Chapter 9 The Age of Enlightenment: Eighteenth-Century Thought

1. Chapter 9 The Age of Enlightenment:Eighteenth-Century Thought

2. Parisian salon of Madame Marie-Therese Geoffrin, 1700s

3. What is Enlightenment? • An era of thought that has left a deep legacy in Western culture: • The human condition can be improved through science, education, philosophy, economic growth, and political reform. • It was actually named the Enlightenment by its own participants at the time. • Reached its height in the mid-1700s. • Immanuel Kant: “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity”.

4. What is Enlightenment? Challenged traditional authorities in the name of reason. Questioned ALL religions and called for religious tolerance, while at the same time often disparaging religion. Had an impact on rulers: the rise of the “Enlightened Despots”.

5. The Ideas of Isaac Newton • His law of universal gravitation showed the power of the human mind. • Encouraged natural philosophers to approach nature directly. • Mechanical and mathematical rationality to the world. If nature is rational, so should humanity and religion be. • Insisted upon empirical rationalization (observation and experience) to check rational explanation.

6. The Ideas of John Locke • Argued all humans entered the world on a blank page • Argued experience shapes character • Rejected the Christian notion that sin permanently flawed humans • Humans can take charge of their own destiny

7. The Example of British Toleration and Political Stability • Religious toleration except for Unitarians and Roman Catholics • Freedom of speech and press • Limited monarchy • Courts protect citizens from arbitrary government action

8. Print Culture • The volume of printed materials increased; books, journals, magazines, daily newspapers • Religious versus secular – increasing number of books that were not religious led to criticism • People of Print • Joseph Addison and Richard Steele - published books on politeness and the value of books • Alexander Pope and Voltaire – become wealthy and famous from their writings • Public opinion – the collective effect on political and social life of views discussed in the home, workplace and places of leisure • Government had to answer to the people • Central European governments in fear censored books, confiscated offending titles and imprisoned authors

10. The Philosophers • People who favored change, championed reform, and advocated toleration. • Could be found at universities and coffee houses. • Were usually for expansion of trade, improvement of agriculture and transportation, invention of new manufacturing industries.

11. Coffeehouse Culture

12. Are coffee houses still important places today? Do they still serve the same purpose as in the Age of Enlightenment? http://youtu.be/OTVE5iPMKLg

13. Voltaire – The First Philosopher • Imprisoned at the Bastille for offending the French • Went into exile in England • Published works • 1733 – Letters on the English – praised the British for their freedoms, especially of religion, and criticized the French • 1738 – Elements of the Philosophy of Newton – popularized the theories of Newton after his death • 1759 – Candide – satire attacking war, religious persecution and unwarranted optimism about the human condition

14. Frontispiece to Voltaire’s 1738 work, Elements of the Philosophy of Newton. Shows Emilie Du Chatelet, his companion and brilliant mathematician, illuminating Newton’s work (shown as a celestial being) for him while he writes.

15. The Enlightenment and Religion • The Enlightenment challenged the church and its concepts of “original sin.” • Humans were depraved; virtuous behavior not rewarded because of predestination. • The church was not just challenged for its thoughts, but for its practices • Not paying taxes • Being rulers and religious leaders • Literary censorship

16. Deism – Religion and Reason Combined • Belief in a rational God that created the universe, then allowed it to function according to mechanisms of nature (like a divine clockmaker). • Belief in an afterlife with rewards and punishments for actions on Earth. • Nature is rational. Therefore its Creator must be rational. Therefore religion should be rational too. • John Toland - Christianity Not Mysterious (1696) – promoted religion as natural and rational, rather than supernatural and mystical. • Deism – tolerant, reasonable, capable of encouraging virtuous living.

17. Religious Toleration Literary Works • John Locke – Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) – set forth toleration as prime requisite for a virtuous life • Voltaire – Treatise on Tolerance (1763) – wanted answers to why the Roman Catholic Church executed Huguenot Jean Calas • Gothold Lessing – Nathan the Wise (1779) – called for religious tolerance of all religions, not just Christianity

18. Radical Enlightenment Texts • David Hume – Inquiry Into Human Nature (1748) – no empirical evidence that miracles exist • Voltaire – Philosophical Dictionary (1764) – using humor, pointed out inconsistencies in the Bible and the immoral acts of Biblical heroes • Edward Gibbon – Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776) – explains the rise of Christianity through natural causes • Immanuel Kant – Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone (1793) – religion as a humane force through which there can be virtuous living

19. The Jewish Enlightenment • Jewish Thinkers • Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) – not really a religious man. • Ethics – closely identified God with nature and the spiritual to the material world. • Theologico-Political Treatise (1670) – called on both Jews and Christians to use reason in religious matters. • Championed religious toleration while also condemning his own religion; believed Jews should live more secularly. • Excommunicated from his synagogue for his beliefs. • Moses Mendelsohn (1729-1786) – argued differently from Spinoza that you could combine loyalty to Judaism with rational thought. • Jerusalem (1783) – argued for religious toleration and the religious distinction of Jewish communities. • Governments should be religiously neutral, because it does not make a nation weak to be tolerant of other religions.

