Essay About Leading Proponents And Eighteenth Century

The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason in Philosophy
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he Enlightenment And The Age Of Reason In Philosophy
Western Europes worship of reason, reflected only vaguely in art and
literature, was precisely expressed in a set of philosophic ideas known
collectively as the Enlightenment. It was not originally a popular movement.
Catching on first among scientists, philosophers, and some theologians, it was
then taken up by literary figures, who spread its message among the middle
classes. Ultimately, it reached the common people in simplified terms
associated with popular grievances.
The most fundamental concept of the Enlightenment were faith in nature
and belief in human progress. Nature was seen as a complex of interacting laws
governing the universe. The individual human being, as part of that system,
was designed to act rationally. If free to exercise their reason, people were
naturally good and would act to further the happiness of others. Accordingly,
both human righteousness and happiness required freedom from needless
restraints, such as many of those imposed by the state or the church. The
Enlightenments uncompromising hostility towards organized religion and
established monarchy reflected a disdain for the past and an inclination to
favor utopian reform schemes. Most of its thinkers believed passionately in
human progress through education. They thought society would become perfect if
people were free to use their reason.
Before the eighteenth century, the Enlightenment was confined to Holland
and England. Its earlier Dutch spokesmen were religious refugees, like the
French Huguenot Pierre Bayle (1674-1706), whose skepticism and pleas for
religious toleration were widely known in France. Baruch Spinoza (1632-1687),
a Jewish intellectual and Hollands greatest philosopher, was a spokesman for
pantheism, the belief that God exists in all of nature. Spinozas influence,
along with Newtons, profoundly affected English thinkers. Mary Astell
(1666-1731), perhaps the earliest influential English feminist, lauded
rational thinking and cited Newton as proof of an ordered universe. Such ideas
were given more credibility by John Locke (1632-1704), the famous English
philosopher. Back home from exile in Holland after the Glorious Revolution of
the 1680s, Locke applied Newtons recently published principles to psychology,
economics, and political theory. With Locke, the Enlightenment came to
maturity and began to spread abroad.
After the Peace of Utrecht (1713), the Enlightenment was largely a French
Phenomenon. Its leading proponents were known as the philosophes, although the
term cannot in this instance be translated literally as “philosophers.” The
philosophes were mostly writers and intellectuals who analyzed the evils of
society and sought reforms in accord with the principles of reason. Their most
supportive allies were the salonnieres, that is, the socially conscious and
sometimes learned women who regularly entertained them, at the same time
sponsoring their discussion of literary works, artistic creations, and new
political ideas. By 1750, the salonnieres, their salons, and the philosophes
had made France once again the intellectual center of Europe.
A leading light among the philosophes was the Marquis de Montesquieu
(1688-1755), a judicial official as well as a titled nobleman. He was among
the earliest critics of absolute monarchy. From his extensive foreign travel
and wide reading he developed a great respect for English liberty and a sense
of objectivity in viewing European institutions, particularly those of France.
Montesquieus Persian Letters (1721), which purported to contain reports of an
Oriental traveler in Europe, describing the irrational behavior and ridiculous
customs of Europeans, delighted a large reading audience. His other great
work, The Spirit of Laws (1748), expressed his main political principles. It
is noted for its practical common sense, its objective recognition of
geographic influences on political systems, its advocacy of checks and
balances in government, and its uncompromising defense of liberty against
tyranny.
More than any of the philosophes, Voltaire personified the skepticism of
his century toward traditional religion and the injustices of the Old Regimes.
His caustic pen brought him two imprisonments in the Bastille and even
banishment to England for three years. On returning to France, Voltaire
continued to champion toleration. He