The document discusses the emergence and principles of Enlightenment philanthropy in 18th century Europe. It describes the founding of the Societe Philanthropique in Paris in 1780 to provide assistance to the poor independently of the church and state. Key aspects of Enlightenment philanthropy included seeing poverty as curable through reform programs, supporting families as economic units, and providing education and skills training to promote self-sufficiency rather than dependence on charity.

2.  Philanthropy – an activity/institution to
promote human welfare
 Societe founded in 1780 in Paris –
composed of members of middle and upper
clases
 Provided assistance to 1 500 poor of Paris
and became a model for other charitable
bodies.
 Enlightenment philanthropy was not new
but was different from what had gone on
before.

3.  Previous charitable institutions – hospitals,
monasteries, charity schools, mutual aid
societies.
 The Societe Philanthropique was different –
independent of Church and state; public
and private funding
 Focus on charitable activity and suspicious
of existing poor-relief institutions.
 Secular character – no spiritual aim but
desire to uplift society; philanthropy no
longer emphasized duty to God and
redemption for the giver.

4.  Enlightenment rejection of the idea of poverty as
permanent – poverty instead a social ill that
could be cured by certain action
 Emphasis on reform of poor relief programmes
where onus was on attaining job skills
 Support for dispensing aid to the family as a
basic economic unit and moral influence
 Removal of those who would contaminate the
poor i.e. delinquents; separate children from
parents in order to give them a moral and
vocational education

5.  People to remain independent through hard
work
 Growth of pension schemes to provide for
those tool old to work
 The poor to be taught to take care of
themselves
 The creation of public libraries to educate;
the provision of medical care; the founding
of institutions for the hearing and speech
impaired
 Enlightenment aim: to reform human society
for the better.

6.  For Enlightenment thinkers, the greatest
impediments to social progress were poor
institutions and bad laws
 Belief that charity should not be indiscriminate –
people should be encouraged to work and
support themselves, and be given the skills to do
so – led to the workhouses.
 Later belief that workhouses did not succeed in
reforming the poor and the delinquent.
 Another criticism was that the genuinely
deserving poor often fell through the cracks.

7.  The solution was to give relief only to those
considered deserting – widows, the aged,
large families.
 A long-term solution was to reform the
economy responsible for poverty –
governments influenced by this and support
from govt, landowners, merchants and
clergy.
 In Paris solutions included a spinning
workshop for poor women and a wet-
nursing agency for poor families, supported
by the police.

8.  Philanthropy seen as important to the well-being
of the state and the nation.
 A defence of human rights part of ideas of
national character and identify
 Slave trade as a target for reformers – the Society
for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade
(1787)
 Emphasis on ideas of nationhood – British
freedom and virtue to be displayed in reform
movements
 Enlightenment universalism – reform beyond the
community to the state and internationally

9.  International context of reform based on
expansion of European interests overseas
 Less religious influence meant individual
conscience given greater precedence on
reform.
 Thus new sense of common humanity
central to notions of the Enlightenment.

10.  Humanitarian action also led to stereotypes in terms
of class, race and gender
 New self-image of Europeans based on culture,
science and race which led to a hierarchical ordering
of civilization and a belief in Western (European)
superiority.
 Philanthropy also hardened the boundaries of class –
between the elites and the poor
 Male philanthropists heroic for scientific discoveries
and public foundations
 Female considered more passively as compassionate
charity givers – nurses, educators, social welfare?
Still allowed women an opening into public life.

12.  Government reform in Europe transformed
under impact of the Enlightenment in the
second half of the 18th
century.
 Rejection of the divine right of kings and
desire to base rule of power on a rational
basis
 The British exception – monarchy already
limited by parliament
 The French exception – absolutist rule with
the divine right of kings intact.

13.  Defined the role of the ruler according to
Enlightenment philosophy
 A monarch had duties to his people and
the state.
 The natural-law legitimization for
monarchy – it was based on the contract
between authority and subjects with
rights and obligations of both.
 “The king as the primary servant of
state”


14.  New belief among rulers regarding a
sense of responsibility and concern
towards subjects.
 Reform to make administration more
efficient – strengthened central power.
 Legal reforms – standardizing the law
and making the criminal justice system
more humane.
 Greater tolerance towards other religions
i.e. Protestants, Catholics, Jews


15.  Church reform in Catholic states giving
the state primacy over the Church.
 Stimulate trade and commerce
 Improve agriculture
 Create infrastructure
 Abolish serfdom
 Implement welfare programmes

16. Greater success in smaller states – less
military spending, smaller bureaucracies,
less regional diversity
This led to rising living standards,
education, trade and commerce, justice and
agrarian technology
Prussia represented the success story of
larger states
Habsburg monarch – growth in industry,
food supply and urbanization.
Failure – more bureaucratic work than actual
reforms being implemented
Weak local authority due to strong
centralized state

17. Greater knowledge about politics, society,
economics and law
Growth of role of the state (previously state
only involved in collecting taxes and going
to war)
Statistics collected on all aspects of society –
belief that more data would lead to better
government
Humankind could only achieve its full
potential when organized within a state
The common good/general happiness – all
activity geared to serve the common good
The Enlightenment allowed for the principle
of state intervention in all aspects of life –