history

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The Enlightenment, Part 2

The Enlightenment’s critique of organized religions, especially Christianity, was important for

the development of their general outlook on life and society.

Elements of their critique include:

1. Christianity was based on miracles (such as the virgin birth of Jesus, his resurrection, etc.—

“violations of the laws of nature,” according to David Hume), which they rejected as

implausible, if not impossible.

2. Christian dogma attributed evil and misfortune to original sin.

Dogma=“a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.”

The philosophes opposed the very idea that a system of religious truth (dogma) is possible (i.e.,

there was no one true religion).

The philosophes believed that the source of evil and much of human misfortune is to be found in

human psychology and, in particular, institutions (i.e., the way societies are organized).

3. Christianity had a tainted history—Christians had perpetrated every crime imaginable against

humanity in the name of their “true” religion, especially during the religious wars of the 16th and

17th centuries; also corruption in the French Catholic was an important influence on their

thinking.

4. Christianity encouraged superstition and fanaticism. For examples, look up the Jean Calas

case (1762) and François-Jean de la Barre case (1765-1766), and Voltaire’s reaction to each.

5. The philosophes’ personal experiences with religion: e.g., Hume and Gibbon rebelled against

the upbringing that had been forced upon them.

Other more general influences:

6. the 18th century itself, which witnessed the spread of secularism as a result of economic and

social change;

7. The rise of “natural religion”=Deism, simple worship of a Supreme Being (“religion without

frills”), to which many philosophes subscribed; Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1583–1648) is

considered the "father of English deism“; his book De Veritate (The Truth,1624) is considered

the “first major statement of deism”; Matthew Tindal's Christianity as Old as the Creation

(1730, is called "The Deist's Bible“). Many, if not most, philosophes were Deists, though there

were a few agnostics and atheists, too.

The philosophes sought a spiritual refuge from organized religion and found it in the writings of

ancient philosophers, especially the Roman ones—Lucretius, Cicero, Seneca.

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The philosophes’ study of the ancients led them to ask all sorts of questions relevant to politics,

society, and economic life, and to seek secular answers to them.

At the same time, influenced by the Scientific Revolution, and adopting the stance of “learned

ignorance” of the natural philosophers, the philosophes sought to adapt the vaunted scientific

method to the study of man and society.

Consequently, they ended up creating new disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology,

psychology, political science, and economics—the liberal arts.

What the philosophes wanted—their reform program:

1. The expansion of basic freedoms and rights, especially freedom of speech and the press vs.

censorship and book burnings, which were still common in the 18th century.

2. Complete religious toleration. They believed one’s religion should derive from conscience and

freely arrived at convictions.

3. Civil marriage and divorce; a more open attitude toward sex, which they viewed as a natural

human inclination, not only for procreation as traditionally taught.

4. A humane and uniform criminal code: Beccaria’s On Crimes & Punishments (1764), hailed by

his fellow philosophes, provided strong arguments against torture, capital punishment, and harsh

treatment of persons accused of crimes.

5. Equality before the law for all citizens regardless of gender or status.

6. Opposed slavery, which philosophes believed was a crime against nature.

7. Laissez faire (“let [them/us] do” or “let go” ) in economic life: Adam Smith’s The Wealth of

Nations (full title: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,1776), which

became something like the Bible of capitalism. promoted free trade and peaceful economic

competition, entailing a significant reduction in government interference in trade and industry.

8. Educational reform and a new attitude toward children. Rousseau’s Emile (1762) advocated a

system of natural education devoid of coercion; emphasized slow learning, learning by doing,

and providing incentives to children to make them want to learn.

Rousseau also suggested that children were not little adults.

He was an influence on the Swiss child psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980), noted for his work

on child development, and the (Maria) Montessori (1870-1952) Method of teaching children.

Political reform: favored “enlightened” rule—but what does that mean? The philosophes

searched for a rational basis for governmental organization and administration. Regarding

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political systems, the philosophes favored a relativist approach; i.e., forms of government were

a product of historical, social, and geographical conditions. No single political system was

suitable for all nations. Though they lived in the 1700s, were the philosophes a lot smarter

when it came to the possibilities for political change than perhaps a majority of American

politicians today? What do you think? Why?

Three political classics:

Baron Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws (1748)—ideal government has executive, judicial,

and legislative branches—a system of checks and balances.

Rousseau’s The Social Contract (1762)—favors participatory democracy with authority vested in

the “general will of free and equal citizens.”

Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man (1791-1792)—argued against absolute monarchy and for

representative government.

10. A theory of progress—Condorcet’s Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the

Human Mind (1794)—limits to human perfectibility and the improvement of life are indefinite—

suggested a theory of progress.

Nicolas [Marquis] de Condorcet 1743-1794, executed during the French Revolution

Effects of the Enlightenment:

1. For knowledge—helped establish the social sciences: development of history, political

science, sociology, economics, psychology, anthropology; in the process, demolished the

underpinnings of the old outlook on social, political, and economic life

The philosophes’ eclecticism (“the practice of deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and

diverse range of sources”), as exhibited in Candide, became a foundation stone of modern

liberalism.

2. Contribute to a modern, secular outlook on man and society.

3. On French Revolution? Helped to undermine France’s Old Regime but, as we shall soon see,

did not cause the revolution.

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4. On American Revolution: influence on the Founders, especially through Benjamin Franklin

and Thomas Paine.

5. Provoked a reaction—the Romantic movement of first half of 19th century vs. Enlightenment

stress on “reason”

Know-nothings of the19th, 20th, and 21st centuries have carried on a war with the

Enlightenment that continues today (for example, climate change deniers, the anti-evolution

crowd, sexists, homophobes, xenophobes, jingoistic warmongers).

“Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy

for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard

what it perceives as its national interests.”

Next: Candide; The French Revolution. Read about the revolution in Chapter 22 of the textbook.