Topic Eight Discussion 36 the Philosophes and Others

AP Euro2007-08

LMHSMontaigne

Outlines for “A History of the Modern World” 9th Edition

Palmer, Colton, and Kramer

Chapter 8: The Age of Enlightenment

8.36 The Philosophes and Others

Introduction
Enlightenment
Europeans felt that they were emerging from a long twilight
The past was regarded as a time of barbarism and darkness
A sense of progress was growing among the educated
Philosophes and enlightened despots
Leading ideas
optimistic beliefs in the advances of reason
science, education, social reform, tolerance, and enlightened government
Foundations of the Enlightenment
Major Pattern of Thought
period lasted through 1700 until French Revolution and Romanticism challenged some of its notions
ideology of Enlightenment varied from country to country
Three Basic Premises
universe is entirely intelligible and governed by nature & not some supernatural force
scientific method can unlock fundamental answer in all areas
education of humanity will infinitely improve
Rejection of Supernaturalism
influenced by Newton’s Laws of Gravity, Enlightenment man saw all nature governed by Universal Laws
rejected revealed religion and saw it as a hindrance
most were Deist
assumed that God existed but once he created the universe no longer took part
God was a “divine clockmaker” who created a perfect timepiece
Confidence in Scientific Method
had deep trust in dispassionate empirical inquiry
aristocrats & others began to dabble with method in all walks of life
Scientific Method Applied to Human Concerns
believed that the human nature as well as the physical world could be understood by S.M.
historians looked for evidence to learn the laws governing the rise and fall of nations
Alexander Pope said in Essay on Man that “the science of human nature may be like all other sciences reduced to a few clear points”
Was a movement to modernity
Ideas continue to shape the world
The Philosophes and Others
Inspired by scientific revolution (especially Locke and Newton)
The Spirit of Progress and Improvement
Enlightenment carried popularized the philosophy of natural law and of natural right
Extremely skeptical of tradition, confident in human reason and science ant that was harmony in nature
Faith in progress
A nonreligious faith that the conditions of human life become better as time goes on
each generation is better off than its predecessors
the labor of each generation will contribute to a better life for the next generation
eventurally a ll mankind will share in this advance
Ancients and Moderns
Ancients: French academics (of Louis XIV) believed that the work of the Greeks and Romans had never been surpassed
Moderns: the modern age was the best because it built on the work of the past
God
Perceptions of God in Christendom were changing
people ceased to fear the devil and even God
thought of God less as a Father more as a First Cause
less the God of Love more the inconceivably intelligent creator
symbol of Deism (religion of the Enlightened) the Watchmaker as an almighty intelligence thought divine
New perspectives do not go unchallenged
Still a religious time
Congregations first sang Adeste Fideles (Oh Come All Ye Faithful)
Pietism movement sturred in Germanay which stressed inner spiritual experience of ordinary person and quest for an inner light of the soul
John Wesley and Methodism
member of the Anglican Church, student at Oxford
started prayer, meditation, good works group
gave food, clothing, education to poor
preached to huge crowds in open fields
tried to keep Methodist movement in the Anglican Church but separated
Whitfield in the Americas
preached to huge crowds in America (Philly)
Democratizing effect by challenging established religious authorities and stressing individual worth
Great Awakening and “enthusiasm”
Splinter movements
J.C Lavater and physiognomy:
a Swiss pastor believed that reading the character of a person by examining their facial expressions
Austrian Physician F.A. Mesmer:
Held séances, touched people with wands
animal magnetism and hypnosis
Freemasonry: secret society, rituals
usually held Enlightenment views, reason, progress, toleration
suspicious because they met in secrecy
this isn’t characteristic of the philosophes
Illuminati: more radical offshoot
The Philosophes
French for philosopher
used to denote a group of writer who were not philosophers (metaphysical sense)
Were social, literary writers, critics, who discussed matters with each other
The Reading Public
Greatly expanded audience
Literacy rates 47 % men, 27 women
Novels, newspapers, literary journals, dictionaries, encyclopedias sought
Audience appreciated wit, lightness of touch, subtlety
Style became more fluent, clear, exact
To be philosophical
Approach any subject in a critical and inquiring spirit
Through their writings they spread the ideas of the Enlightenment
Writers independent of aristocratic patrons
(grub-street writers) Freelances that wrote for the public
Public opinion emerges as a kind of critical tribunal
Censorship
Not much practiced in England
Spain was heavily censored
France was censored but not much enforced
forbidden to criticize church or state
abstract and general criticism was the result
sly, innuendo, double meanings were used to make their points
wrote of the customs of Persians, Iroquois (not French)
Paris
Epicenter of the enlightenment
Salon
held in the townhouses of the wealthy
usually conducted by women
Facilitated the exchange of ideas
Promoted the “Republic of Letters”
authors could introduce new works and engage in lively conversation among of ‘rock stars’
Encyclopedie
edited by Denis Diderot
17 volumes (1751-1772)
a compendium of scientific, technical, and historical knowledge
strong undertone of criticism of existing society
distinguished list of contributors: the Encyclopedists (Volataire, Monstesquieu, Roussear, d’Alembert, etc.
Diderot (1713-1784) and the Encyclopedia
attacked religion and superstition
had a materialistic philosophy
helped author and edit Encyclopedia
a summation and means of diffusing the most recent knowledge in science, philosophy, and technology
articles written by leading philosophes
meant to be read through and not used as a reference (like modern encyclopedia)
knowledge would alleviate human misery
dedicated to the proposition that all traditions must be examined it directly challenged the Church
cross reference on Eucharist told reader to see cannibalism
helped spread Enlightenment ideas throughout Europe
considered a positive force for progress
25 thou sold before Rev.
Outside Paris
Frederick the Great: author, satirist, and pragmatist considered himself a philosphe
Catherine the Great
Maria Theresa (not a Philosophe, too religious) son Joseph was
David Hume in England
Edward Gibbon: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Montequieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau
Montesquieu
Wealthy background
Montesquieu’s Spirit of Laws
baron de Mostesquieu (1689-1755)
wrote Spirit in 1748 & looked at the way environments and religious traditions influenced governments
climate and geographic conditions affected human behavior and therefore government
Two central principles in “The Spirit of Laws”
forms of government varied according to climate and circumstances
empires worked in hot climates
democracy worked in small city-states
in spite of environmental handicaps gov. can imitate English system
Separate and balanced powers (executive, judicial, legislative)
Prevented arbitrary power by having a system of checks and balances
separation and balance of powers
First, second, and third estate
Church, Nobility, everyone else
Balance of powers by dividing the jobs of government
Executive, legislative, and judicial
Part of the noble resurgence that began about 1715
Nobility would be the most powerful
he is technically a reactionary, favoring a scheme that antedated XIV
Feudal liberties
Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) (1694-1778)
Bourgeois background
Promoted enlightened despotism
believed in a strong state
liberty for the enlightened
religious toleration
keep the Church in check
freedom of the press
use science to benefit the state
greatest of the philosophes
championed English empiricism in France
was exiled to England for insulting a French nobleman he returned a convert to Bacon, Newton, & Locke
