Progress of the Enlightenment Period and French Revolution

The mind is the only device humans have to overcome the many challenges that inevitably confront us, and thus developing a society of people with strong minds enhances our ability to solve problems, overcome challenges, make good decisions and come up with great ideas.  However, knowledge and thought are the only available resources that we can use to strengthen the powers of the mind, and so societies that value knowledge and thought tend to develop powerful minds and flourish, while societies that remain ignorant tend to be unable to solve complicated problems, develop great ideas or make significant progress.  For instance, the dark ages of the medieval era did not appreciate or have much access to knowledge, and thus the European cultures of the dark ages were unable to make substantial progress.  However, the Enlightenment period and French Revolution encouraged European societies to value and appreciate knowledge and thought, and these values enabled many European societies to develop powerful thinking skills and to make significant social, economic and political progress.   

The increased value of knowledge and thought during the Enlightenment period and French Revolution spawned many great contributions and achievements in the fields of art, science and philosophy.  Many artists produced exceptional work during the 18th century, including writers such as Alexander Pope, Jonathon Swift and Samuel Johnson; musicians such as Vivaldi and Bach; and painters such as Jacques Louis David and Jean-Honore Fragonard.  Many great scientists also made important discoveries and innovative inventions during the Enlightenment era, including John Canton and Isaac Newton.  Additionally, great philosophers such as Voltaire and Candide, Hume and Rousseau also made significant contributions to the Enlightenment period.  The appreciation of art, philosophy and science had a beneficial impact for the European societies, for these educational fields strengthened the minds, improved the imaginations and enhanced the reasoning skills of the people.  As a result, the Enlightenment period stimulated dramatic intellectual progress in which many great thinkers produced excellent ideas to help increase the peoples’ understanding of the world and to help improve the quality of life for the societies. 

The intellectual progress was also facilitated by the Humanist shift of focus from religion and God to mankind and knowledge.  Many 17th century wars that erupted in England and in France were caused or motivated by religion and by disagreements between religious factions.  In the 18th century, the excessive violence and destruction caused by religion led an increasing number of people to change their attitudes regarding religion and to question the value of religious thought.  The intellectual progress that was achieved during the Enlightenment period and French Revolution also encouraged European societies to further challenge religious authority, for scientific discoveries were continually demonstrating that many claims of religious organizations and of the bible were not supported by any facts and that all available evidence contradicted several of those claims.  Thus, scientific inquiries and discoveries caused many people to abandon the perception of the bible as a book of facts written by God and to instead view the bible as a fictional and perhaps artistic book that might be symbolic but that is not literally or factually accurate. 

The shift of focus from religion and God to knowledge and mankind led to the critical realization that God does not intervene in our human affairs and that the conditions of humanity or of a society were not permanently established by a divine authority but were instead determined only by mankind.  Whereas the belief that God ordained the social structure of society was conducive for a hopeless attitude with no chance of change, the notion that mankind determines the conditions of society was incredibly empowering in that it emphasized how the people and the members of a society have the ability to control and change the structure and values of a society.  Thus, people began to value a need for taking action to generate change, which led to many forms of social progress.  

For example, the French Revolution entailed a dramatic and violent destruction of the traditional social structure, including the French monarchy, the outrageous privileges of the French nobility and the authority of the Catholic Church.  The French then replaced the old attitudes and the old system with a new set of governmental values that focused on social equality among all citizens and on the importance of freedom.  Likewise, in 1646 England also executed King Charles I due to grievances over excessive and destructive royal authority.  As a result, the strict European social class system that was based only on ancestry, wealth and inherited nobility became diminished during the Enlightenment period and French revolution. 

Social progress was also made regarding the European attitude towards the poor.  The old religious view that God controls everything and therefore rewards certain people with success and punishes other people with poverty led to a lack of sympathy and a lack of effort to help poor and impoverished families.  However, the Enlightenment period initiated the new concept that humans control the conditions of society and that many people became poor not because of God’s punishment but because of unfortunate situations or a lack of resources.  This new humanitarian perception facilitated compassion and sympathy for the poor and encouraged those who are most fortunate to help and assist the poor. 

