What Is Enlightenment? (Volume D)

Background human reason freedom free market Kant, controlled politics problems with racism and slavery “progress” Enlightenment thinkers distinguished humans by the particular faculty of reason: unlike animals, humans had the capacity to think through relationships and between objects or events. They could establish cause and effect and follow logical arguments. “Freedom” was an important word for the period—freedom to use one’s own reason against traditional authorities, and the new science of economics trended toward a “free market” to produce wealth. Other thinkers, such as Kant, felt that (in politics) leaders should maintain discipline and restrict the masses in order to ensure an enlightened conversation without prejudice or superstition. The age also spawned a sense of European superiority, leading to problems of racism and slavery at the advent of “progress.” The image is an engraving of Louis XIV in the French Academy of Sciences, by Sebastien le Clerc (1671).

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) Johnson was the sole author of 40,000 definitions in the Dictionary of the English Language (1755). Painting of Johnson (1775) by Joshua Reynolds. The caption states that Johnson was not only concentrating on the words but also illustrated his eye problems.

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) “I have placed the main point of enlightenment—the escape of men from their self-incurred tutelage—chiefly in matters of religion because our rulers have no interest in playing the guardian with respect to the arts and sciences, and also because religious incompetence is not only the most harmful but also the most degrading of all” (p. 109). Kant spent his life in Konigsberg and Prussia, writing “What is Enlightenment?” in response to a monthly magazine’s question. In his essay, he argues that people have followed the opinions of authorities rather than seeking truth for themselves and adopts the motto “Dare to know!” The term “tutelage,” which Kant defines as “man’s inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another,” is the main problem blocking man from enlightenment, and that this is caused by man’s laziness and cowardice. Portrait of Kant, 18th century.

René Descartes (1595–1650) “I observed that while I thus desired everything to be false, I, who thought, must of necessity be something; and remarking that this truth, I think, therefore I am was so firm…I could accept it as the first principle of the philosophy I was seeking” (p. 112). Descartes’s Discourse on Method asks how it is possible for human beings to know anything at all. It explores the critical and rational methods that humans use to arrive at knowledge. He begins by stating that nothing is grounded in certainty other than what he himself is thinking; from this, he asserts that he exists precisely because he is thinking, which also proves that the mind is separate from the body and physical experience. The image is a portrait of Descartes (ca. 1649–1700) after Frans Hals. Louvre Museum, France.

Denis Diderot (1713–1784) “Education has as goals, 1) the health and good constitution of the body; 2) what regards the rectitude and the instruction of the mind; 3) manners, that is the conduct of life, and social qualities” (pp. 115–16). Diderot and D’Alembert illustrated the Encyclopedia, which included more than 70,000 entries, starting with asparagus and ending with zodiac. It was written in French rather than Latin, intended to be accessible to a wide audience, and marked a break with established knowledge and religious authority. The collection, which included the latest scientific knowledge and technological advances, was useful for industrial development. The image shows the frontispiece of the Encyclopedie. Teylers Museum. The caption reads: “It was drawn by Charles-Nicolas Cochin and engraved by Bonaventure Prevost. “The figure in the center represents truth, surrounded by bright light (the central symbol of the Enlightenment), with reason and philosophy on the right, tearing the veil from truth.

James Beattie (1735–1803) “To suppose him of an inferior species, because he does not thus distinguish himself, is just as rational, as to suppose any private European of an inferior species, because he has not raised himself to the condition of royalty” (An Essay on Truth, p. 132). Beattie was a Scottish philosopher who attempted to refute the philosopher, David Hume, for his beliefs about racial superiority and the legitimate practice of slavery. The image is an engraving of Beattie (1801) by Ridley. The National Library of Medicine.

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) “Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience; but, as blind obedience is ever sought for by power, tyrants and sensualists are in the right when they endeavor to keep women in the dark…” (p. 136). The founder of modern feminism and author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Wollenstonecraft made the case that women had as much right to freedom and authority as men because they too had been given the faculty of reason by God. Students might find it interesting that Wollstonecraft grew up with an abusive and alcoholic father who bankrupted his businesses. Wollstonecraft got involved with several artists and men who abused her (one of whom abandoned her and their daughter to live abroad with a second family he created), and attempted suicide several times before settling down with her husband, William Godwin. She also opened a school for children (which failed), saved her sister and close friend from their abusive marriages, and died a few days after giving birth to her daughter Mary who married the poet Percy Shelly and wrote the novel Frankenstein. How do students respond to the seeming contradiction between her real life (filled with co-dependence and abuse) and her advocacy for women’s rights in her writing? The image is a portrait of Wollstonecraft (c1797). National Portrait Gallery, London.

Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) “Cruelty is simply the energy in a man civilization has not yet altogether corrupted: therefore, it is a virtue, not a vice. Repeal your laws, do away with your constraints, your chastisements, your habits, and cruelty will have dangerous effects no more, since it will never manifest save when it meets with resistance” (pp. 137–38). A French aristocrat, Sade’s appetite for violence and cruelty (from which the word sadism comes) are, he argued, a reflection of the violence to which he was exposed during the revolutionary period in France. Sade argued that God must be cruel and malicious, and therefore humans have the natural right to act as cruelly as they choose. The image of the only known authentic portrait of the Marquis (1769) by Charles-Amedee-Phillippe van Loo.

This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for The Norton Anthology of World Literature