21. Islam in Enlightenment Thought • Christians viewed Islam as a false religion and its founder Muhammad as an imposter • Philosophers Negative on Islam • Voltaire’s Fanaticism (1742) – cited Islam as one more example of religious fanaticism • Charles de Montesquieu – Spirit of the Law (1748) – stated Islam’s passivity made it subject to political despotism • Philosophers Positive on Islam • Deists Toland and Gibbon viewed Islam in a positive light, and that Islam is very closely related to Christianity; may even be more charitable. • Lady Mary Wortley Montagu – Turkish Embassy Letters (1716-1718) – praised Ottoman society / felt women were freer

22. Very few Europeans ever travelled to the Ottoman Empire. What little they knew about it came from reports of travelers and illustrations like this 1710 view of Constantinople (today called Istanbul).

23. The Encyclopedia • Edited by Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d’Alembert. • Published between 1751-1774: 17 volumes. • Collective work of more than one hundred authors • Had important information about 18th century social and economic life. • Between 14,000 and 16,000 copies sold before 1789 (year of the French Revolution). • A best seller in the American colonies. • Aimed to secularize learning. • Welfare of mankind was not in pleasing God or trying to achieve perfect ideal, but rather in harnessing resources and knowledge available on Earth.

25. Becarria and Reform of Criminal Law • Becarria wrote On Crimes and Punishment (1764) • Spoke out against torture and capital punishment • Wanted speedy trials • Purpose of punishment should be to deter further crimes • Purpose of laws is to guarantee happiness for as many human beings as possible. • This is called utilitarian philosophy: laws and punishments should be utilized (used) for an actual purpose to improve mankind.

26. The Physiocrats and Economic Freedom • Physiocrats were economic reformers in France • Leaders were Francois Quesnay and Pierre Dupont de Nemours • Believed primary role of government was to protect property and to permit its owners to use it freely. • Believed mercantilism limited the growth of wealth, and sound agriculture was basis for strong economy.

27. Adam Smith • Wrote Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) • Most famous work of the Enlightenment • Argued best way to create economic growth is for people to pursue their own selfish self-interests (in other words, exploit human nature!) • Let the law of supply and demand, a natural law, be the “Invisible Hand” that controls the economy- not governments. • Founder of laissez-faire economic thought – a limited role of the government in the economy. • Laissez-faire= “leave it alone” • If the government does not limit trade and business with tariffs, boundaries, laws, etc., then the economy will naturally grow.

28. Adam Smith • Four-stage theory – human societies classified as the following: • Hunting and gathering • Pastoral or herding • Agricultural • Commercial – society at its highest level • This allowed Europeans to feel superior to other non-commercial cultures (so basically everyone else).

29. Political Thought of the Philosophers • Most thought came from France- because France had the most corrupted and inefficient government. • Proposed solutions included aristocratic reform, democracy, absolute monarchy

30. Montesquieu and Spirit of Laws (1748) • Concluded that no single set of political laws could apply to all people, at all times, in all places • Best government for a country depended on country’s size, population, social and religious customs, economic structure, traditions and climate • Believed in separation of powers so one part of the government would not be completely in control • 3 branches of government create a system of checks and balances: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

31. Jean Jacques Rousseau: A Radical Critique of Modern Society • Weird loner, deadbeat dad, sexist, and pessimist, but an important philosopher who challenged social values. • His written works: • Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences (1750) – contended that the process of civilization and the Enlightenment had corrupted human nature. • Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (1755) – blamed much of the evil in the world on the uneven distribution of property (this is the basis of socialism). • The Social Contract (1762) – society is more important than its individual members and each person can maintain individual freedom while being a loyal member of a larger community. • His philosophies later influence the French and American Revolution

32. Rousseau’s Social Contract • “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains” • One can have social freedom while being part of a society, because freedom IS obedience to the law. • Law keeps us bound together as humans. • “We the people” are in a social contract with our community and political government. • Democracy is good because it is the will f the majority- which binds the individual to the community. • Some people must be “forced” to be free. • Would have disagreed with Adam Smith: • Smith wanted people to be wealthy; Rousseau wanted people to be good, even if they were poor.

