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Enlightenment Causes, Nature, Contributors, and Impacts

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This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the author, no part of it can be reproduced without
her prior knowledge and consent

Developments in Europe enlightenment can be seen as the moment when,

Enlightenment the ideas of logic, logical understanding, and

Causes, Nature, Contributors, and rational thought are seen as the primary
Impacts determinants of this period in Europe.
Aparna Joshi
It was an outcome of the Enlightenment, that a

distance was created between ideas of religion

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and the state, however, enlightenment scholars

sh
often used the symbols and relevance of

enlightenment to distinguish the importance of

Jo religion and religious practices. It was also used

as a phenomenon to explain the metaphorical

transition from darkness to light.

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This definition of the Enlightenment becomes

evident in its explanation in French as Lumieres

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and in Germany as Aufklarung. Light, it is

asserted by Robertson has a strong religious

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connotation in Christianity as it dispels

ignorance and Prejudice. Bernard Fontenelle, in

the 18th century, asserts that the Enlightenment

was a philosophical spirit that was new and

Introduction
unprecedented.
Considered a turning point in the intellectual

development of the western world, the

This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the author, no part of it can be reproduced without
her prior knowledge and consent

lives of the philosophes that provided for

There are many causes behind the rise of the
intellectual awakening.
Enlightenment as are there many characteristics

of its nature, examined ahead He believed that progress was brought back to

the history of ideas and questioning credited to

Causes and Nature of the Enlightenment early scholars such as Isaac Newton, Bacon, and
There is no distinct cause that can be held Locke in the English context and Descartes,

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responsible for the rise of Enlightenment Ideas Montesquieu, and Voltaire in the French, Kant in

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in Europe according to Peter Jones, however, the the German context. Hume, a french scholar
enlightenment developed as an outcome of further examined this line of argument, he dealt
majorly, the religious reformation that led to

questions about philosophy such as the meaning

Jo
of intellect and the purpose of creation, while the

scientific revolution as a direct precursor to the

with the rasing of questions as a development in

the Human Nature. Locke also strengthened this

in his text with the argument that ideas are a

sensory rather than an intellectual experience of

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Enlightenment led to the development of a man.
theoretical method of discovery and record

keeping. For Jones, the nature and concept of the

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This to Hume was nothing more than the new

enlightenment were the abstract ones that a
Science of Man, that had been developed based
number of scholars and philosophes had
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on the idea of a change in the constitution that

rationalized in the 18th century itself. D’
was caused by an ‘enlightened mind’
Alembert intended the preliminary Discourse as

an intellectual framework of the enlightenment. In the view of Spinoza, God and Nature were

To him, the enlightenment was an outcome of seen as different ‘modes’ of the same thing.

self-preservation and practical experiences in the Therefore, in its basis, there was a holistic

comprehension of the world.

This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the author, no part of it can be reproduced without
her prior knowledge and consent

Christian Wolff, opines that holistic Another group of historians points out that

development the first principle would turn into social mobility shaped public opinion, this was

the starting point of reasoning. Immanuel Kant defined by the secularisation of society.

defined the enlightenment as the freedom to

make public use of one’s reason as a goal of

Scholars pointed out that radical enlightenment
intellectual freedom.
the most vigorous proponent of this argument

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Further, in his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant
was found in Jonathan Israel. A historical
goes on to argue that propositions and cause of
reassessment points out that it was in the
physical and moral worlds. Kant also critiqued
backdrop of the reformation. Huguenots of
the beginning of the Enlightenment in the formal

and systematic sense.

Hegel also argues that the underlying principle

Jo Holland and France gave rise to an ‘enlightened

court culture’ The primary ideas of the

Enlightenment included the basis of the

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of the enlightenment was the scientific method, scientific revolution, it also was strengthened by

the development of questioning, and rationality. the empirical method and the divine right thesis.

