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College aantekeningen Early Enlightenment (FW-WB3924)
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College aantekeningen Early Enlightenment
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Early EnlightenmentLectures
Lecture 1: Bayle 2
Lecture 2: Montesquieu and Voltaire 3
Lecture 3: Voltaire, Descartes & Vico 5
Lecture 4: Clandestine manuscripts 7
Lecture 5: Berkeley (vs. Locke) 8
Lecture 6: David Hume 10
Lecture 7: Adam Smith, Ferguson, Hutcheson and Reid 12
Lecture 8: Philosophy of Common Sense - Thomas Reid 15
1
,Lecture 1: Bayle
Concept of Enlightenment (late 17th-18th century)
→ Broad social, cultural movement with protagonists all over Europe which by the final quarter of the
18th century required a political movement
Few problems with the concept of Enlightenment:
Problem 1: How can we explain the concept ‘Enlightenment’ → not just a period but also a movement
→ Using philosophy to justify their actions (E.G: Robespierre quoting Rousseau).
Problem 2: Most experts today agree that there are different forms of Enlightenment → it wasn’t ‘one’
European Enlightenment. Also distinguishing between moderate and radical Enlightenment.
Problem 3: Concept of Enlightenment is being used as a summary of Modernity
Wrong: it isn’t just a period like the Middle Ages (defined as the Middle Ages post factum), because
people were actually part of it and they knew that they were in an Enlightened Age (think about Kant
text)
Problem 4: Essential difference between Early and High Enlightenment in France, but not in Britain
Initially, the Early Enlightenment takes off pretty moderately and becomes more radical (in France).
Starting with the French revolution because French was the most educated, civilized language
available in Europe at that time. First, one would receive education in Latin, but after Latin they used
French as the civilized language. Very few people outside of Britain knew English.
Pierre Bayle (1647-1706)
● Protestant, moves to the Netherlands because of law. In the Netherlands, he was first
protected but after a decade, he got suspended as a lecturer because Calvinists did not agree
with his ideas
● Bayle’s idea of toleration includes Catholics and atheists
o Very remarkable because his brother (probably) got killed in a French prison because
of his beliefs and he obviously fled to the Netherlands himself
o Everyone was in favour of starting a war, whereas Bayle came with the idea of
toleration
His arguments in favour of toleration:
1) Original quote from the Testament which was used against religious toleration → ‘compel
them to commit’.
● According to Bayle, converting someone who does not want to be converted, is criminal
behaviour. Forced conversion leads to organized hypocrisy.
● It is also criminal because the rights of an individuals conscience are sacred, no earthly power
can judge that relationship.
● Under no circumstances, a statement from the Bible cannot be true if it wants us to be
criminals.
2) Every human being has the right to make mistakes
● People are responsible for their own conscience, and therefore you cannot establish who
is actually mistaken → toleration. Implies a deeply felt scepticism about the possibility to
decide what is right and what is wrong.
● Only God has the power to judge.
‘The profile of the enlightened philosopher’: religious toleration!!
The essence of evil = absence of goodness.
2
, God has no limits, all powerful and can do anything he/she wants. God is unique and all good, there is
nothing evil in good. If God is all good, how can it still be that bad things happen to good people?
Christianity on its own is the most violent religion, immediately forbid people.
The problem of evil demonstrates that we have to be sceptics → wisdom of the sceptic.
Bayle believes because he has faith, an irrational ‘faith’. He does not need rational arguments for the
existence of God, because it is irrational.
‘Virtuous atheism’: to be superstitious is worse than being atheist.
People, in reality, do not act on behalf of beliefs, but on behalf of their instincts, interests and habits.
France:
1) Most radical revolution
2) French was the most used intellectual languages (all the major Dutch enlightenment
philosophers published in French)
Lecture 2: Montesquieu and Voltaire
18th century France was a highly dynamic, changing country.
Rousseau: one indication of how well a country is doing → population figures. In France, population
figures were rising.
One of the indications of this was the emergence of a new phenomenon: the rise of the public
sphere/domain: informed, shared view on some public issue.
For this you need:
● Literate public, who you can reach
● Establishment of public libraries
● Most importantly: literature → journalism becomes a vital career option
Public sphere is needed to inform the general public without interference of the state/church, and then
the cultural figure ‘philosophe’ emerges. The state has to know its limits and has to respect the
distinction between the public and private sphere. All French philosophers during that time
(Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot) have a running battle with the censorship in France.
Created an illegal trade in books.
Louis XIV: tries to centralize France in 17th century, 1715 he is succeeded and his follow-up allows
people set up their own cultural circles (Le Salon), which made France far more difficult to control.
Paris becomes the cultural centre of France.
Montesquieu (1689-1755)
Persian Lettres (1721)
● Made him famous in a few months
● Supposedly written by two Persians who visit Europe (satirical letters) and then write about it.
● Montesquieu is very critical of Europe: critique of Europe and European despotism and linked
to oriental despotism, allowed to compare and give critique
De l’esprit des lois (1748)
● Comparison of states and law
● Looks at a new perspective, both classical republicanism and liberalism
● Concept of trias politica introduced, include concept of freedom for citizens
● French court was furious!!
3
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