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The philosophes of the Enlightenment

The philosophes of the Enlightenment. History 311. Baron de Montesquieu 1689-1755. Persian Letters, 1721 Spirit of the Laws , 1748. Cultural Relativism Making a “science of society” Doing for Human Institutions What Newton Did for Physical Universe. Spirit of the Laws , 1748.

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The philosophes of the Enlightenment

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  1. The philosophes of the Enlightenment History 311

  2. Baron de Montesquieu 1689-1755 Persian Letters, 1721 Spirit of the Laws, 1748 • Cultural Relativism • Making a “science of society” • Doing for Human Institutions • What Newton Did for Physical • Universe

  3. Spirit of the Laws, 1748 • Method—Seeks operative laws • Nature and Principle (or Spirit) • Three Kinds of Government • Republican (Virtue) • Monarchy (Honor) • Despotism (Fear) • Checks and Balances • Legislative • Executive • Judicial • Control of Military Baron de Montesquieu 1689-1755

  4. Denis Diderot 1713-1784 Born in Langres, France Son of cutler Educated by Jesuits Philosophical Thoughts, 1746 Active in salon culture Letter on the Blind, for Use of Those Who See, 1749

  5. Marie-Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin

  6. Madame de Tencin Julie de Lespinasse Marie du Deffand

  7. Denis Diderot 1713-1784 Encyclopedia, or a systematic dictionary of the sciences, arts, and crafts

  8. Boucher Painting of Madame de Pompadour Mistress to Louis XV

  9. 1721-1795 Under the Direction of his Father, the Chancellor, Malesherbes was official censor of the press during Reign of Louis XV Chretien-Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes

  10. Mathematician & Philosopher Co-Editor of Encyclopedia Project with Diderot Author of the Preliminary Discourse to the Encyclopedia Jean le Rond d'Alembert 1717-1783

  11. 17 volumes of articles, • issued from 1751 to 1765 • 11 volumes of illustrations, • issued from 1762 to 1772 • 18,000 pages of text • 75,000 entries • 44,000 main articles • 28,000 secondary articles • 2,500 illustration indices • 20,000,000 words in total

  12. Typical of Encyclopedia Plates on Technology

  13. Frontispiece to Encyclopedia Symbolism of the Bright Light of Truth Reason and Philosophy remove the Veil

  14. Voltaire Francois Marie Arouet 1694-1778 • Personification of the Enlightenment • Poet, novelist, playwright, essayist • Letters Concerning the English Nation, 1733 • Candide, 1759 • Philosophical Dictionary, 1764

  15. Voltaire 1694-1778 • English Visit 1726 (Rohan Affair) • Letters Concerning the English Nation, 1733 • Elected to French Academy, 1746 • Candide, 1759 • Philosophical Dictionary, 1764

  16. Émilie, Marquise du Châtelet-Laumont (1706-1749) Frontispiece of Voltaire/Chatelet Translation of Newton Cirey Period (1733-1749)

  17. Voltaire 1694-1778 • English Visit 1726 (Rohan Affair) • Letters Concerning the English Nation, 1733 • Elected to French Academy, 1746 • Candide, 1759 • Philosophical Dictionary, 1764

  18. Alexander Pope 1688-1744 Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz 1646-1716 Essay on Man, 1734 Theodicy, 1710

  19. “Optimism”“The Best of All Possible Worlds”“Whatever is, is Right” • System of Theodicy – Leibniz • Metaphysical Evil • Moral Evil • Physical Evil

  20. Voltaire 1694-1778 • Berlin Period (1750-1753) • Geneva/Ferney Period (1755-1778) • Lisbon Earthquake, 1755 • Jean Calas Case (1762-1765) • Ecrasez l’infame • Triumphal Return to Paris, 1778

  21. Founder of Romanticism? Contributions to Political Theory, Educational Theory & Literature Early Life Born in Geneva Aimless Early Life Arrives in Paris 1742 Confessions (circa 1770’s) The New Heloise, 1761 Emphasis on Feeling and Authenticity Challenge to the Emphasis on “Reason” Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778

  22. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778 Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, 1751 Discourse on Inequality, 1755 The Social Contract, 1762 “The General Will”

  23. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778 Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, 1751 First Discourse (Prize Essay for the Academy of Dijon) “Has the re-establishment of arts and sciences contributed to purge or corrupt our manners?” “What a happiness it would be to live amongst us, if our exterior appearance were always the true representation of our hearts…” “Before art had new molded our behaviors, and taught our passions to talk an affected language, our manners were indeed rustic, but sincere and natural…”

  24. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778 Discourse on the Origins of Inequality, 1755 Second Discourse (Prize Essay for the Academy of Dijon) “What is the origin of inequality among men, and is it authorized by natural law?“ “All ran headlong to their chains, in hopes of securing their liberty; for they had just wit enough to perceive the advantages of political institutions, without experience enough to enable them to foresee the dangers.” Man is naturally good…in the state of nature. Property and greed create distinctions and create the need for the state and law

  25. The Social Contract, 1762 How could this fraudulent contract of government be made legitimate? “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they. How did this change come about? I do not know. What can make it legitimate? That question I think I can answer.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778 “The General Will”

