The
Enlightenment
Dr. Gerald Lucas

Age of Reason
Saw humans between passion and reason
Emphasized the powers of the mind
Aspired toward correctness and moderation
Questioned humanity’s “fallen nature”
Questioned class system, kings’ divine right
Began social and religious revolutions

“I think, therefore I
am.” —Descartes

Order of Natural law beyond
the human mind — Newton

Deism
Watchmaker God
Depersonalized God
Logical universe
Separated religion and
ethics
Great chain of being
Microcosm

“He that thinks reasonably, must
think morally.” -Samuel Johnson

Reason
Could illuminate humanity
Leads humanity to eternal truths
Suggests new solutions to old problems
Can be conquered by passion

New Uncertainties
God moved further away
Religious difference translated to class
Humans are passionate, too
Gap between the ideal and the actual
Political instability, revolution

The Debate
Ancients v. Moderns
Faith v. Reason
Universality of Truth v. Exploration
Male superiority v. Broad education for women
Divine right of kings v. Individual autonomy
Look to the past v. Shoulders of giants

Appearance v.
Reality

Literature
Already established, like manners
Provides continuity between the past & present
Suggests morality - how to live
Did not pursue realism
Artifice to emphasize & obscure

Art Makes Stability
Classics provides models
Aligns with tradition
Satire lends moral weight to present
Calls attention to the irrational

Modern Influence
A stable, coherent, reasonable self
Objective, reliable, and universal foundation of knowledge
Reason used rightly produces True knowledge
Reason, autonomy, freedom and interconnected
Knowledge can be neutral & socially beneficial
Science is a paradigm for true knowledge
Language is in some sense transparent

I am a little world made cunningly
Of elements, and an angelic sprite;
But black sin hath betrayed to endless night
My worlds both parts, and (oh!) both parts must die.
You which beyond that heaven which was most high
Have found new spheres, and of new lands can write,
Pour new seas in mine eyes, that so I might
Drown my world with my weeping earnestly,
Or wash it if it must be drowned no more:
But oh it must be burnt! alas the fire
Of lust and envy have burnt it heretofore,
And made it fouler: Let their flames retire,
And burn me, O Lord, with a fiery zeal
Of Thee and Thy house, which doth in eating heal.
—John Donne, Holy Sonnet V (1635)