...CHAPTER III: EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ENGLISH LITERATURE LITERATURE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT (18th century) The 17th century was one of the most stormy periods of English history. The growing contradictions between the new class, the bourgeoisie, and the old forces of feudalism brought about the English Bourgeois Revolution in the 1640s. As a result of the revolution the king was dethroned and beheaded and England was proclaimed a republic. Though very soon monarchy was restored, the position of the bourgeoisie had changed. The 18th century saw Great Britain rapidly growing into a capitalist country. It was an age of intensive industrial development. New mills and manufactures appeared one after another. Small towns grew into large cities. The industrial revolution began: new machinery was invented that turned Britain into the first capitalist power of the world. While in France the bourgeoisie was just beginning its struggle against feudalism, the English bourgeoisie had already become one of the ruling classes. The 18th century was also remarkable for the development of science and culture. Isaac Newton’s discoveries in the field of physics, Adam Smith’s economic theories, the philosophical ideas of Hobbes, Locke and others enriched the materialistic thought and implanted in people’s minds belief in great powers of man’s intellect. It was in this period that English painting began to develop too: portraiture reached its peak in the works of William Hogarth,...
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...What was the Enlightenment and how did it influence the politics of the 19th century? The Enlightenment was, in its simplest sense, a body of writers and writings of 18th century Europe which advocated reason and the belief in human rationality above all else and challenged long-standing values and institutions which were based on traditional and religious beliefs. The political ideas of the Enlightenment, which can be best understood against the backdrop of 18th century absolutism and the dominance of Christian world-views, denounced the ‘divine right of kings’ and called for reform in governance (Gieben and Hall, 1992:23). These were the ideas that influenced 19th century politics, and gradually led to the switch from all-powerful monarchies to the democracies of the modern world. In this essay I shall give a brief overview of the Enlightenment whilst focusing mainly on its political ideas and put these ideas in context by describing the political landscape of the time. I will then discuss how these political ideas shaped the politics of the 19th century. I will limit myself to looking at the influence of the Enlightenment on European politics as that is where its affect was most sharply felt and was the main location for the Enlightenment movement (Gieben and Hall,1992:72). The Enlightenment was the emergence of new ways of thinking which came about mainly in 18th century Europe, although Enlightenment ideas can also be seen in the 17th century, for example in the writings...
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...Why was Socrates regarded as a man of virtue? Why was Socrates regarded as a man of virtue? Socrates: Man of Virtue (470-399 B.C.E.) Socrates proposed the theory of value in which there are two sorts of good: virtue and happiness. Both are unconditional goods. But happiness is a "self-generated" good in that it "derives its value strictly from its inherent properties;" whereas virtue is an "other-generated" good in that it derives its value from happiness, precisely from its conduciveness to happiness. Virtue is an instinct in all humanity which can be aroused through self-examination. This universal truth is accessible to everyone who thinks and question. Socrates assumes that any person with whom he talks has the resource to answer his question correctly, that is, that no specialist knowledge is required. Socrates thought that knowledge is virtue, and virtue leads to happiness. It makes sense to think that moral people know what morality is. If you know right from wrong, then you might be able to choose to do what you know to be right. It also makes some sense to suspect that our beliefs about right and wrong influence our decisions. If we believe its right to help a drowning child, then it would be fairly shocking to decide not to do so—and it would less surprising when we decide to help the child. It is quite a shocking statement to say that virtue always leads to happiness. Criminals commit crimes that hurt others to help themselves. To think that their crimes would...
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...Montesquieu and Rousseau Enlightenment Impact During the 18th century The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason where there were numerous amounts of European philosophers who contributed to the Enlightenment period. The Enlightenment period was considered a movement which advocated rationality as a means to establish an authoritative system of ethics, aesthetics, and knowledge. Though having different backgrounds, one a nobleman, the other a commoner, both Baron de Montesquieu and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were two of the philosophers during the Enlightenment period. Even though having different backgrounds, they shared the urge to apply science to social reform. With treating the government conditionally, it was criterion to decide the type of government that should be established. Born in Bordeaux, France, Charles-Louis de Secondat, a nobleman, a judge in the French Court and one of the most influential thinkers came from a very wealthy family. Soon after going to college, studying science and history and eventually becoming a lawyer, his father and uncle died so Montesquieu inherited the family fortune. After writing Persian Letters in 1721, by criticizing liberty and lifestyle of wealthy French, and even included the church, he also Howard 2 wrote, On the Spirit of Laws. This was published in 1748, which was his famous work. Earning the nickname, “Father of Modern Anthropology”, Montesquieu was the first of the enlightenment philosophers to prescribe both universal...