  26. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778 The Nature of the Social Compact “The problem is to find a form of association which will defend and protect with the whole common force the person and goods of each associate, and in which each, while uniting himself with all, may still obey himself alone, and remain as free as before. This is the fundamental problem of which the social contract provides the solution.” (Kramnick, p, 432) “Each of us puts his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will, and, in our corporate capacity, we receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole.” (Kramnick, p, 433) “The General Will”

  27. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778 The Nature of the Social Compact “In order then that the social compact may not be an empty formula, it tacitly includes the undertakings, which alone can give force to the rest, that whoever refuses to obey the general will shall be compelled to do so by the whole body. This means nothing less than that he will be forced to be free… .” (Kramnick, p, 435) “There is often a great deal of difference between the will of all and the general will; the latter considers only the common interest, while the former takes private interest into account, and is no more than a sum of particular wills...” (Kramnick, p, 437) “The General Will”

  28. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778 The Nature of the Social Compact “As soon as public service ceases to be the chief business of the citizens and they would rather serve with their money than with their persons, the State is not far from its fall. When it is necessary to march out to war, they pay troops and stay at home: when it is necessary to meet in council, they name deputies and stay at home. By reason of idleness and money, they end by having soldiers to enslave their country and representatives to sell it.” (Kramnick, p, 441) “Good laws lead to the making of better ones; bad ones bring about worse. As soon as any man says of the affairs of the State, ‘What does it matter to me?,’ the State may be given up for lost.” (Kramnick, p, 441) “The General Will”

  29. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778 The Nouvelle Heloise and Emile 1761-62 Great success of Sentimental Novel Emile Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar Educational Theory

  30. Irish Clergyman (Bishop) and Outstanding Scientist Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous, 1713 Berkeley’s Idealism is driven by his Empiricism and the Influence of Locke Being strictly empirical, only “minds” and “ideas” (sensory date fed into minds) exists “Esse est percipi” “to exist is to be perceived” George Berkeley (1685-1753)

  31. Builds on Locke and Berkeley Treatise of Human Nature, 1738-1740 An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1752 Perception = Whatever can be present to the mind Two types of perceptions = impressions and ideas Ideas are derived from impressions All reasoning about matters of fact are found on the relation of cause and effect David Hume 1711-1776 “Mitigated Scepticism”

  32. Builds on Locke and Berkeley Critique of Cause and Effect Contiguity Temporal Priority Necessary Connection Necessary Connection is based on Custom—repeated experiences with the same results lead us to conclude, based on this custom, that this will continue into the future. The supposition is that the course of nature will continue uniformly the same. But there is no demonstration that the course of nature will always be the same…thus belief. David Hume 1711-1776 “Mitigated Scepticism”

  33. System of Moral Philosophy, 1755 “Moral Sense School” “A Sense is every determination of our minds to receive ideas independently of our will, and to have perceptions of pleasure and pain.” Five Senses, plus… Public Sense Moral Sense Sense of Honor Francis Hutcheson 1694-1746

  34. Adam Smith 1723-1790 • The Wealth of Nations, 1776 • Economic Liberalism • laissez faire • The Hidden Hand • Theory of Progress

  35. De l’esprit, 1758 A Treatise on Man; his Intellectual Faculties and his Education, 1772 Radical Empiricist and Determinist Human behavior completely determined by education and social environment. We seek to maximize pleasure and minimize pain…anticipates the British Utilitarians Claude Adrien Helvetius (1715-1771)

  36. Immanuel Kant 1724-1804 Critique of Pure Reason, 1781 What is Enlightenment?, 1784 Critique of Practical Reason, 1788

  37. DefiningCharacteristics • Reason vs Revelation • Secular • Deism • Empirical • Toleration • Freedom of Speech • Freedom of Press • Religious Freedom • Anti-clerical and anti-authoritarian • Emphasis upon Education • Equality before the Law • Cultural Relativism • Theory of Progress

  38. Intellectual Assumptions of Liberal Democracy—What was the real impact of ideas in the Ancien Regime? “The Enlightenment was an Ancien Regime phenomenon. The Revolution transformed it by wrenching it, like so much else, into a new and different shape.” --William Doyle

  39. Noted Mathematician & Scientist Systematically Applied Mathematics to the social sciences Advocate for Human Rights, including rights for women and blacks Directly involved in the French Revolution Theory of Progress Marquis de Condorcet 1743-1794

  40. Olympe de Gouges 1745-1793 Feminist Author and Advocate Declaration of the Rights of Women

  41. The Abolition of Slavery in France , 1791 Slavery Abolished in Colonies, 1794

  42. François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture C. 1743-1803 Ex-Slave and Leader of Revolt In Haiti During the Revolution

  43. Fourth President of United States and “Father of the U.S. Constitution” Federalist Papers, 1787-88 Fears of Direct Democracy “Factions” Balance of Powers Republic over Democracy James Madison 1751-1836

  44. Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 When , in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle them…

  45. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826

  46. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized

  47. No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

  48. POLITICAL LIBERALISM • 1.  Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good. • 2.  The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

  49. POLITICAL LIBERALISM • 3.  The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation. • 4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.

  50. POLITICAL LIBERALISM • 5.  Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law. • 6.  Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents.

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