated individual to work himself out of the immaturity which...
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...THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND ITS DISCONTENTS Antinomies of Christianity, Islam and the calculative sciences In my point of view, the main concern of this paper is about the role of ideology in retarding or advancing the Enlightenment project. Which the ideologies itself in this case are Christianity, Islam, and accounting as a calculative science because each constitute a social ideology where they are systems of belief that inform conduct in everyday life. And what is Enlightenment itself? From the explanation of Kant, “Enlightenment is the liberation of man from his self-caused state of minority. Minority is incapacity of using one understands without the direction of another. This state of minority is self-caused when its source lies not in a lack of understanding but in a lack of determination and courage to use it without the assistance of another. Dare to use your own understanding.” From the Christian dialectic, human Enlightenment decline. It is characterized by the existence of a war against the accumulation of wealth, which is considered as an obstacle to the development of capitalism. In catholic paternalism, it is seen the pressure internally and externally. Internally, there was hypocrisy of economic in the body of the Church, where they prohibit lending practices and interest rates, but the Church itself there is excess wealth. Externally, the secularization of Church function in the form of God monarchy or God monopoly, faced with land acquisition monarchy that...
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...Katlyn Revell May 27, 2016 ENGL 2112 Enlightenment to Romanticism: Metaphysics The Enlightenment was the realism of reality, and that science was the key. The Romanticism was about improving oneself for that is the only thing one can improve. However, both eras had something in common, and that is Metaphysical writing/poetry. We accept that any state of mind is extremely complex, and mainly composed by change influenced by desire and fear. Metaphysical is made of two words 'meta' –meaning beyond and 'physical' meaning our surroundings are an artificial world. (Stanford Encyclopedia, 2015) The inclination of metaphysical writing is toward psychological analysis of the emotions of religion, life, existence, and love. The characteristics of Metaphysical writing include the use of strange and sometimes unnerving imagery, use of paradox and exceedingly intellectualized and complicated thought. (Nebo Literature) Metaphysics deals with questions that can't be explained by science, it questions the nature of reality in a philosophical way, such as “Does God exist?”, “what is the difference between reality and perception?”, and “Is everything predetermined or do we still have free will?” (“Metaphysical Poetry”, 2016) Metaphysical writers try to explain the emotional and spiritual elements of life in concrete, rational and logical terms. For the Enlightenment period, Voltaire’s Candide is an example of metaphysical writing. In 1686, a prominent philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz...
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...8th, 2013 The Time of Enlightenment What would our world be like today if the Enlightenment never happened? Would we be any better or worse off had it not happened? Would women still not be allowed to an education? Immanuel Kent said that the enlightenment is “man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another (Kant).” The Enlightenment, or the “Age of Reason”, played a drastic role on the rising revolutionary tide of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Before the Enlightenment, it seems like no one was able to think for themselves. This isn’t because they didn’t want to, but instead because they weren’t able to. Everyone was afraid to share his or her opinions for fear of having the wrong one. This was a time when people were being killed simply because of the religion they chose. The Enlightenment was a time where men and women started to realize that they were able to think for themselves. They didn’t have to agree with the church’s or state’s opinion on a matter. People were beginning to expand their knowledge and question new ideas. Before the Enlightenment, women rarely had much if any education. They were considered inferior to men at the time. Then during the Enlightenment, there were new ideas and...
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...This essay explains three key features of the Age of Enlightenment that include liberalism, rationalism and equality. These key features will be explained in terms of how they reflect specific assumptions about children and education. Furthermore to evaluate how these ideas have impacted children’s education in both the past and the present. Liberalism requires members of society to develop liberal ideas such as individualism and independence amongst the likes of John Locke who wrote a book called ‘Some thought Concerning Education’ (1893) which emphasises the significance of early education in the home. “upbringing in the home is crucial for the development of good character” (May, 1997, p. 3). Rationalism is another imperative feature of the Age of Enlightenment as people used theory to make sense of human development along the likes of Rousseau. His book, ‘Emile’ is about the development of a young boy becoming a man using his ideas for child rearing. “education should be a response to the child’s curiosity and interest to natural world.” (May, p. 39-40, 2005) This theory was put into practice by Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi who was so impressed with his ideas that “he attempted to rear his child according to Rousseau’s principles” (May, 1997, p. 11). The Enlightenment implies equality necessary for females to be educated alongside men to allow for equal opportunity. In Wollstonecraft’s book ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ (1792) she protests for women’s rights...
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...During the 18th century Europeans began to question the traditional way of livelihood and the knowing. These people were called philosophes and they explored for new ways in order to understand and improve the society in which they lived in. These philosophes held on to the idea that natural laws were the best educator and was the answer to understanding human activities some of which are economics and government, through the study of societies natural patterns. This revolution in thinking and the study of human behavior is known as Enlightenment. At this time they were focused on one major idea which was freedom. Philosophes believed that the more freedom people had individually and less of the governments authority the better society would be. The improvement of society applied to the areas of government, religion, economics and the betterment of equality for women. Enlightenment thinkers believed that all people should be equal and with this equality people should be able to make their own decisions and pick their own government. English philosophe John Locke believed that all people are free to make their own decision and create a government within the laws of nature. He also believed that if people saw that the government was failing they had the right to preserve and prevent that failure of the government (Doc.A). The government would be made for people by the people themselves. If free and equal people created a government they would improve society by maintaining the...
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...The Small Enlightenment in Prussia and German States The Enlightenment was an expansive intellectual, philosophical, cultural, and social movement that spread throughout much of Europe during the 1700s. The Enlightenment was largely made possible by the Scientific Revolution which began in the 1500s and represented the biggest departure from The Middle Ages. After millenniums of obedience to the Church people started to break away from a long spell of ignorance and began to question ideas relating to society and nature. A period also known as ‘The Age of Reason’ saw the emergence of intellectuals advancing knowledge unlike ever before. What resulted were pivotal discoveries in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, physics, politics, economics, philosophy, music, and medicine that shaped the Western world for decades and centuries to come. While The Enlightenment didn’t help produce a revolutionary outcome such as in France, Prussia and German states still experienced a fair share of intellectual development during this time. Since Germany was divided into a multitude of smaller states, with different languages and influences, The Enlightenment didn’t have a full blown effect. Moreover, the combination of popular discontent with the Church and a fury of dissatisfaction among the nobility and middle class such as in France wasn’t entirely present in Prussia. Nonetheless, Frederick II the Great, the King of Prussia, borrowed ideas from other parts of Europe in an attempt...
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...The Enlightenment Philosophers, who are well-educated people during the late 17th and 18th century in Europe that stressed the belief that science and logic give people more knowledge and understanding than tradition and religion, were questioning traditional ways of living and knowing and they were hopeful that they might discover new ways to understand and improve their society. Each Enlightenment Philosophers had a different view towards society and government, however, had similar main ideas of what they think is the most ideal and essential value within the people of society. Each Enlightenment Philosophers pursue the idea of freedom. They believed that allowing people more freedom will improve society as well as the government as a whole. However, their main ideas aroused in different forms in areas like government, economics, religion, and greater social equality for women. John Locke, an English Political Philosopher, expresses the idea of individual freedom. In his work, “Second Treatise on Civil Government, 1690”, he states, “rank...should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection”. He believes that all men should be equal under the laws of the government without any lowering position and all men should be treated equally as others. Also, he points out that, when the government is ended, people at liberty...
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