Unit 10 The Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was a period of scientific awakening, largely centered around France in the second half of the 18th C.

The goal:

To understand the natural world and humankind's place in it solely on the basis of reason and without turning to religious belief was the goal of the wide-ranging intellectual movement called the Enlightenment.

Enlightenment

Age of Reason Thomas Paine called this period the Age of

Reason. Why? At its heart, it became a conflict between

religion and the inquiring mind that wanted to know and understand through reason based on evidence and proof.

At its core was a critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs, and morals. Some classifications of this period also include the late 17th century, which is typically known as the Age of Reason or Age of Rationalism.

Forerunners of Enlightenment

impressed by Isaac Newton's discovery of universal gravitation, People came to assume that through a judicious use of reason, an unending progress would be possible-progress in knowledge, in technical achievement, and even in moral values.

Following the philosophy of Locke, the 18th-century writers believed that knowledge is not innate, but comes only from experience and observation guided by reason. Through proper education, humanity itself could be altered, its nature changed for the better.

Scope: Developing in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Britain, the movement spread through much of Europe, including Russia and Scandinavia.

The signatories of the American Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen were motivated by “Enlightenment” principles.

Historical Context

Government and law: the Enlightenment thinkers regarded government as the political expression of law. The law of all lands is valid when it conforms to the law which reason perceives in nature.

Religion: Although they saw the church-especially the Roman Catholic church-as the principal force that had enslaved the human mind in the past, most Enlightenment thinkers did not renounce religion altogether. They opted rather for a form of Deism.

Art and literature: neo-classicism Economic thought: state interference did violence to the

law of nature.

Influences

Appraise with The Age of Enlightenment is usually said to have

ended with the French Revolution of 1789. The terminology Enlightenment or Age of

Enlightenment does not represent a single movement or school of thought, for these philosophies were often mutually contradictory or divergent. The Enlightenment was less a set of ideas than it was a set of attitudes.

It left a lasting heritage for the 19th and 20th centuries. It marked a key stage in the decline of the church and the growth of modern secularism. It served as the model for political and economic liberalism and for humanitarian reform throughout the 19th-century Western world.

French Philosophy and literature

Montesquieu [mɔntes'kju:] (1689---1755)

Voltaire(1694-1778) Jean Jacques Rousseau ['ru:səu]

(1712----1778)

Montesquieu (1689---1755) [mɔntes'kju:]

1. Main interests: Political Philosophy 2. Notable ideas Separation of state powers: executive; legislative; judicial, Classification of systems of government

based on their principles

  Montesquieu He is famous for his articulation of the

theory of separation of powers, taken for granted in modern discussions of government and implemented in many constitutions throughout the world.

Montesquieu's most influential work divided French society into three classes (or trias politica, a term he coined): the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the commons.

  Montesquieu Montesquieu's most influential work

divided French society into three classes :the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the commons.

Montesquieu saw two types of governmental power existing: the sovereign and the administrative. The administrative powers were the executive, the legislative, and the judicial.

The Spirit of the Laws (1748) Montesquieu spent nearly twenty years

researching and writing De l'esprit des lois (The Spirit of the Laws), covering a wide range of topics in politics, the law, sociology, and anthropology and providing more than 3,000 citations.

The Spirit of the Laws In this political treatise Montesquieu

advocates constitutionalism and the separation of

powers, the abolition of slavery, the preservation of civil liberties and the rule

of law, and the idea that political and legal institutions ought to reflect the social and geographical character of each particular community.

Voltaire(1694-1778)

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

"Liberty of thought is the life of the soul.“ "In general, the art of government consists in

taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to the other.“

known for his defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade.

"What is faith? Is it to believe that which is evident? No. It is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason.

Voltaire is remembered and honored in France as a courageous polemicist who indefatigably fought for civil rights – the right to a fair trial and freedom of religion – and who denounced the hypocrisies and injustices

Jean Jacques Rousseau ['ru:səu] (1712----1778) Man is born free, and everywhere he is

in shackles. People who know little are usually great

talkers, while men who know much say little.

The person who has lived the most is not the one with the most years but the one with the richest experiences.

Those that are most slow in making a promise are the most faithful in the performance of it.

Philosophy, Political theory, Education

Theory of Natural Man: Rousseau saw a fundamental divide between society and human nature. Rousseau believed that man was good when he is in the state of nature but is corrupted by society.

Rousseau set out his views on education in Émile. The aim of education, Rousseau says, is to learn how to live righteously.

The Social Contract: According to Rousseau, by joining together into civil society through the social contract and abandoning their claims of natural right, individuals can both preserve themselves and remain free.

English Literature

Alexander Pope Daniel Defoe Jonathan Swift

Alexander Pope

a. Essay on Criticismb. The Rape of the Lockc. Dunciadd. Essay on Man

Daniel Defoe The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

笛福

亚力山大 · 赛尔柯克的经历给了笛福的灵感

Jonathan Swift A Tale of Tub The Battle of the Book A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift 在此请允许我冒昧的提出我的拙见，希望不会遭到异议。

我在伦敦结识的一个博学的美国朋友曾经向我保证，一个被细心的看护至一岁大的年幼的健康的小孩是最美味、滋补和健康的食品，无论是用炖、烘烤或是煮的；而且我毫不怀疑，将这样的小孩做成炖肉丁或菜炖肉都会一样美味。

因此，请允许我冒昧的向公众提出我的拙见，将记录在册的 120 ， 000孩童中留下 20 ， 000 个用来繁殖后代，其中 1/4 须是男孩。这个数目比我们养的羊、黑牛和猪多多了。我的理由是，这些孩子大部分都不是婚姻的结晶，而既然我们这些野蛮人并不注重婚姻这种形式，那么一个男人足以应付 4 个女人。对于剩下的 100 ， 000 个孩子，可以在他们一岁时卖给上流社会人士（食用）；叫他们的妈妈在出售前一个月喂足奶，让他们又肥又胖可以卖个好价钱。（一般而言）一个孩子可以做成两个菜招待朋友，而当家庭自己聚餐时，身体的前后 1/4 段就足够提供一盘好菜色，如果加少许胡椒粉和盐，在第四天下锅就能煮出美食，特别是在冬天。

作者的目的是要讽刺英国对爱尔兰人民的压榨，而且讽刺极为辛辣，所以这不是他的本意

Music

They were contemporary and showed theworld Baroque musical architecture at itsimposing point.

Bach Handel

Classical Period

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