Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Enlightenment
Enlightenment
net/publication/360929023
CITATIONS READS
0 2,278
1 author:
Aparna Joshi
SEE PROFILE
All content following this page was uploaded by Aparna Joshi on 29 May 2022.
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
i
and the state, however, enlightenment scholars
sh
often used the symbols and relevance of
of its nature, examined ahead He believed that progress was brought back 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,
i
responsible for the rise of Enlightenment Ideas Montesquieu, and Voltaire in the French, Kant in
sh
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
Jo
of intellect and the purpose of creation, while the
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
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.
i
sh
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
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
ar
examined as the result of broadening social and France alone due to the rise of enlightened
Ap
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.
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
i
their thought process. ideas of the Enlightenment spread to England
sh
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
To Stephen Lee, however, the process of of power and authority in European courts. Fritz
ar
enlightenment was one that emanate from the Hartung rejects Lefebvre and defines
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.
i
Empire, that also coaxed the enlightenment into
sh
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
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
Ap
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
i
administration. Habsburg Empire
sh
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,
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
Austria was a brief one between the reign of excluded imported and foreign-made goods from
i
French revolution and the support of France led
sh
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
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
i
economy and polity, Fredrich Wilheim II was Borges describes Voltaire as a man of
sh
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
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
na
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.
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
i
work was received with fervor across France and
sh
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
development.
to the
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
ar
psychology for his work on the blind and the he felt the artificial facades of individuals acted
i
work.
sh
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
This Article is a moral and intellectual assertion of the author, no part of it can be reproduced without
her prior knowledge and consent
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
i
issue of religion. Lastly, Hobbes and Rene magnified at the national level. In conclusion, it
sh
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
understand philosophy.