ILLUMINIST philosophy: highlights

In this lesson from a TEACHER we explain what enlightenment philosophy, as well as the most outstanding characteristics of a cultural and philosophical movement, which arises in Europe in the late seventeenth and mid-eighteenth centuries, mainly in France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Also known as Century of the lights or Illustration, this time represented a break with the previous tradition and with the superstition and tyranny of the Middle Ages, and a commitment to the reason and knowledge humans, as the only way out of ignorance.

The human being is thus at the center of the universe and is the sole master of his destiny. The French Revolution of 1789, favored by enlightened ideas, symbolizes the break with the medieval monarchy and the beginning of a new era, governed by the principles ofFreedom, Equality and Fraternity. If you want to know more about characteristics of the Enlightenment philosophy, continue reading this article by a TEACHER. We started class!

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant, in his work What is illustration?, define this movement as follows:

“… man's abandonment of a mental childhood of which he himself is guilty. Childhood is the inability to use reason without the guidance of another person”.

The terms Illustration and Enlightenment they are synonymous, although the first is the most used. The term Illuminism comes from Siécle des Lumières, Siglo de las Luces in Spanish, which at the same time, derived from English, Enlightenment and from german Aufklärung.

The Enlightenment supposes a true cultural, political and philosophical revolution in the West and extends to the 19th century.

Below we offer you a brief exposition of the main characteristics of the Enlightenment philosophy:

1. Absolute faith in the power of reason

Enlightenment philosophy is committed to human reason, as the only way out of ignorance and critical thinking in the face of superstition and even religion, questioning any type of privilege, whether of a social or political. The French Revolution is an example of this. The Descartes' methodical doubt, it is a symbol of this new critical attitude typical of the enlightened age.

2. Mechanism

Mechanism is another characteristic of the Enlightenment philosophy. Isaac Newton discovered a series of laws that govern nature. It is no longer necessary to resort to God or supernatural causes. The world and nature can be explained from mechanical causes, and these causes can be known.

3. Encyclopedism

Knowledge is power, he said Francis Bacon, and this phrase becomes the motto of the enlightenment movement. The encyclopedia is intended to collect and publish all the knowledge of humanity, in order to disseminate knowledge and get out of ignorance. In encyclopedism it is the collection and publication of the knowledge of humanity on a subject or on all subjects in general. The goal of encyclopedism is to spread knowledge and eradicate ignorance.

Examples: Reasoned Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts from Diderot and D’Alembert (Encyclopédie raisonée des Sciences et des Artes) and Philosophical Dictionary from Voltaire. (Dictionnaire philosophique).

4. Optimism and ideal of progress

Human knowledge is unlimited and thanks to him, it is possible ttransform nature and dominate it. Scientific investigations, now supported by reason and not by superstition, favored progress in a way never seen before. The true history of the human being began, which this time, is more optimistic about the possibilities of societies and humanity, since thanks to knowledge, it would become happy.

5. Anthropocentrism

Anthropocentrism is another of the main characteristics of the Enlightenment philosophy. The human being and the reason for him are the center of philosophical thought, compared to medieval times, in which God was the protagonist and the center of the philosophical debate. The sophist motto is recovered, after all, they were the first illustrated, of the human being is the measure of all things.

Without completely disappearing, religion is relegated to a second planor. It is no longer the mistress and mistress of morality and the life of the human being is no longer subject to it. His political function diminishes before the brutal rise of reason.

6. Natural goodness of the human being

Rousseaor, one of the most important philosophers of the Enlightenment, defends in Emilio or from The education and in the Social contract, he maintains that the human being e is good by nature. The universal good is possible if starting from this premise. If the human being is good by nature through education, it is possible to develop his full potential and build a society governed by reason.

7. Liberalism

The English philosopherJohnLocke was an English philosopher establishes the natural rights of the human being: freedom, private property and happiness, and defends liberalism, as a guarantor of individual freedoms. It is the end of absolute monarchies and political decisions are made by parliament, which is democratically elected. It is committed to the non-interventionism of the State, since it falls within the private sphere and only has to be limited to public affairs.

8. Universalism

On the basis that there is a reason common to all men, enlightened thinkers have a cosmopolitan attitude, and are interested in foreign cultures and languages. The utopia of a collective government is beginning to be seen as a possible reality.

The scientific advance of the 16th and 17th centuries represents a break with all previous thinking and it was the logical consequence of the fall of Christianity and of the dogmatism of medieval philosophy.

The Renaissance and the return to classical knowledge, initiate a new stage of thought, with incomparable consequences for the history of humanity. The Protestant Reformations and humanism are also behind the advances in the scientific plane, of Francis Bacon, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, René Descartes or Isaac Newton.

As a consequence, the bourgeoisie presents itself as the new dominant social class and a new society then arises, and the foundations of the current capitalist society.