Enlightenment Lecture Notes

Introduction

• Lecturer: Dr. Mark Rashaan
• Topic: The Enlightenment
• Importance: Paves the way for modern sentiments, attitudes, and outlooks.

What is the Enlightenment?

• Definition: Intellectual and philosophical movement of the 18th century (late 1600s - 1800s).
• **Key Features: **
  • Important authors and thinkers
  • Public discussions on societal issues
  • Creation of a broader network of social critics and philosophers (Republic of Letters)
• Focus: Reason and the challenge of tradition and superstition
• Inspiration: Scientific Revolution’s fresh start in understanding the natural world

Major Themes and Ideas

• Reason: Central focus; humans can use their senses and minds to create a better world.
• Natural Rights: Concept of inherent rights that must be understood and protected.
• Scrutiny of Tradition: Tradition alone is no longer a satisfactory explanation for practices.
• Religion and Science: Often in conflict but moving towards a harmonized relationship.
• Censorship: Authors faced censorship, persecution, and anonymous publication to avoid retaliation.

France: The Epicenter

• **Reasons: **
  • Most absolutist and authoritarian society
  • Wealthy and growingly literate public
• Corruption: Pervasive, affecting middle and lower classes
• **Critique of Leadership: **
  • Monarchs like Louis XIV and XV
  • Wealth and role of the Church
• French vs. British: Contrasts in governance and societal stability

Influential Figures

• **Madame Amelie du Chatelet: **

  • Aristocratic woman, educated in mathematics
  • Translator of Newton’s Principia Mathematica
  • Commentary on the lack of female education

• **Voltaire: **

  • Critic of French society and absolutism
  • Advocate for tolerance, freedom of speech; master of patronage
  • Frequently invited to societies, known for wit and charisma

• **Montesquieu: **

  • Critic of absolute power
  • Proposed separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judicial

• **Jean-Jacques Rousseau: **

  • Commoner, critic of elite corruption
  • Concept of Social Contract and General Will
  • Proposed separation of roles between sexes, impacting gender norms

Major Works and Projects

• **Encyclopedia: **
  • Led by Denis Diderot
  • Collected and published knowledge for public use
  • Bias: Critical of monarchy and church

Public Sphere and Opinion

• **Engagement: **
  • Rise of journals, articles, coffeehouses
  • Broad public engagement in societal discussions
• **Tolerance: **
  • Push for religious tolerance and freedom
  • Emergence of Deism and critique of organized religion

Economic and Legal Reforms

• **Critique of Mercantilism: **
  • Push for free trade and laissez-faire economics
  • Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations advocating free markets and division of labor
• **Legal Reforms: **
  • Against judicial torture, capital punishment, debtors’ prison

Human Rights and Humanitarianism

• **Women’s Rights: **
  • Push for educational and professional equality
  • Advocates like Mary Wollstonecraft
• **Slavery: **
  • Height of the slave trade
  • Growing opposition and the beginning of abolitionist movements

Conclusion

• **Significance: **
  • Birth of many modern ideas and attitudes
  • Set the stage for further developments in future lectures