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A class presentation we did on the Enlightenment and its epistemic implications
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The European Enlightenment
Our modest presentation :P
Contents
Historical background of the Enlightenment
Post-Enlightenment change in knowledge acquisition
Rationalism, Individualism and Relativism
Conclusion
THE ENLIGHTENMENT - WHAT?
An eighteenth-century intellectual movement advocating rationality and reason as a way to understand the world, breaking from religion, mystification and spirituality
BACKGROUND: PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT Witch-hunts, religious wars, inquisition Protestants and Catholics denounced each other
as followers of Satan All publications subject to prior censorship by
church and state Slavery was widely practiced and defended by
leading religious figures. Monarchs were supported by the doctrine of the
"divine right of kings”.
BACKGROUND:KEY DEVELOPMENTS The Renaissance in the 14th century led to a
revival of the classical teachings of Aristotle by Thomas Aquinas which heightened interest in discovering regularities in the natural world.
BACKGROUND:KEY DEVELOPMENTS Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century
led to weakening of the authority of the church Anti-church and anti-government sentiments
spread due to their corruption and usage of violence and intimidation.
The Scientific Revolution led to scientists seeking to discover the laws governing the phenomena they observed in nature based on a system of verifying predictions.
∆ Musical Knowledge
Baroque
• Rigid structure
• binary- AB or ternary- ABA)
• Fixed cadences (eg. Ic-V-I)
• Church music
Classical
• More secularized
• Balance and order: Emotions discouraged
• Inspiration from folk music
Romantic
• Free to express oneself
• Chromatism
The enlightenment
Increase in individualism and reason
Musically pleasing works shifted from conforming to rigid rules of harmony (in
Baroque) to attention to intricacies in the work.
The EE and Rationalism The adoption of rationalism
spread from top down:Upper class
• Scientists, Philosophers, Theologians
Middle classes
• With the help of literary figures
Common
people• Simplified
terms
The EE and Rationalism
Faith in
nature
Belief in human progres
s
Concept of Enlightenment
Spinoza Supernatural events
do not occur. Reason=knowledge In ethics and morals,
the highest good is equated with our human understanding
What humans decided with their human reason was right is right and was wrong is wrong.
Rationalism in morals Nature = a complex of interacting
laws governing the universe. People were naturally good
Reason would also cause actions to increase others’ happiness.
No need for church to impose set of religious values.
Logical values > religious values Progress only achievable by
education
Rationalism in morals
Miracles in the Bible = divine power, but reason explains and accepts them.
Christian revelation can be reduced to a few doctrinal essentials about God
Locke:
Previous lesson: Enlightenment theories still
conform to religion
Rationalism in morals
Philosophes(men: analyze
evils in society solve using
reason
Salonnieres: (women entertain
philosophes, provide insights into ideas)
Rationalism in science Advent of Math Nature
viewed as computational process not divine action. Eg. Coordinates of a planet
determined by a function f(x) Rationalism seeks to unravel
the functionFunction f(x)Input data output data
Rationalism in state/religion Voltaire, Montesquieu and Rousseau
believed that they could combat tyranny and ignorance convince public
French civilians rationalized that society was unfair French Revolution
No longer conform to ethos, use logos to think for themselves
The Enlightenment opened peoples eyes.
Montesquieu Persian Letters – wrote about
how other cultures perceive French society
Shows misinterpretations Expose French public to
different POV, stimulate rationalism
Rationalism to be employed to reconcile differences in POV
Rationalism in genders Individualism:
Women Men
Some philosophers: equal education for women
Women to receive same opportunities as men
Stimulate rationalism amongst uneducated women
Eg. Olympus Rogues
CHANGE IN KNOWLEDGE STRUCTUREReligion VS. ScienceAbsolute explanation from church (authority) trends concluded from observation i.e.the formation of thunder god is angry vs. electric charge
unfalsifiable interpretation from the bible falsifiable, tangible theories superstition/ metaphysical explanation explanation which can be backed up with evidence (if you set up the situation in lab, a similar outcome will be observed)
*note though, that many thinkers were still religious. The perception of God changed, though, to a ‘divine Clockmaker’ in control of the universe in a mechanistic sense.
PERCEPTION CHANGE understanding of one’s place in the world i.e. serving the god master over one’s life
Understanding of relationship with others All men are equal. (human rights)
Understanding of one’s behavior pre-decided by destiny future is in one’s hand
moral values what god says/ likes reason & arguments
Perspectives towards the worldMystical Mechanical/ predictable
COMPARISON
Knowledge gained from science is more reliable than religion when explaining natural phenomenon
Science- proven via experiment Religion- purely on authority When individualism and rationalism were
advocated, the trust on authority was being doubted.
Individualism
The shift from religious doctrine to reason as man’s key to knowing ‘freed’ him in one sense. Where before man could only explain Nature and the world as being controlled by the divine, now he could use his reason and scientific knowledge.
For example, pre-Enlightenment, it rained when and where and on whom God willed it so. (‘Nothing we can do about it.’)
But post-Enlightenment, rain could be explained, understood and predicted.
The individual was now empowered; no longer subject to a remote divine influence but capable, by reason, of interpreting the world around him and advancing by acquisition of knowledge.
Take an example...MENTAL ILLNESS
Pre-Enlightenment one would have thought that he was being punished or possessed by a demon.
Post-Enlightenment mental illness was approached scientifically instead. It was now an ‘illness’ as opposed to a sin.
At the same time, even though they were opposing epistemic schools of thought, rationalism and empiricism both put the individual at the centre of their theories.
The individual acquires knowledge either by his own reason or experience.
All this culminated in the Enlightenment idea of individualism, which gave an emphasis to the worth and rights of an individual.
Relativism
At the same time, rationalism and relativism developed in tandem during the Enlightenment which coincided with the Age of Exploration.
• Relativism was the belief that different cultures, beliefs, ideas and value systems have equal merit.
In a sense, relativism can be seen as the respect for individual beliefs found in individualism, practiced on a large scale.
It also reflects how morally, people moved from expecting objective, universally true answers, to accepting different versions of the ‘truth’ at the same time.
CONCLUSION Most will agree, therefore, that the
enlightenment was a period of great positive change, giving people greater freedom, power and ability to gain knowledge and progress.
From religious theory of everything to rational theory of everything