In the second part of the 20th century, the It was a common assumption that the
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causes of the enlightenment began to be enlightenment was a movement confined to

examined as the result of broadening social and France alone due to the rise of enlightened
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political developments, the enlightenment was despotism and the rise of Client-Patron-type

seen as the outcome of greater political activity relations between thinkers and rulers who lent

and the occupational mobility of various classes power to the ruler by their new ideas, that were

with access to education as an outcome of the linked to the primary tenets of absolutism.

renaissance. Modern-day and contemporary historians also

examine the spread of Enlightenment ideas, the

This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the author, no part of it can be reproduced without
her prior knowledge and consent

earliest of these was Habermas and Michel In Central Europe specifically, the process of

Foucault, who widened the scope of the period Coffee Houses and Salons began to be noted by

of enlightenment to discuss the changing social the ruling classes. This impact was primarily

practices, impacted by colonization and visible in three regions of Central and Northern

mercantilism, which gave the philosophes Europe (continent) Prussia, Austria, and Russia.

exposure to the Orient that further conditioned In the second phase of the Enlightenment, the

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their thought process. ideas of the Enlightenment spread to England

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and France.
Dorinda Outram and Thomas Munck went on to

discuss the stresses of the class struggle of the To Anderson, the influence that the

18th century that led the enlightenment thinkers

to question absolutism and rise in opposition.

Foucault also roots the ideas of individual

freedoms and modern Feminism in the ideas of

Jo Enlightenment seemed to have on the absolutist

monarchs was nothing new or extraordinary but

merely an acceptance of changes.

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However, to Lefebvre, no such phenomenon as
the Enlightenment.
Enlightenment Despotism changed the paradigm

To Stephen Lee, however, the process of of power and authority in European courts. Fritz
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enlightenment was one that emanate from the Hartung rejects Lefebvre and defines

courts of Absolutist Europe. He described their Enlightened Despotism as a form of

symbiotic functioning as a marriage of Benevolvent Kingship and monarchy, still,

Ap

convenience. Just as the Enlightenment cannot however, retaining a grip on the Church.

be seen as coherent neither can despotism. In However, the rulers viewed themselves as

order to maintain control by raising voices for servants rather than divine in form.

economical and social freedoms, the rulers came

under increasing pressure to adopt the ideas of

the Enlightenment in order to maintain control.

This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the author, no part of it can be reproduced without
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interest in the ideas of the Enlightenment

Romanovs
Thinkers and learned French in order to interact
In the case of Russia, the Romanovs were the
with Diderot and Montesquieu.
ruling family at the time of the Enlightenment.
Stephen J Lee holds the liberal ideas of
This ruling family was known for their Orthodox
Catherine the Great as the Primary factors that
Christian outlook as well as the derivation of
moved Russia from a mere kingdom to an
divine power.

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Empire, that also coaxed the enlightenment into

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The importance of reforms in governance was
other European courts.
identified by Peter the Great, however, as he
As an initial act of her consolidation of the
attempted to consolidate the empire, these ideas

of reform could not be implemented.

However, after his death, Catherine, originally

Sophia from Germany took over in a coup from

Jo Empire, Catherine the Great, distanced herself

from the orthodox clergy and initiated rigorous

legal reforms that she initiated a uniform legal

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and bureaucratic system across the Romanov
her Husband Peter who was killed in the coup.
empire. She called a legislative assembly called
She was known for patronizing and embracing
the Voevody, that remained independent under
‘modern’ and Enlightenment ideas. She was the
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central control.
patron of the Orlov Family, an enlightened noble
The Economy was free under the Romanovs in
family in the Russian Court, she was recognized
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the region of Russia and Ukraine. In the

by Voltaire as one of the best minds of the
aftermath of the Turkish War, the legislative
Enlightenment Monarchs. Catherine considered
commission was suspended for nearly 200
herself a ‘pupil of the Enlightenment.
sittings. Catherine the Great patronized the arts
Voltaire was to visit Russia and write of
and provided an education in art and culture to
Catherine’s Russia, she (Catherine) in her court
all her children, especially her heir apparent
fostered a thousand talents, she showed a keen
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her prior knowledge and consent

Fredrick II, whom she intended to sensitize to that were primarily harvested from the

the thoughts of the Enlightenment. Ukrainian steppe for England. Therefore, the

rate of serfdom increased manifold and the

Through the Nobles Charter of 1783, she also
reforms brought by Catherine the great were of
regulated the circulation and the propagation of
relatively low impact, since they did not last
Enlightenment ideas of freedom and attempted
beyond her reign.
to quell the demand for autonomy and

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administration. Habsburg Empire

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In the economy of the Romanov empire, Geographically expanding from the region of

Catherine adopted a liberal policy, she continued Hungary to Austria, with three capitals,

to abolish the state monopolies permitting free

trade and its participation in trade. Further,

industrial activities were given an impetus.

