The Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century where change in philosophy and cultural life took place in Europe. The movement started in France, and spread to Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Germany at more or less around the same time, the ideas starting with the most renowned thinkers and philosophers of the time and eventually being shared with the common people. The Enlightenment was a way of thinking that focused on the betterment of humanity by using logic and reason rather than irrationality and superstition. It was a way of thinking that showed skepticism in the face of religion, challenged the inequality between the kings and their people, and tried to establish a sound system of ethics. The ideas behind the Enlightenment were shared through multiple media such as literature and art, and those ideas provided the framework for the American and French Revolutions, as well as giving rise to multiple genres of art such as the Rococo and Neoclassical styles along with the Romanticist style that went against Enlightenment ideals. One reason as to why the Enlightenment came about according to German philosopher Immanuel Kant is “primarily in religious matters because our rulers have no interest in playing the role of guardian to their subjects with regard to the arts and sciences and because this type of immaturity is the most harmful as well as the most dishonorable” (p. 63). He supported the free exercise of reason and in doing so, opposed the church's control of it, since the church had an effect on how much people were allowed to know. In opposition to the oppression of the people by the church and the monarchy that was closely tied to the church, Enlightenment values focused on the distancing of reli... ... middle of paper ... ...lightenment an Interpretation. New York, NY: W.W. Norton [and], 1977. Print. Hume, David, L. A. Selby-Bigge, and P. H. Nidditch. A Treatise of Human Nature. Oxford: Clarendon, 1978. Print. Schmidt, James., and Immanuel Kant. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-century Answers and Twentieth-century Questions. Berkeley: University of California, 1996. 63. Print. Locke, John, and Peter Laslett. Two Treatises of Government:. London: Cambridge U.P., 1967. Print. Montesquieu, Charles De Secondat, and Thomas Nugent. The Spirit of Laws. New York, NY: Cosimo Classics, 2011. 9. Print. Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Watt. Cothren. "22." Art History. 4th ed. Vol. 2. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2011. 756. Print. Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Watt. Cothren. "29." Art History. 4th ed. Vol. 2. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2011. 944. Print.
The Enlightenment (also known as the Age of Reason) is described by scholars a method of thinking and knowing (“epistemology”) based off of the ideas that the natural world is in fact better understood through close observation, as well as dependence on reason. An important note to point out is that the Enlightenment added a more secular environment to colonial life, which had always been based on religion. The ideas of the Enlightenment actually originated in eighteenth century Europe, allowing for the birth of colonial “deists” who often looked for God’s plan in nature more than the Bible as they had in the past. Many of the deists began to look at science and reason to divulge God’s laws and purpose. This period of Enlightenment encouraged people to study the world around them, think for themselves instead of what others had to say, as well as ask whether the chaotic appearances of things were masking a sense of order. The...
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Cothren, M. & Marilyn Stokstad. (2011). Art History, Volume 2, 4th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Learning Solutions.
The Art Bulletin, Vol. 57, No. 2 (Jun., 1975), pp. 176-185. (College Art Association), accessed November 17, 2010. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049368.
After the Reformation the notion of democracy began to seep into European society, bringing with it the liberation of individual religious conscience and property. It was at this point in history, institutions realized they could no longer attempt to unify belief. Immanuel Kant, an enlightenment philosopher, argued in his essay entitled “What Is Enlightenment?” that prior oppression of thought was the direct result of laziness and cowardice in European society. Hence, as Europe transitioned into an era of enlightenment it was almost as if European society was shaking off their “self-caused immaturity” and “incapacity to use one’s intelligence.” The enlightenment in many ways represented a departure from common practice and the arrival of creativity and
Enlightenment had an enormous impact on educated, well to do people in Europe and America. It supplied them with a common vocabulary and a unified view of the world, one that insisted that the enlightened 18th century was better, and wiser, than all previous ages. It joined them in a common endeavor, the effort to make sense of God's orderly creation. Thus
The Enlightenment is a unique time in European history characterized by revolutions in science, philosophy, society, and politics. These revolutions put Europe in a transition from the medieval world-view to the modern western world. The traditional hierarchical political and social orders from the French monarchy and Catholic Church were destroyed and replaced by a political and social order from the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and equality(Bristow, 1). Many historians, such as Henry Steele Commager, Peter Gay, have studied the Enlightenment over the years and created their own views and opinions.
Enlightenment is, in the much cited definition given by Kant in 1799, people’s inability to think for themselves due not to lack of intellect, but lack of courage. The Oxford English Dictionary defines enlightenment as “A European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition.” Enlightenment is broadly considered to have occurred in the period between 1650 and 1800, and was followed by the Romantic period. The age marked a move among the population towards rational and reasoned thinking and saw the abolishment of persecutions of witchcraft and an increase in religious tolerance across the realms of Austria and Prussia, which were at that time ruled by the Habsburg and Hohenzollern Dynasties,
Enlightenment or The Age of Reason occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries, and lasted for 130 years. The Enlightenment period can be divided into three parts, the Early Enlightenment, the High Enlightenment and the Late. It was brought about by a group of intellectual thinkers, who began challenging the status quo. The broad movement of Enlightenment began in Europe and gradually spread until it reached the U.S. This time in history sometimes overlaps with the Scientific Revolution because many of the philosophers and their ideas used the scientific method to explain life. Enlightenment challenged the religious views of the day, as well as absolutist rule. Three ideals came from the humanists, today’s liberals, that supported The Age of Enlightenment; individualism, skepticism, and reason. Several developments in the late 17th century contributed to the period of Early Enlightenment. The two most important ones are the political hostility to absolutist rule and the religious clashes between
Proving to be the paramount of the conflict between faith and reason, the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth century challenged each of the traditional values of that age. Europeans were changing, but Europe’s institutions were not keeping pace with that change.1 Throughout that time period, the most influential and conservative institution of Europe, the Roman Catholic Church, was forced into direct confrontation with these changing ideals. The Church continued to insist that it was the only source of truth and that all who lived beyond its bounds were damned; it was painfully apparent to any reasonably educated person, however, that the majority of the world’s population were not Christians.2 In the wake of witch hunts, imperial conquest, and an intellectual revolution, the Roman Catholic Church found itself threatened by change on all fronts.3 The significant role that the Church played during the Enlightenment was ultimately challenged by the populace’s refusal to abide by religious intolerance, the power of the aristocracy and Absolutism, and the rising popularity of champions of reform and print culture, the philosophes, who shared a general opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Vol 2.13th ed. Boston: Wadsworth/ Cengage Learning, 2010.
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York: Prentice Hall Inc. and Harry N. Abrams Inc. 1995.
The Enlightenment began or could be said to have been propelled by the scientific revolution of the earlier centuries, particularly the Newtonian universe, as modernizing science gradually undermined the ancient Western geocentric idea of the universe as well as accompanying set of presuppositions that had been constraining and influencing philosophical inquiry (Bristow; Lewis; Mattey). This has led to the promotion of philosophy that of natural science included, emerging from the shadows of theology to become an independent, powerful force that challenged the old and the status quo. This has led to the great progress at the intellectual and scientific levels, with the society so enthusiastic about said progress amidst expectations that philosophy in general would lead to huge improvement in human conditions (Bristow). During this time, philosophers in the narrow sense of the root world considered the Church as fomenting ignorance, superstition and subservience. They also believed in the inherent equality of human beings even as they held that the best form of gov...
Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-modern. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1992.