Figure 1.--

The Enlightenment along with the Renaisance and Reformation was a key step in the formation of the Western mind. Many of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers were French, but the Enlightenment was a movement which over time affected all of Europe to varying degrees. America was also affected by the Enlightenment, but the American exoerience was different, in part because of the Great Awakening. The Enlightenment is also termed the Age of Reason. Authors define it differently and there were many different aspects, but the Enlightenment at it heart was a basic turn in the Western mindset. The West for more than a milenium had been dominated by religion, often descrined as faith. Even the Reformation had not changed this. In fact the Protestants were often more consumed with faith and theological questions than the Roman church. With the Enlightenment, primacy was given to reason. Intelectuals began to think that objective truth about life and the universe could be achieved through rational thought. The advances achieved in physics, led by Sir Issac Newton in Britain, had a profound impact on European intellectuals. Enlightenment writers begasn to think that the same kind of systematic thinking could be used to understand and improve areas of human activity as well. A whole new system of aesthetics, ethics, government, and logic was developed based on reason. The Enligtenment was an era of great optimism. Enlightenment thinks were convinced that reason could dramatically improve society. They were not openly athiestic, but they were highly critical of religion which they often equated with irrationality and superstition. The Enlightement also attacked political tyranny. The intelectual ferment of the Enlightenment led to the American and subsequent Latin American revolutions as well as the French Revolution which had a much more pronounced impact on Europe. the Enlightenment prepared the foundation for both classical liberalism and capitalism. There were comparable movements in music (high baroque and classical) and art (neo-classical).

The Rise of the West

The Enlightenment along with the Renaisance and Reformation was a key step in the formation of the Western mind. Historians have asked why the West emerged as such a dominant force in the world. Victorians attributed it largely to racial superority and religious rightiouness. These attitudes continued into the 20th century. Only after World War II have modern historians addressed this question without the weight of racial and religious traditions. Various explanations have been offerd. Some writers have suggested climate. Soe have suggested that Christianity, especially Protestantism, proved to be a was pragmatic and practical. Others have offered rather mechanistic explanations such as the presence of suitable draft animals, resources, and resistance to disase. [Diamond] These authors are often thought provoking and offer many valuable insights. One weakness in many of these assessments is their tendency to ignore China. After all the technological innovations that led to the Western dominance in guns and steel began with technological discoveries in China, And until fairly recently (about the 16th century), China was technologically more afvanced than the West. We believe that the great intelectual movements (The Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment) that produced the Western mind and outlook, plasyed a major role in the rise of the West.

Countries

Many of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers were French, but the Enlightenment was a movement which over time affected all of Europe to varying degrees. America was also affected by the Enlightenment, but the American exoerience was different, in part because of the Great Awakening.

Faith and Reason

The Enlightenment is also termed the Age of Reason. Authors define it differently and there were many different aspects, but the Enlightenment at it heart was a basic turn in the Western mindset. The West for more than a milenium had been dominated by religion, often descrined as faith. Even the Reformation had not changed this. In fact the Protestants were often more consumed with faith and theological questions than the Roman church. With the Enlightenment, primacy was given to reason.

Religion

Enlightenment thinkers, often called philosophes in France, were not openly athiestic, but they were highly critical of religion. They often equated the Church with irrationality and superstition. This waa not just a theological or philosophicl matter, but had profound practical influences.

Morality

The Christian church until the Enlightenment was in Europe seen as the arbitur of morality. And central to the Christian concept of morality was Original Sin. The Church asserted that man was born into a state of sinfulness. The Niblical justification for this doctrine was Psalm 51:5[1]. The reference is man's first sin, committed by Adam and Eve who fell victim to to Satan's temptation in the Garden of Eden. "The Fall" of Adam and Even from grace has according to Christoan theologians contaminated all mankind. Although based on the Old Treastment, this is not an interpertation Jews have made. The sacrament of Baptism is required to wash away original sin. This concept was rejected by The philosophes, rejected the Christian concept of God, although they were not openly atheistic. Commonly they would use the term "supreme being" which came to mean essenbialy the forces of nature. French writer Baron d'Holbach's argued that man's happines was based on his avility to understand nature. [d'Holbach, p. V.] This proved one of the most influential works of the Enlightenment. The French philosophes argued that morality was essentially man's living in harmony with nature. Rosseau turned the Christian doctrine of natural sin on its head. He argued that man was born inherently virtous and was corupted by society. [Rosseau] Thus moraliy became a rational concept completely separate from religion. Rather morality was nixed bag of nature and orimal instinct which could only be ubderstood through reason. One English woman influenced by the philosophes wrote, "a barbarian, considred as a moral being, is an angel, compared with the refined villain of artificial life". [Wollstonecraft] Ironically she almost lost her head to the Revoultion.

