What was Enlightenment What was the Enlightenment A
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What was Enlightenment?
What was the Enlightenment? A period of Western European history characterized by a modern philosophical movement What time period? What kind of modern philosophical movement? Commitment to critical thought Commitment to systematic thinking Commitment to human equality and natural rights
‘The Enlightenment’ vs. ‘enlightenment’ 18 th C. texts don’t mention “The Enlightenment” Kant, Condorcet, and Herder mention ‘enlightenment’, ‘enlightened’ thinking, etc. Enlightenment is a way of thinking that is becoming widespread in their lifetimes
Nicolas de Condorcet (1743 -1794) Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind (1795)
The Ninth Era ‘enlightenment’: the state of possessing knowledge; the process of acquiring knowledge Bacon Galileo Descartes Locke The Science of Morality begins Rights of human beings become known Enlightenment is irreversible, and it’s spread inevitable Popular vs. Official Revolutions
Immanuel Kant (1724 -1804) An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? (1784)
What is Enlightenment? ‘enlightenment’: The state of thinking for oneself; the process of learning to think for oneself The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785) We don’t need education or training in order to know how to be good Being good = having a good will The Principle of Universalizability Act only on maxims that can be made universal laws, and are still achievable Ex) I will lie on a loan application in order to get a loan
What is Enlightenment? ‘enlightenment’: The state of thinking for oneself; the process of learning to think for oneself The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785) We don’t need education or training in order to know how to be good Being good = having a good will The Principle of Universalizability Act only on maxims that can be made universal laws, and are still achievable Ex) I will donate blood in order to save lives
What is Enlightenment? ‘enlightenment’: The state of thinking for oneself; the process of learning to think for oneself The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785) We don’t need education or training in order to know how to be good Being good = having a good will The Principle of Universalizability Act only on maxims that can be made universal laws, and are still achievable Ex) I will kill an American in order to erase Americans from the Earth
Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 -1803) This Too is a Philosophy of History (1774)
This Too is a Philosophy of History (1774) ‘enlightenment’: a modern, mechanical style of thinking that takes contemporary, European cultural standards as the measure of humanity With enlightened thinking we lose: 1) Originality 2) Critical Thinking 3) Ethics 4) History
