5. The Enlightment

Siècle des Lumières

Also known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason

Physiocrats

A member of an 18th-century group of French economists who believed that agriculture was the source of all wealth and that agricultural products should be highly priced. Advocating adherence to a supposed natural order of social institutions, they also stressed the necessity of free trade. The State did not interfere with the economy, and allowed nature to follow its course.

Le bon sauvage

A noble savage is a literary stock character who embodies the concept of the indigene, outsider, wild human, an "other" who has not been "corrupted" by civilization, and therefore symbolizes humanity's innate goodness. The tolerance during the Enlightment period was carried on by Interests, understanding and appreciation for other cultures. It was a cosmopolitain period, and especially the Chinese were strong with the image's strength.

Grand tour

A round trip that was made by 18th century intelligent young men throughout Europe, to places such as Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna and Rome. This was intended to spread the good will of the Enlightment.

Deism in Englightment

Deism is a theological theory concerning the relationship between a Creator and the natural world. Deistic viewpoints emerged during the scientific revolution of 17th-century Europe and came to exert a powerful influence during the 18th century Enlightenment.

Coffee house culture

Coffee houses were places where citizens could share ideas about the Enlightment. Reading was done in groups, ideas were shared. Think tanks were formed in this manner.

Political ideas

Critics directed their ideas particularly towards religion and its social system, ex., in France criticism of an attack on the Ancien Regime, lawlessness, the privileges of nobles and clergymen, and the territorial fragments and the regionalism.

Free Masonry

Freemasonry is a child of the Era of Enlightenment. At that time, it was reasonable practice not to spread your views about certain things around and concentrate them in a narrow inner circle instead. Spreading of such revolutionary ideas as freedom, equality and ending serfdom was not welcomed by either the Church or the rulers.

Progressive faith

Every human being can on Earth gain a state of perfection that according to Christianity can come through mercy and after death, with an eye for the future, no earthly sins. Only a select group continued this new way of thinking.

Jean le Rond D' Alembert

He was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was also co-editor with Denis Diderot of the Encyclopédie. D'Alembert's formula for obtaining solutions to the wave equation is named after him.

Charles-Louis Montesquieu

He was a French political thinker who lived during the Age Of Enlightenment. He is famous for his theory of the separation of powers in government. Many constitutions all over the world use it. He helped make the terms "feudalism" and "Byzantine Empire" popular.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

He was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature.

Daniel Defoe

He was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, which is second only to the Bible in its number of translations.

Encyclopedie ou dictionnaire raisonne des Scinces, des Arts et des Metiers

It was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis Diderot and, until 1759, co-edited by Jean le Rond d'Alembert. The Encyclopédie is most famous for representing the thought of the Enlightenment. According to Denis Diderot in the article "Encyclopédie", the Encyclopédie's aim was "to change the way people think" and for people to be able to inform themselves and to know things.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778) was a French philosopher and writer of the Age of Enlightenment. His Political Philosophy, particularly his formulation of social contract theory (or Contractarianism), strongly influenced the French Revolution and the development of Liberal, Conservative and Socialist theory. Jean-Jacques Rousseau strongly believed in the innate goodness of man and in basic human rights founded upon universal natural law; in addition, he believed that both rulers and the citizens have natural human rights as well as obligations to each other which should be bound in a social contract. To Rousseau, human nature is basically good. One of his more famous sayings is "man is born free and everywhere he is in chains." When he says this, Rousseau is arguing that people were actually good in the state of nature. This is very much in contrast with Hobbes, who says that people are naturally brutal.

Immanuel Kant

Kant was a German philosopher who is a central figure in modern philosophy. Kant focused on ethics, the philosophical study of moral actions. He proposed a moral law called the "categorical imperative," stating that morality is derived from rationality and all moral judgments are rationally supported. What is right is right and what is wrong is wrong; there is no grey area. Human beings are obligated to follow this imperative unconditionally if they are to claim to be moral.

John Locke

Locke was an English philosopher whose works lie at the foundation of modern philosophical empiricism and political liberalism. He was an inspirer of both the European Enlightenment and the Constitution of the United States. His philosophical thinking was close to that of the founders of modern science, especially Robert Boyle, Sir Isaac Newton, and other members of the Royal Society. His political thought was grounded in the notion of a social contract between citizens and in the importance of toleration, especially in matters of religion. Much of what he advocated in the realm of politics was accepted in England after the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 and in the United States after the country's declaration of independence in 1776.

Nature during the Enlightment

Prior to the Enlightment, nature was seen as being mysterious and occult. During the Enlightment, nature was seen as a coherent ensemble, something that could be researched and explained. Nature and Reason replaced the three units in which truthseekers place their worldly existence on.

Ideas Rousseau children

Rousseau sought to protect and develop in children by shielding them from the deforming effects of societal institutions. In Emile, Rousseau writes of the importance of giving a child freedom to grow without the intrusion of adults. "Subject your child, therefore, only to a dependence on circumstances; you will then follow the order of nature in the progress of his education." To Rousseau it was just this sort of natural independence and curiosity which was stifled in society; he felt children should learn through experience, rather than from the sterile book learning. Despite his overall disdain for books as tools of education, Rousseau very much identified his ideas with the emblem of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. As this character learned to survive and establish himself on a secluded island, so Rousseau believed that each child would survive and prosper if left alone on such a proverbial island9 Greater and truer knowledge was to be gained from an active curiosity, which stirred a child to discover on his, own. For this reason, Rousseau felt that emotional education was of foremost importance. "To endure is the first thing that a child ought to learn, and that which he will have the most need to know."

Main ideas Enlightment

The Enlightenment, sometimes called the 'Age of Enlightenment', was a late 17th- and 18th-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason, individualism, and skepticism. ... Enlightenment thinkers were the liberals of their day. They were typically humanists who supported equality and human dignity.

The Enlightment

The Enlightenment, sometimes called the 'Age of Enlightenment', was a late 17th- and 18th-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason, individualism, and skepticism. The Enlightenment presented a challenge to traditional religious views. Enlightenment thinkers were the liberals of their day.

Shift in power during the Enlightment

The rise of Prussia under King Frederick II during the Seven Years War and annexing of Silesia. The involvement of Russia in Eastern Europe during the reign of Czar Peter the Great in 1700. Weakening of Turkish power. Between 1772-1795: the three parts where Poland existed were divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria. Seven Years War- England and Prussia vs. Austria, France, Russia, Saksen and Poland.

Jonathan Swift

The author of Gulliver's Travels, was a satirist.

Despotism

The exercise of absolute power, especially in a cruel and oppressive way.

Emile ou de l'education (upbring)

The upbringing was the correct place to begin the changing process. Through correct and natural upbringing, a child can become a good citizen, in which a new generation can gain the realization of an ideal society. This philosophy comes from Rousseau.

Spectator and de Moral weeklies

Two different genres, the Spectator was meant to be spectacular, and de Moral weeklies was an organizational, moralizing column.

François-Marie Voltaire

Voltaire was a French philosopher. Voltaire did not like France at the time because he thought that it was old fashioned. He also did not like the Church and thought that people should be allowed to believe what they want. However he did not like democracy either and thought that a country needed to be led by a wise and strong king. He believed in a God but did not believe in a god personally involved in people's lives, like the Christian god. This is called Deism.

Denis Diderot

was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during the Enlightenment. Diderot's literary reputation during his lifetime rested primarily on his plays and his contributions to the Encyclopédie.