Politics and Philosophy of the Enlightenment Era

Voltaire (1694-1778) was a French writer, who was a champion of the Enlightenment period. The Enlightenment period was the time during the 17th and 18th century in which there were profound advances in science, leading to dramatic changes in politics and philosophy (Bristow, 2010). A key idea that Voltaire proposed, borrowed from John Locke (1632-1704), stated that the people’s confidence in beliefs, religious or otherwise, need to stem from supporting evidence. John Locke was an English philosopher who heavily influenced the Enlightenment as well as the Founding Fathers (Uzgalis, 2001). Americans should care about John Locke and his effect on history because his influence on the Founding Fathers subsequently influenced the Declaration of Independence (Becker, 1922). The key difference between England and France in the adoption of Voltaire’s ideas was that liberal ideas were spread more freely in England than in France, due the Catholic Church and others of political power in France. Liberalism was the idea that all individuals should have freedom and equality (Gaus, 1996). To support liberalism and the Enlightenment, Continental Europe took to revolutionary violence and militancy to promote radical reform. In contrast, the English-speaking world used a much more relaxed approach using reason to spread the ideas of liberalism. The difference in the methods of supporting liberalism was most likely due to the difference between the Church of England and the Catholic Church. The Church of England was much less oppressive towards liberal thinking, whereas the Catholic Church persecuted the liberal supporters. The methods used in the Anglo-Saxon countries were more effective, due to the lack of oppression towards the new ideas of liberalism. This meant that the English-speaking world more readily adopted these new ideas and supported the Enlightenment.

Denis Diderot (1713-1784) was a French philosopher during the Enlightenment period. While compiling the French Encyclopedia, Diderot used a combination of a scientific approach and philosophical approach to support the ideas of Voltaire. As can be expected, the Encyclopedia was controversial because of scientific approach denying the validity of religious teaching, the Bible, and the Church due to a lack of supportive evidence. Along with the scientific nature, the Encyclopedia was also anti-authoritarian, meaning that it supported the opposition of power (political and religious) (Bristow, 2010).

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a Swiss political philosopher. The revolutionary concepts Rousseau added to Western Philosophy included: the denouncement of civilization, holding feeling above reason in life, and the idea that people should be submissive towards the will of society. He believed that in nature, humans were “noble savages” and that the human spirit was corrupted by civilization. Although his view of the nature of humans is contrary to the view held by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the position held by Rousseau is correct due to the influence of society determining what is “right” or “wrong”, rather than an individual assessing and expressing these things on his/her own. The theory of education that Rousseau promoted was to support the natural expression of the creativity of children by using experience. This meant that Rousseau supported homeschooling. The political theory that Rousseau promoted was the idea that “general will” should dictate what is best for a society rather than an individual and implementing these however necessary. Rousseau believed that “general will” was the embodiment of the will held by society as a whole. Rousseau’s political theory differed from that of John Locke in that Locke wanted the freedom of individuals and the expression of their will, whereas Rousseau believed in the “general will” and that individuals should conform to this societal will. Although Rousseau appears to support democracy with this idea that the general will should create laws for the society and support conformity, with the denial of individual rights and the implementation of law by a higher power, such as a monarch, this school of thinking can easily lead to fascism, which undermines the will of individuals for the will of society.

References

Becker, C. (1922). Historical Antecedents of the Declaration: Theory of the British Empire. The Declaration of Independence: A Study on the History of Political Ideas (pp. 80-135). New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.

Bristow, W. (2010, August 20). Enlightenment. Stanford University. Retrieved April 4, 2014, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/enlightenment/

Gaus, G. (1996, November 28). Liberalism. Stanford University. Retrieved April 4, 2014, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/liberalism/

Uzgalis, W. (2001, September 2). John Locke. Stanford University. Retrieved April 4, 2014, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/