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...faith or tradition. To them, “reason” was the light that burned the darkness away and showed the way to the truth. Hence, the 18th century was labeled as the Age of Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment is one of the main causes of the the American and French revolutions, it is also considered as a predecessor to the Industrial Revolution. The Age of Enlightenment was influenced by the ideas of several different revolutionary thinkers, but two of the biggest thinkers of the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton and John Locke, are often referred to as the “father of Enlightenment”. The American Enlightenment, more moderate than in...
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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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...Because of the establishment of history and philosophy, the paradigm of the study of cultural history, and the opening of romantic historiography, this era has left a unique mark on history. It is also a symbol and embodiment of the influence of this era. The Enlightenment eventually led to the independence movement of the United States and the French Revolution, and the human social system began to change from a monarchy to a republicanism, which made it possible for the people to enjoy true human rights. Therefore, the Enlightenment was an extremely important history in historiography and left a great influence in all fields. In the lecture of European Imperialism, Colonialism refers to a relatively strong country’s policy of expanding territories and establishing colonies. After the colonial powers seized land by means of armed aggression or the signing of treaties, they appointed the Governor, managed the colonies, and looted property, exploited the people, sold slaves, and suppressed the national revolutionary liberation...
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...The Age of Enlightenment was the period of scientific Awakening; The Age of Enlightenment was mainly around France. The enlightenment attacked the church head on focusing issues that have been avoided in the past. This took courage to try to defy the church. The Enlightenment let people question anything such as “was the earth the center of the universe” like the church said it was or is the Earth flat. There were 4 main areas which changed occurred was in Religion, Intellectual, Economic, and political. In religion, Questioning of Catholic beliefs and Protestantism led to tolerance for new ideas occurred. In, Intellectual, Free intellectual inquiry resulted from widespread opposition to religious intolerance, the French revolution led to 'age...
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...Europe, and the eighteenth century was no exception. In some ways, the family grew in its importance to female identity in the Enlightenment age. Education played a prominent role and became encouraged more than ever before, but mainly on the basis of their eventual role as mothers. Women’s reproductive function became their sole claim to significance. Mothers and wives were elevated as man’s partners in preparing a new generation of enlightenment thinkers and workers. In order to fulfill the enlightenment idea of femininity, an eighteenth-century women needed the social position, the fertility and the resources of the middle class to permit her to focus all of her attentions upon nursing and educating them. Many such as career woman, Mary Wollstonecraft, vigorously protested against the subjection of women and argued against being reckoned as a frivolous sex and ridiculed by writers. She made the argument for women to receive a careful education in order to contribute to society and become more notable and against the slavish obedience to share rights in order emulate the virtues of man. Other scholars such as J.A Sharpe criticized the view of a women’s first duty as obedience and subordination to her husband, as well as how marriage consisted of mutual support and equal contribution. This view of marriage became a milestone for the role of women in the eighteenth century as women progressed from being obedient and subordinate to their husband. This idea was supported by the growing...