Jo Innsbruck, Vienna, and Prague, the Hapsburg

Empire was one of the largest empires along

with the Prussian empire that was distributed

na
into a number of small autonomous
However, the Serfs, a bonded agrarian class was
principalities. Philip von Hornigsk who
not extended the freedom to participate in
belonged to a group known as the camerlists
trading and industrial activities.
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assumed that the purpose of resources was part

Further, in comparison to the foreign merchants,
of the treasury science.
Russian merchants were at a disadvantage. In
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Further, they propagated the theory of natural

the context of agriculture, production increased
law, which was followed across the Habsburg
as an outcome of labor-intensive practices as
Empire, Enlightened despotism in this phase
compared to the mechanization that was seen in
introduced the concept of Citizenship Science
contemporary Europe.
that was a concept of social engineering, that
Trade comprised primarily of low financial
yielded state and military power. Further, the
yielding crops such as flax, hemp, skins, and fur
introduction of the Diet in the Habsburg Empire
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further limited the powers of the ruler and ruling Theresa towards a more extreme economical and

class. However, it has been pointed out by educational shift. Joseph’s system was

scholars that the reign of enlightenment in protectionist in nature, as introduced in 1784. It

Austria was a brief one between the reign of excluded imported and foreign-made goods from

Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II. the market.

The paradigm shifted with the outbreak of the

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French revolution and the support of France led

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Further, they weakened the guilds and their role
by the Habsburg Empire. Reforms undertaken
as this was seen as the primary component of
by Maria Theresa were taken in two stages, the
monopolies and market control. He increased

reign. In the second phase of the empire, Maria

Theresa aimed at the ideological shifts to

Enlightenment. Her ideology heavily influenced

Jo
first of the stages was the practical aspects of her
censorship however, it was his paternalistic

policies that aided the masses to fulfill their

economic demands, he also provided for the

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welfare and betterment of the Church and
the writings and works of Montesquieu.
religious toleration.

Although she led the Enlightenment, she

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remained aloof from the ideas of Montesquieu

Further, the role of his military organizations
and Voltaire. Thus it is said may have been the
and reforms were seen till the first part of the
blend between the personal and political life of
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20th century, the outbreak of World War I.

the Habsburgs, as they were connected by direct
Prussia
bloodline to the Divine rulers of Absolutist

France, as opposed to whom the ideas of In the region of Prussia, Absolutism developed

Montesquieu and Voltaire were directed. in its nascent form, it was influenced by the

Cameralists, a set of economic reformers who

However, in the reign of Joseph II, there was a
gave central primacy to the state, in the
shift from the conservative ideology of Maria
This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the author, no part of it can be reproduced without
her prior knowledge and consent

development of the individual. Under Fredrick

Contributors to the Enlightenment
Wilheim I, Prussia developed in the face of the
The high Enlightenment was based on the
commencement and development of the ‘modern
ideology and works of Voltaire, Diderot,
state’ He dismayed foreign mercenaries and
Montesquieu, and Rousseau
foreign benefactors as this would challenge the

domestic markets. While he was reforming the Voltaire and Montesqieu

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economy and polity, Fredrich Wilheim II was Borges describes Voltaire as a man of

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informed in the philosophy of literature and the contradictions, in life as a modern thinker he

performing arts. To Gp Gooch, Fredrick’s revered the system of social class as a product of

system of Enlightened Despotism was the

Jo
it and on the other hand, poured scorn on them

synthesis or a bridge between the Feudal and the as part of his role as a philosophe of the

Absolutist State. His tolerance in the religious Enlightenment. He was Baptised as Francois

sphere also led to an increase in the rate of Marie Arouet, he hailed from a semi-aristocratic
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education and development. However, with his background, and he was exiled from France at

decline, the system of enlightened despotism an early age, for insulting the aristocratic tongue.

declined in Europe. However, he returned years later, with the

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English ideas of the Enlightenment, he

considered himself to be influenced by Francis

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Bacon and John Locke, influential thinkers of

the English Revolution. He cherished the ideas

of individual freedoms that they bestowed and

propagated for individuals. Voltaire confronted

the stance and position of the state on multiple

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her prior knowledge and consent

levels, in a series of letters termed Philosophic the Constitution of the United States of America,

