The Enlightenment

D r . G e r a l d L u c a s

Age of Reason

Saw humans between passion and reason

Emphasized the powers of the mind

Aspired toward correctness and moderation

Questioned humanity’s “fallen nature”

Questioned class system, kings’ divine right

Began social and religious revolutions

“I think, therefore I am.” —Descartes

Order of Natural law beyond the human mind — Newton

Deism

Watchmaker God

Depersonalized God

Logical universe

Separated religion and ethics

Great chain of being

Microcosm

“He that thinks reasonably, must think morally.” -Samuel Johnson

Reason

Could illuminate humanity

Leads humanity to eternal truths

Suggests new solutions to old problems

Can be conquered by passion

New Uncertainties

God moved further away

Religious difference translated to class

Humans are passionate, too

Gap between the ideal and the actual

Political instability, revolution

The Debate

Ancients v. Moderns

Faith v. Reason

Universality of Truth v. Exploration

Male superiority v. Broad education for women

Divine right of kings v. Individual autonomy

Look to the past v. Shoulders of giants

Appearance v. Reality

Literature

Already established, like manners

Provides continuity between the past & present

Suggests morality - how to live

Did not pursue realism

Artifice to emphasize & obscure

Art Makes Stability

Classics provides models

Aligns with tradition

Satire lends moral weight to present

Calls attention to the irrational

Modern Influence

A stable, coherent, reasonable self

Objective, reliable, and universal foundation of knowledge

Reason used rightly produces True knowledge

Reason, autonomy, freedom and interconnected

Knowledge can be neutral & socially beneficial

Science is a paradigm for true knowledge

Language is in some sense transparent

I am a little world made cunninglyOf elements, and an angelic sprite;But black sin hath betrayed to endless nightMy worlds both parts, and (oh!) both parts must die.You which beyond that heaven which was most highHave found new spheres, and of new lands can write,Pour new seas in mine eyes, that so I mightDrown my world with my weeping earnestly,Or wash it if it must be drowned no more:But oh it must be burnt! alas the fireOf lust and envy have burnt it heretofore,And made it fouler: Let their flames retire,And burn me, O Lord, with a fiery zealOf Thee and Thy house, which doth in eating heal.

—John Donne, Holy Sonnet V (1635)