ENLIGHTENED THINKING: CHARACTERISTICS, INFLUENCE ON SCIENCE, AUTHORS - HISTORY - 2025

The Enlightenment, also known as the Enlightenment, was an intellectual and cultural movement that emerged during the eighteenth century and lasted until the first decades of the nineteenth You century. It was a mainly European movement, since its heyday took place in England, France and Germany.

The introduction of Enlightenment thought brought profound social and cultural changes, and one of its most important consequences was the French Revolution. He was named for his declared aim of dispelling the ignorance of men through the lights of reason and knowledge.

Voltaire was one of the most prominent enlightened thinkers. Source: Workshop of Nicolas de Largillière

Thanks to this, the 18th century is known as the «century of lights», since during this period man distanced himself from pious faith to establish his faith in progress and in scientific disciplines. For some authors, the motto of enlightened thought is based on the sapere aude premise: "dare to know."

According to the Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant, enlightened thinking represents man's abandonment of a mental childhood created by himself; for Kant, childhood prevents the use of one's reason without the guidance of another entity. This phenomenon occurs not for lack of intelligence, but for lack of courage to think without the help of another.

The French encyclopedist Jean le Rond d 'Alembert established that enlightened thought was in charge of discussing, analyzing and shaking everything from scientific guidelines to metaphysics, from morals to music, from natural laws to laws made by nations. Enlightenment promoted all forms of thought and appreciation.

According to Marxists, the Enlightenment is a historical moment that had a global evolution within bourgeois thought. The sociologist Lucien Goldmann established that the Enlightenment obtained its doctrinal affiliation from the Renaissance and from some empiricist and rationalist currents of the seventeenth century defended by Descartes, Locke and Hobbes, among others.

characteristics

Among the main characteristics of enlightened thought, anthropocentrism, rationalism, hypercriticism and pragmatism stand out. Each of these elements is described in detail below:

Anthropocentrism

During the Enlightenment a "new Renaissance" emerged; that is to say, the human being is once again taken as the center of all knowledge, especially around his sensible and material reason.

This means that faith was transferred from God to man: there was a strong confidence in what the latter could do and notions of progress were recurrent.

Similarly, the philosophy of optimism was developed (by authors such as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz) against the pessimism that reigned during the Baroque and Middle Ages. In addition, religion began to lose the importance it had in all orders and an anti-clerical and anti-religious culture was created.

Rationalism

Enlightened thought reduces everything to sensible experience and reason; consequently, what the latter does not admit cannot exist or be believed.

In fact, during the height of the French Revolution, the "goddess of reason" was worshiped, which is associated with the progress and light of the human spirit. Feelings and passions are seen as evil in themselves.

In turn, anything that was devoid of harmony, balance and symmetry was considered monstrous in aesthetic terms.

Hypercriticism

The enlightened ones assumed a critical position in front of the traditions of the past. For example, in the encyclopedias all the previous knowledge was subjected to reason and rethought. Because of this, on many occasions the Enlightenment scorned any hint of superstition, often including religion.

They even considered religion to be a clear sign of obscurantism. Consequently, they believed that it was necessary to purge the past of everything that was unreasonable and obscure in order to build a purer and better society.

Pragmatism

During Enlightenment thought, the philosophy of utilitarianism was developed, which consists of ensuring the greatest happiness for as many people as possible. Consequently, the arts and literature had to have a useful purpose, which could be didactic, social, or moral.

This explains the decline of the novel during this historical period and the flourishing of the "learning novels"; essays, fables, and encyclopedias also became fashionable.

Influence on science in the 18th century

During Enlightenment thought, decisive advances were made in the disciplines of optics, physics, and mathematics, largely thanks to the notable contributions of Isaac Newton. Similarly, in this period strong investigations were also carried out in the area of ​​botany.

As for the social sciences, the discipline of political economy emerged. At present it is considered a modern science thanks to the contributions of the philosopher and economist Adam Smith, whose most important contribution was his universal work called The Wealth of Nations (1776).

Within the geographical sciences great advances also emerged. For example, it was possible to map the entire globe, except for the polar lands and some territories in Africa.

Featured Authors

François-Marie Arouet

Better known as Voltaire, he was one of the main representatives of enlightened thought. He excelled in the disciplines of history, philosophy, literature and law; It is also stated that he belonged to Freemasonry and was part of the French Academy in 1746.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

He was a Swiss polymath who excelled in writing, philosophy, pedagogy, music, and botany.

He is considered one of the main representatives of the Enlightenment. However, he maintained some postulates that contradicted certain precepts of enlightened thought; for this reason he is also considered a pre-romantic writer.

Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu

He was a renowned French jurist and philosopher during the intellectual movement of the Enlightenment.

He was also a very important essayist and philosopher who was characterized by his Theory of the separation of powers, which has been successfully implemented in the Constitutions of certain countries, such as the United States.

References

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