made French thinkers more practical, less theoretical
1st to present a purely secular conception of world history
began with ancient China (not a Christian framework)
represented Christianity as a social phenomenon
politically not a liberal or democrat
low opinion of humanity
if gov was enlightened he didn’t care how powerful it was
must fight against sloth, stupidity, keep clergy in place, freedom of religion, speech
but be had no developed political theory
kind of enlightened despotism
Voltaire’s Social Views
ardent spokesman for civil liberties
“Crush Infamy” (Ecrasez l’infame) he called for the eradication of all forms of repression, fanaticism, and bigotry
“the individual who persecutes another because he is not of the same opinion is nothing less than a monster”
“I do not agree with a word you are saying, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Hated religious bigotry the most
Felt constitutional monarchy of England was best form of gov.
“It is forbidden to kill therefore all murders are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
Candide (1759)
a satire story written shortly after the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 in which 20, 000 died for no apparent reason
he rejects unquestioned optimism
Candide is lulled into false security that he is in the “best of all possible worlds” by his tutor, Dr. Pangloss and journeys throughout the world & has one misfortune after another
storms, earthquakes, and uncontrollable human emotion were only absent in “Eldorado”
a land that has no priests, law courts, or prisons but $ and a place of sciences and math
this was a rip on idea of perfectibility
Candide gets bored in Eldorado (being a restless mortal) and leaves
Learns one lesson as he settles down on a modest farm with his once beautiful wife
As Pangloss says “this is the best of all possible worlds” Candide shrugs and says maybe but we must tend our garden
ie. Life is not perfect but human will succeed if they stop theorizing and start doingenlightened leaders should be able to do what ever they believe is good for their state
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Poor background, from Geneva
Promoted the idea of the “noble savage”
civilization was the source of corruption and only in a natural state could man live an uncorrupted existence
sometimes considered an outsider who quarreled with other philosphes
painfully maladjusted, couldn’t trust anyone, condemned cultural influence of French women (salons)
concerned with reforming society, diffusing useful knowledge, freedom
despised privilege & believed that just and moral society could be created by crushing repressive governments
placed trust in nature (almost religiously) as opposed to reason
considered the forerunner of the French Revolution, Romanticism, and totalitarianism (debatable)
had greatest influence on education and political theory
The Social Contract (1762)
Not a contract between a ruler and the ruled
An agreement among the people
Individuals surrendered their natural liberty to each other
This fused into the General Will
Rulings of the General Will were final and all agreed to accept them
The general will was the sovereign
Kings, officials, representatives were delegates of a sovereign people
Created a state in which all persons had a sense of membership
complimented Emile in creating a moral society
said in the state of nature “man is born free”
institution of private property led to owners creating instruments of repression (laws, police, slavery)
Origin of Inequality Among Men (1753)
called for government of “general will”
supreme authority would lay in hands of people who would act in collective assemblies (not representative republics)
people would be the legislators, executors, and judges
would transform society into something more than the sum of its parts
individual would become moral and would surrender his rights to the collective general will since it would express their own will
those who resist would be “forced to be free”
ideals of Social Contract were espoused in French Revolution slogan, “liberty, equality, and fraternity”
liberty and equality sound democratic
fraternity (individual surrendering to the masses) sounds totalitarian
Foreshadows democracy and nationalism
Makes the psychology of a city-state applicable to large territory
Modern humanitarianism – equity
Rousseau’s Emile (1762)
source of progressive education
maxim that first impulses of nature are always right
insisted that children are not miniature adults
drilling and discipline not proper for them
should learn by doing (experience)
book learning postponed until adolescence since books “teach us only to talk about things we do not know”
reason is last thing to develop and it is pointless to teach child to reason
education should create moral and useful citizens
women belong at home serving men
written as a “how to” in which Rousseau takes an imaginary boy (orphan) and raises him to adulthood
ironically he himself had 5 children with illiterate (Therese Levasseur) and deposited all at an orphanage
Condorcet and Faith in Progress
marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794)
considered the last of the philosophes b/c his work was cut short by the Revolution
mathematician but known most for his belief in progress
thinkers of the 1600s regarded themselves modern and intellectually superior to the ancients
Outline of the Progress of the Human Mind (1794) attested that the moderns were more advanced and unlimited progress lay ahead
predicted healthier society in which “moment will come…when tyrants and slaves will exist only in history or on the stage”
Ironically he would be killed during the Terror
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)
historian who wrote Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1788)
covers Roman and Byzantine history from Augustine to fall of Constantinople (1453)
says Empire was brought down by barbarian invasions, and Chrisitanity
Christianity was worst calamity b/c “the servile and pusillanimous reign of the moks debased and vitiated the faculties of the mind”
David Hume (1711-1776)
an extreme skeptic who wrote An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748)
believed all human knowledge come through the senses and not reason “nothing is in intellect which was not first in sense”
no way to know what is really true
if we no nothing for sure then there can no exist absolute moral laws
yet he still wanted to “Crush infamy” of stupidity, Christianity, and ignorance” because a sea of uncertainty was preferable to a forest of supernatural shadows
Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)
a Milanese jurist who wrote On Crimes and Punishments (1764)
questioned the view that punishment represent the vengeance of society
said that punishment should serve as a deterrent and that leniency was best deterrent
opposed the death penalty
book translated into 12 languages and most European countries abolished torture (1800) and reserved death penalty for capital crimes, adopted imprisonment rather than maiming
Gotthold Lessing (1729-1781)
literary critic and dramatist who wrote Nathan the Wise (1779)
showed that character has no relation to religious affiliation
maintained that each of world’s religions was an evolution leading towards pure rationality
his hero was modeled after his friend,
Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786)
Urged tolerance of religions
Wrote a history of Judaism
Believed in the immortality of the soul
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
lived away from philosophes in Prussian city of Konigsberg
wrote The Critique of Pure Reason (1781) and The Critique of Practical Reason (1788) to criticize skepticism of Hume
like Plato he ascribed that the existence of an absolute reality of “things in themselves” exists even though we can’t sense it
Idealist of the 19th century would take his lead
said that although knowledge begins in the senses our rational minds must order it together
he called it “phenomena”
combination of sense and reason will help humans inquire and improve nature
although the existence of God can’t be proven through pure reason, practical reason says that there exists a moral perfection we should strive for