Letters on the English. they, therefore, are seen as the fathers of the

American Enlightenment.
He further propagated his ideology through

Calais Affair, he pointed out the treatise of

Tolerance. On the hand, Charles de Secondat

was termed Montesqieu by his followers, his

Further, John Locke, one of the great minds of

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work was received with fervor across France and

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the Enlightenment, too attempted to link the
England. He hailed from an aristocratic
Scientific revolution along with the
background and was married to a wealthy
Enlightenment, thus linking the changes in
heiress.

Jo
In terms of his political leanings, e too admired

the political and social freedoms granted to the

society

development.
to the

Diderot and Rousseau

changes in intellectual
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people of England. He attacked the existing

nature of absolutism in France, in favor of the Denis Diderot was from a lower-middle-class

more liberal separation of state and power in the household in France and was popular for his
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legislature. staunch criticism of religion and the institution

of the Church. His play the natural Son was a

In his text, the Spirit of Laws, Montesquieu
commentary on the life of contradictions led by
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argued in favor of the development of a federal

the lower classes of French Society while the
system of te holding together nature. He is often
upper classes were popular for their excesses.
considered, the intellectual father of the
He also critiqued art and developed the French
American constitution.
style of modern art criticism. He is also
He influenced greatly, the discourse of Benjamin
considered one of the fathers of modern
Franklin and James Madison in the drafting of
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psychology for his work on the blind and the he felt the artificial facades of individuals acted

deaf. as veneers to their true human nature. Therefore,

Education must promote the natural mistakes

He escalated the understanding of handicrafts
and missteps of the individual.
and social sciences to the importance of

empirical sciences and was for this approach Immanuel Kant

rewarded by private individuals who funded his
The Enlightenment, it is said spanned two

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work.

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stages, in the first stage of the Enlightenment,
He, however, was largely unpopular in orthodox
Immanuel Kant shaped the idea of the
French society due to his divisive views on
Enlightenment, he questioned the need to know
society and the role of religion in society. The

next philosopher is arguably the most famous of

all the philosophers that the Enlightenment gave

Jo and the courage to uncover the truth. He talked

about the limitations of the enlightenment as

being merely in the context of political and

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the world. Jean Jacques Rousseau, was
economic changes, impeding but not resulting in
self-educated and heavily influenced by the
social changes that lasted a considerable amount
teachings of Diderot.
of time.
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\ He is most famous for two theories. Firstly, in

the theory of the Social Contract, where he

Wilheim and Kant together defined the first part
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determined that governance must be developed

of the enlightenment. It was argued by Gay that,
under the General will of the population that
the enlightenment was not a unified
changes the state of nature and establishes a
phenomenon and did not impact the entire
government.
Europe equally, its impact was based heavily on
His second work was Emile, a social
the role of the rulers. Kant argued that
commentary on the Haute society of Paris where
knowledge and justice were the central aspects
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of the Enlightenment in Central and Northern general and popular character of the

Europe. However, in the region of France, it was enlightenment that occurred in tea salons and

used as a tool to usher in Political changes that coffee rooms, often attended by women,

had a long-lasting impact on the perception of especially in the absence of the event of death of

the Enlightenment itself. Kant however, avoided her husband, they were part of various

the position of taking a definitive stance on the discussions of importance at the local and

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issue of religion. Lastly, Hobbes and Rene magnified at the national level. In conclusion, it

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Descartes were philosophers who also can be said that the phase of Enlightenment in

contributed majorly to the Enlightenment. It was Europe held the key to future understanding of

the work of Thomas Hobbes, in his text the the development of Europe and the Europen

Spirit of Laws that one can find a parallel to the

understanding of Rousseau and Voltaire on

democratic freedoms and the distinction between

Jo Society.
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the Legislature and executive.
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While, Rene Descartes, questioned the nature of

Stoicism, revived it, and linked the

enlightenment to the Scientific revolution by

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promoting the use of Algebraic Geometry to

understand philosophy.

John Merriman, however, draws the attention of

scholars to an often neglected aspect of the

Enlightenment, which was the role of women

philosophers, he saw this as an outcome of the