History 14: Ideas in the Western Tradition (Hutton) #2
The Enlightenment and its Influences
I A Preface to Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694-1778)
We are studying Voltaire as a representative philosopher of the European Enlightenment of the mid-18th century. He is the most famous critic of the religious, social and political institutions of France under the old regime.
a brief biographical sketch:
educated by the Jesuits
studies law, wrote drama and verse
his difficult relationship with his father
writes and produces dramas that annoy the French censors
fleeing the censors, he emigrates to England (1726)
composes the English Letters (1733)
returns to France (1733), takes up residence at Cirey with his lover, Mme du Châtelet
publishes the Elements of Newton's Philosophy (1738)
he becomes an historian
writes History of Charles XII (1731)
Essay on the Manners and Spirits of Nations (1744)
the nature of man<--->the manners of men
appointed royal historiographer (1745)
writes History of Louis XIV (1744)
death of Mme du Châtelet (1749); takes up residence at the court of Frederick the Great of Prussia at Potsdam (1750)
moves to Ferney (in France) near Geneva (1758)
his acerbic relationship with Jean-Jacques Rousseau
writes Candide (1758)
becomes a public critic of some of the worst practices of old-regime France - his public causes during the 1760s included:
opposition to church influence in judicial cases
opposition to cruel punishments
the political ideals of Voltaire:
cosmopolitanism
deism
the use of practical reason
the consolation of work
his conception of the philosopher king (=Plato)
A Preface to Candide
The main theme of the story is the problem of evil in the world and remedies for it. Voltaire ascribed most of the evils to "man's inhumanity to man." In other words, humans have only themselves to blame for the evils of the world. As for remedies, critics are at odds. Some see Candide as a defense of the possibilities of limited practical reform --- to mitigate human suffering and to make the world a slightly better place than it has been in the past. Progress is possible. Others read Candide as a polemic against a society and a civilization that is irremediable. The novel is an expression of his despair. In reading this work, think about this issue, and come to class prepared to offer your views on this debate.
Some types of evils that the characters of Candide encounter:
-religious prejudice and superstition
-social privilege
-vain ambition
-personal greed
-exploitation of women
II Collective mentalities in traditional European society
While Voltaire and other philosophes were crusaders for reform, the inertial power of extant institutions and values were very difficult to overcome
conservative religious authority remained an important social and political force, and continued to influence the conceptions of most people about the nature of the human predicament
the medieval Christian worldview and its implications for the popular understanding of the human condition
the doctrine of original sin - human depravity and the limits of human expectation
implications for politics - law and order
otherworldly salvation
a manuscript culture and the persistence of oral tradition
the power of the spoken word
the present-mindedness of living tradition
illiteracy, credulity, and the power of rumor and fantasy
poetical speech
social dependence
the politics of families
the personalism of politics in traditional society - deference and personal fidelity
the subsistence economy and the psychology of scarcity
the fear of famine
the fear of violence - brigands, highwaymen, and wolves
the role of chance in life
the power of custom
common sense as a guide to action
the presence of the past
III Main directions of change in the modern era, 1750-1950
1) types of change
intellectual change - the Enlightenment and the belief in human goodness and in the possibility of progress
political change - the age of revolutions (1776-1848)
1776 - 1789 - 1792 - 1830 - 1848 - 1871
two directions of political change:
-struggle for universal rights (equality before the law)
-making of a set of uniform institutions to govern the modern state
social change - the rise of the bourgeoisie
the nature of the bourgeoisie
town dwellers <---> entrepreneurs
traits of the entrepreneur (affluence, innovation, upwardly mobility, risk) - their demand for careers open to talent ---> struggle for political rights
the quest for personal fulfillment - self-fashioning ---> self-awareness
economic change and its effects - the industrial revolution (1750-1850) and the making of an urban environment
2) the social role of the philosophes
the philosophes as an intelligentsia free of patronage
print culture as a milieu less vulnerable to censorship
the bourgeoisie as an audience for the writings of the philosophes
the reading habits of the bourgeoisie
devotional literature ---> history, travel literature, the novel
J.-J. Rousseau's role in teaching the bourgeoisie to read - La Nouvelle Heloise
new settings for the exchange of ideas:
the salon; the literary academy; the coffee house
letter-writing and corresponding societies
secret intellectual societies: the Freemasons
the writers of Grub Street: scandal in high society
3) the intellectual interests of the philosophes
metaphysics ---> epistemology: critical analysis of the foundations of knowledge in experience and skepticism about the teachings of tradition, metaphysics, and religious revelation
practical applications of discoveries in the natural sciences
Diderot and d'Alembert, L'Encyclopédie
the new science of history of Giambattista Vico
the common foundations of the human condition
4) the reformist causes of the philosophes
religious and social toleration
practical reform of the legal system, the penal system, and the organization of the Church
5) The relationship between the Enlightenment and the coming of the French Revolution (1789-1815)
the subversive effect of criticism on commitment to the religious and political institutions of traditional European culture
the teachings of the Enlightenment as models for reform: liberal vs. radical
6) The phases of the French Revolution
the liberal phase (1789-92) and the radical phase (1792-94)
the long-range accomplishments of the French Revolution and the reign of Napoleon (1799-1815) - the Civil Code
7) The French Revolution as the matrix of modern ideology
liberalism - the struggle for individual rights and constitutional government
radicalism - popular vs. authoritarian democracy
socialism - visions of the welfare state
communism - authoritarian egalitarianism
nationalism - national liberation <---> glorification of the role of the state