Political Economists
Physiocrats or economists(an slightly insulting term)
Promoted laissez-faire (let them do as they see fit) attitude toward business activity
opposed guilds
A strong government should facilitate business activity
Adam Smith (1723-1790)
wrote Wealth of Nations (1776)
opposed mercantilism (system in which gov. interfered in economic process)
said it was unnecessary to have an empire to be wealthy
gov. purpose should be limited to defense, internal security, give fair laws
innovations would come from private persons, not the state
proponent of free trade, free market
if their was a shortage of a good, price would rise and stimulate producers to make more and attract new persons into that business
if there was an excess, capital and labor would leave and go into other businesses
each nations should use its comparative advantage (climate, environment, resources) in certain spheres of production
said individuals should be allowed to pursue their own self-interests without interference from the state
termed “laissez-faire” from French expression “laissez-faire la nature” (let nature run its course)
believed that like the law of gravity keeps planets in orbit the “invisible hand” of free market and competitive forces will balance out wealth for all
thought himself a champion of the poor but his system would ironically be used to exploit the poor
increase national wealth by reducing barriers
attacked mercantilism
limit the functions of government to defense, security, reasonable laws, and fair courts
Promoted the free market
Natural laws of supply and demand
Maximum of freedom and abundance would be achieved
Required the mutual interaction of the enlightened self-interest of millions of people
The invisible hand would result in the highest welfare of all
Main Currents of Enlightenment Thought
Most philosophes