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...Bryan Savage HY 102-016 Essay #1 The Age of Enlightenment refers to the sprawling intellectual, philosophical, cultural and social movement that spread through England, France, Germany, and other parts of Europe during the 18th century. The Enlightenment is often thought of as a time of change but also of tradition. Toward the middle of the eighteenth century, Enlightenment thinkers began to apply the ideas of Bacon, Locke, and Newton, to their newfound perspective of life. Locke argued that human nature was mutable and that knowledge was gained through accumulated experience rather than by accessing some sort of outside truth. Newton's calculus and optical theories provided the powerful Enlightenment metaphors for precisely measured change and illumination. Scientific rationalism, exemplified by the scientific method, was the hallmark of everything related to the Enlightenment. Near the end of the Renaissance, thinkers believed that the advances of science and industry foreshowed a new age of egalitarianism and progress for humankind. The intellectuals, also known as the philosophes, hoped they could create a new society in the belief that education could create better human beings and a better human society. Such philosophes as Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, Hume, Quesnay, Smith, Beccaria, Condorcet, and Rousseau attacked traditional religion as the enemy, advocated religious toleration and freedom of thought creating a new science of man. In doing so, the philosophes...
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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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...Imagine a society where “woman will either be the friend or slave of man, ” resulting in a separation of genders (34). During the 18th Century in Europe, there were many cultural and social differences between men and women. In her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft confronts the many norms of the time period that was a large intellectual and cultural movement. This period of Enlightenment spread throughout Europe quickly, especially through literacy. With people such as Wollstonecraft, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the cultures of then and now are capable of tracking the norms by understanding through reason and ultimately thinking for oneself (McChesney 02/02/2015). By using logic and reason, the evaluation of the social and cultural norms during the Enlightenment are evident. Wollstonecraft primarily identifies that there is a large difference of respect upon women...
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...anomie - social instability, alienation and a sense of purposelessness cause by a steady erosion of standards and values. apodictic truth - an imaginary concept of truth in which it is supposed that we know something with absolute certainty. To be an apodictic truth there must be no possibility of mistake commodification - the subordination of public and private realms to the logic of capitalism. In other words, things (e.g., friendship, women) are valued for their commercial value. With commodification aspects of our lives that are culturally conditioned take on the mythology of being "natural." critical reading - to read in a way that looks for fallacies and defects in the writing. It is to be contrasted with "reading generously." This distinction between generous and critical reading is analogous to a parallel distinction between generous and critical listening. critical theory - Although the term is sometimes used more broadly, in most contexts it refers to the school of thought represented by the "Frankfurt School," which is a school of thought that combines psychoanalysis and Marxism. deconstruction - A term that, for all practical purposes, was introduced in the literature by Derrida. It means to undermine the conceptual order imposed by a concept that has captivated our imaginations and ways of seeing things. (See Shawver, 1996) see "deconstruction quilt" discourse - sometimes this term refers to any kind of talk, but often it refers to particular unified...
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...Enlightenment What was the Enlightenment Thinkers main idea? The Enlightenment was during the 17th and 18th century. Thinkers in the enlightenment discussed problems in society such as , rights of women , politics , religion , and economics. We learn from the four documents who agrees and disagrees. Mary Wollstonecraft was an enlightenment thinker. Wollstonecraft was a british author that believed that women should have the same rights as everyone. “ Make them free , and they will quickly become wise and virtuous…” (Doc.D) She also believed that women can educate the same way men did. Secondly , John Locke another enlightenment thinker. Locke lived in England during the Civil War and the Glorious Revolution. Locke believed that men...
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...Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment was a period in the 18th century often described as Scotland’s ‘Golden Age’. It was an intellectual movement that ranged across the fields of philosophy, chemistry, geology, architecture, poetry, technology, economics, sociology, medicine and history. Sharing the humanist and rationalist outlook of the European Enlightenment of the same time period, the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment asserted the fundamental importance of human reason combined with a rejection of any authority that could not be justified by reason. They held to an optimistic belief in the ability of humanity to effect changes for the better in society and nature, guided only by reason. This latter feature gave the Scottish Enlightenment its special flavour, distinguishing it from its continental European counterpart. In Scotland, the Enlightenment was characterised by a thoroughgoing empiricism and practicality where the chief virtues were improvement, virtue, and practical benefit for the individual and society as a whole. The Enlightenment culture was based on close readings of new books, and intense discussions which took place at intellectual gathering places in Edinburgh as The Select Society and, later, The Poker Club as well as within Scotland’s ancient universities such as St Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. In these places great thinkers sought to understand the natural world and the human mind like Sam Smith and David Hume The Scottish...
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