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Enlightenment Resources |
The 18th century witnessed an outpouring of human knowledge in almost every field of human endeavor. Knowledge would, it was hoped, conquer fear, superstition, enthusiasm and prejudice, and in the case of Benjamin Franklin -- death itself! Heady optimism to be sure. But even the careful Kant, a man for whom the city of Konigsberg is said to have kept time by his daily walks, did not let this optimism go to his head. In 1784, Kant asked, "Are we now living in an enlightened age?" His answer was an emphatic "No" But, he was careful to add, "we live in an age of enlightenment." So, even as the century grew to a close, soon to be swept up in Romantic anti-enlightenment ideas, even Kant knew an immense amount of work remained. What was needed was criticism and what was criticized was the whole social and political system of the West -- the ancien regime. More Information | The History Guide | | copyright ?2000 Steven Kreis |
François Marie Arouet de
Voltaire (1694-1778) has often been called the
embodiment of the Enlightenment. Twice imprisoned in
the Bastille for his criticisms of the royal family and
the nobility, Voltaire spent time in the relative freedom
of London. It was there that he read Newton and Locke and
began to compare English society with his own. His Philosophical
Letters on the English (1733) popularized Newton's
natural science and Locke's epistemology and political
theory, and set the tone of Enlightenment propaganda in
France and Europe for decades. It was Voltaire and other
philosophes who taught the 18th century to despise the ancien
regime. And his battle cry became Écrasez
l'infâme! -- Wipe out the infamous!