34. Enlightened Critics of European Empires • Denis Diderot, Immanuel Kant, Condorcet, Johan Herder. • A few philosophers of the Enlightenment criticized the Europeans on moral grounds • Conquest of the Americas • Treatment of the Native Americans • Enslavement of Africans • Three Ideas from the Critics • (1) “Human beings deserve some modicum of moral and political respect simply because they are human beings”- there is no one standard of human nature. • (2) Different cultures should have been respected and understood, not destroyed • (3) Human beings may develop distinct cultures possessing intrinsic values that cannot be compared because each culture possesses deep inner social and linguistic complexities that make any simple comparison impossible

35. Women in the Thought and Practice of the Enlightenment Fashionable, elite women hosted salons and promoted new ideas as well as careers of the philosophes. Association with a trendy salon increased social status; women were in charge. However, most philosophes were not too concerned with female equality.

36. Women in the Thought and Practice of the Enlightenment • Montesquieu believed in equality of the sexes but had a traditional view of family and marriage. • Believed women should have access to greater education. • The Encyclopedia suggested ways to improve women’s lives, but did not suggest reform. • Still quite a double standard for women; relevant more to upper-class women than poor/working women. • Rousseau – felt women should be subordinate to men • Mary Wollstonecraft – A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) – defended equality of women with men based on human reason

37. Women in the Thought and Practice of the Enlightenment • Rousseau – felt women should be subordinate to men. • Women should only be educated in terms of family and child-rearing. • Women should be pleasing to men. • Women are capable of great love, and should devote themselves to children. • Mary Wollstonecraft – A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) – defended equality of women with men based on human reason. • Women should have a choice: she can be a good mother and be educated/participate in public life too.

38. Mary Wollstonecraft ironically died of complications from childbirth at age 38.

39. Rococo and Neoclassical Styles in Eighteenth-Century Art • Rococo style of art embraced lavish decoration with pastel colors • Became style of French aristocracy • Famous artists included Jean-Antoine Watteau, Francois Boucher, and Jean-Honore Fragonard • Neo-classical style art went back to the ancient world • Became style of the enlightened and revolutionaries. • Concerned with public life more than the intimate families of rococo • Famous artists included Jacques-Louis David and Jean Antoine Houdon

40. Art in the Enlightenment ROCOCO NEOCLASSICISM Reaction to disgust with idle aristocracy (in reality, many aristocrats were hard-working). Inspired by ancient art and discovery of Pompeii. Rome became a popular place to visit. Depicted moral or public life; separate spheres of men and women (inspired by Rousseau). Not a lot of movement in sculpture and painting. • Associated with the Ancién Régime. • Originated in Parisian hôtels • Style of King Louis XV. • Depicted the aristocracy at play in “fêtes galantes” • Carefree life of leisure, romance, and seduction. • Many female nudes and sexual content. • Convinced many people in France that aristocrats were frivolous, decadent, and idle

41. ROCOCO: Jean-Antoine Watteau, Pilgrimage to the Isle of Cythera, 1720. Young lovers on a journey to pay homage to Venus, goddess of love.

42. ROCOCO: Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s The Swing, 1767.

43. Madame du Pompadour, 1756 Rococo portrait by Francois Boucher. Mistress of Louis XV and popular salon hostess.

44. L’Odalisque Blonde, 1752 Rococo by Boucher. Many of his subjects were mistresses of Louis XV.

45. Rococo in architecture: Imperial Hall (Kaisarsaal) in Würzberg, Bavaria (Germany).

46. Neoclassicism: Jacques-Louis David, The Oath of the Horatii, 1785. Notice the separate spheres of men and women and stillness/pose of the figures.

47. Neoclassicism:Cornelia Pointing to her Children as Treasures, Angelica Kauffman, 1785.

48. Neoclassical architecture: The Pantheon of Paris. Voltaire and Rousseau are buried here.

49. Neoclassical architecture: The US Capitol Building, 1793.

50. Enlightened Absolutism • Most philosophes favored existing monarchs. • Most philosophes were not politically radical- did not favor a drastic change like democracy. • Personally corresponded and met with each other. • Defined as the form of monarchial government in which the central absolutist administration was strengthened at cost of the church, parliament, or diets • Monarchs • Frederick II of Prussia • Joseph II of Austria • Catherine II of Russia