Progress was also made regarding the freedom of women during the Enlightenment era.  Although women were still not granted an equal amount of political power or cultural influence as men, significant advancements were made that enabled women to enjoy more freedom and to obtain more opportunities.  For instance, the Enlightenment period allowed women to receive an education, attend universities, perform a wider variety of occupations, and write and publish literature. 

Education was a significant social progress that was achieved during the Enlightenment period and French Revolution.  Whereas knowledge and education had been exclusively accessible to only wealthy families or aristocratic nobility, the printing press and other technological advancements enabled common people to also gain access to books and knowledge, and in the 18th century a diverse range of books and magazines were spread throughout the culture and could be universally read by everybody.  This advantage allowed more common people to strengthen their minds, become knowledgeable about various subjects and contribute to society.  Thus, the social developments of the Enlightenment Period and the French Revolution resulted in progress because the developments increased the amount of freedom enjoyed by the people, improved the ability of people of all classes to become educated, diminished the traditional social structures of society and enhanced the conditions of life for the people.   

The Enlightenment period and French Revolution also generated significant political progress for many European societies, and many of the advantageous political ideologies that were developed during the Enlightenment period are now being utilized by democratic governments around the world.  While power and authority had previously been reserved only for monarchies that were established by ancestry, the Enlightenment period spawned a new humanistic attitude among the European societies that shifted political power away from just one individual or family and instead emphasized that the people should participate in the government.  Many different political thinkers provided beneficial contributions to the political progress that was stimulated during the Enlightenment.  John Locke and his political book, Two Treatises on Government, had one of the most direct influences on the change of political attitudes.  Locke was among the first Enlightenment political thinkers to perpetuate the concept that the government should not be the sole power of an absolute monarch but should instead act as a body that merely fulfills the will of the people and that preserves the “lives, liberty, and property” of the people.  Additionally, Locke argued that people should have the right to form a new government if the previous government fails to act in their best interests. 

Voltaire was a French philosopher and political thinker who also influenced the political progress of the Enlightenment period and the French Revolution.  One of the most significant concepts that was developed by Voltaire was the notion that people should be granted more civil liberties and more political power.  Montesquieu was a French political thinker who influenced the shift of political attitudes, as Montesquieu conducted extensive studies on effective governmental systems and argued that there should be a separation of powers in the government, which is a concept that is still utilized today by many democratic cultures.   

Additionally, Rousseau advocated for a small-scale democratic system where all of the people could participate in the political process, for enabling the people to determine and establish the laws would impel the people to consistently obey those laws.  People should also participate in the political process because the needs and desires of society are most effectively fulfilled when the members of that society can exercise power within the government system.  This new attitude of the Enlightenment period and French Revolution resulted in significant political progress and in the development of many beneficial democratic principals that are still used in modern governments today, including civil liberties, participatory government and separation of powers.  

The intellectual, social and political advancements that were initiated and achieved during the Enlightenment period and French Revolution also led to significant economic progress.  Adam Smith was one of the most influential economic thinkers of the era, for his book The Wealth of Nations stimulated a new and innovative economic philosophy.  Smith argued that people are eager to work much harder and are able to produce at much more prolific quantities if they receive incentives for their work.  Another important concept perpetuated by Smith was that the government does not need to regulate the market because the general law of supply and demand would enable the market to function effectively and operate efficiently without any regulations.  

This Enlightenment concept was later adopted in the beginning of the 19th century by America and most of Europe, and the concept immediately led to dramatic economic gains and widespread prosperity.  Many research studies indicate that the growth in per capita income in Europe and the world began to significantly increase towards the end of the 18th century and continued to accelerate until it exploded in the twentieth century.  Thus, the free-market concept of capitalism developed and established in the Enlightenment era was very effective in stimulating economic progress for most societies that implemented the concept. 

Nature bestowed all humans with a mind that provides us all with immense potential to accomplish great achievements, to overcome challenges, and to generate progress for our society and for our species.  During the Enlightenment period and French Revolution, the increased appreciation of knowledge and thought led to the development of many new ideas that generated dramatic intellectual, social, political and economic progress, and many of those ideas significantly enhanced the conditions of humanity and are still benefitting many societies today.

Bibliography

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