Progress

Our modern concept of progress evolved from the Enlightenment. The Church taught Europeans to accept their condition on earth. The reward was early paradice. Enlightenment thinkers suggested that man through rational processes could improved his condition and society at large. Intelectuals began to think that objective truth about life and the universe could be achieved through rational thought. The advances achieved in physics, led by Sir Issac Newton in Britain, had a profound impact on European intellectuals. Enlightenment writers began to think that the same kind of systematic thinking could be used to understand and improve areas of human activity as well. A whole new system of aesthetics, ethics, government, and logic was developed based on reason. The Enligtenment was an era of great optimism. Enlightenment thinks were convinced that reason could dramatically improve society.

Political Impact

The Enlightement revolutionized European political concepts. Here the rejection of another Christian teaching had profound political connotations. Many philosophes denied the existence of an afterlife. It was in the after life that a virtous life would be rewarded. On earth Gold was responsible for addressing evil. He did this through his choice of virtuous rulers. This was the foundation for divine right monarchy. European Christian rulers were seen as annoited by God. This is why Charlanagne and even Napoleon wanted to be crowned by the pope. Cornonation ceremonoes commonly involved eclesiastical officials. But without an after life, the philosophes argued that man through reason was capable of improving society. And the philosophes began discussing a new concept, persobal freedom. Diederot, Rosseau, and other philosophes began to conceptualize freedom as self-fufilment and empowerment. Thus the philosophes with an after life discarded set on the conquest of building heaven on earth. Strangely the philosophes not uncommomly used religious terminology in their quest, such as "shining city on a hill". The initial step was an attack on political tyranny, especially absolutist monarchy. This intelectual ferment eventually led to the American and subsequent Latin American revolutions as well as the French Revolution which had a much more pronounced impact on Europe. the Enlightenment prepared the foundation for both classical liberalism and capitalism. The irony of this process is the mointains of corpses produced by the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. And in direct line was not only the democracies and totalitarian states of the 20th century. It seems that mans's capacity for reason can create just socities as well as very evil socities. And even greater irony is how the 20th century totalitarians can prsue athiesm while at the same time creating essentially state relgions to justify their rule.

America

The Enlightenment altered European concepts of America. From the beginning of the European conquests there was great curiosity about Native Americans. Columbus brought Native Americans back to shoe Ferdinand And Isabella. The English brought Pocohonts and other Native Americans to show King James. The Spanish conducted an extended debte on whether Native Americans were human. They we baically seen as barbaric people. The Enlightenment changed this. A French philosophe published what he presented as a dialog between him and a Huron brave. THe Huron was presented as living in harmony of nature. The mythology of the Nobel Savage was born. This had two practical consequences. First it was a concept not shared by the European collonists in America. Two, in a curious way, the concept rubbed off on the colonists as well, even highly sophisticated men like Ben Franklin. Thus the i>philosophe saw the new colonies in North America as an attempt to build virtuous new socities in a virgin woldreness away from the corruption of Europe. Franklin arrived in France as the represenative of the Cointinental Congress, but he had no official standing. His job was to obtain French support, but had nothing to offer the French. Astutely he sold himself, a noted scirntist amd one pf the most weakthy men in the Colonies, as a frontier prophet of great simplicity. He refused to wear a wig and insead wore a native-looking fur cap. It was perhaps the most astute diplomatic achievement in American history. The French loved Franklin. His face was soon on everything from tea cups to chamber pots. Ironically the strength of European enfatuation with America was so strong that the ugly scar of slavery was largely ignored. There wre theatrical plays in Parris that depicted plantation owners working togther iwith their slaves in a kind of slyvan wildreness paradise while they sang together about liberty! In te end, Franklin not only obtained French aid, but brought France into the War. King Louis XVI in the end supported ensurgent republicans afinst their rightful king. The War bankrupted France allowing French republicans to seize power and eventually beheaded Louis.

The Arts

There were comparable movements in music (high baroque and classical) and art (neo-classical).

Sources

Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Socities.

D'Holbach, Baron. Système de la Nature (1821).

Rosseau, Jean Jaques. Essays on the arts and sciences.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. A historical and Noral View of the French Revolution.