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the enlightenment philosophers dbq
the age of enlightenment philosophers essay
the age of enlightenment philosophers essay
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Introduction
The era of France Enlightenment and religion have a misconception that leads one to believe that they were enemies. The Enlightenment was not against religion but it was against the superstitions and the supernaturalism of religion. Philosophes during the era of France’s Enlightenment did not look to abolish religion or the Catholic Church of France. They simply wanted a separation of religion and state because it was believed that the state was based on reason and religion was based on morality. Religion and the Enlightenment were compatible and Dr. Sorkin argues: “the Enlightenment was not only compatible with religious belief,” it actually generated new formulations of that belief. One goal that was a reflection of the Enlightenment’s goal was the freedom from cristism of prejudice and the freedom of unfitted scrutiny. This meant that one should freely be able to worship their God in their own way or lack of worship without the persecution of the state intervening. The standard-bearers of the religious Enlightenment championed religious toleration and the freedom of religious minorities, although they stopped well short of calling for state neutrality in religious affairs. In this paper it will be explored that the infamous philosphes: Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau and Diderot did not oppose the Catholic Church of France but rather they opposed the power it possessed over its citizen’s religious needs. The Enlightenment was an expedition to encourage reason and to not discourage one’s belief in religion.
The Philosphes
The official religion of France was Catholicism and there was not room for any other religion within the defined walls of this country. Protestants and Jewish minorities were denied full ci...
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..., Wendy. The Independent Institute, "The Orgin of Religious Tolerance: Voltaire." Last modified January 08, 2008. Accessed February 22, 2014. http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2095.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat ." Last modified 2010. Accessed March 22, 2014. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu/
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Steinfels, Peter S. "Exploring Religion, Shaped by the Enlightenment." New York Times, , sec. Beliefs, October 10, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/us/11beliefs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 (accessed February 22, 2014).
The European Graduate School, "Voltaire: Biography." Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www.egs.edu/library/voltaire/biography/.
Throughout Voltaire’s Candide, the implications of religious symbols and figures are used to satirize the philosophy of paternal optimism by highlighting hypocrisy in the Church. The role of the Church in historical context offers significant insight into the analysis of the text. Candide was written in 1759, a period where people started questioning the authority of the Church to explore reason as a means for acquiring knowledge. With this in mind, Candide’s religious implications are relevant with consideration to the time period. By stressing the theme of institutional hypocrisy and separation between the Church and religious values, Voltaire invalidates the Church’s role as a supreme authority and thus addresses man’s need for an altered
While churches are being thrown up into the air and theocracies turned upside down, Voltaire dismantles beliefs and hierarchies, arguing that none of these establishments are as holy as they preach to be. His use of cutting sarcasm and cynicism in absurd circumstances turns the reader against the institutions of religion, and towards finding his own beliefs and interpretations of religion. Voltaire doesn’t question the realness of God, only the bandwagon mindset of those following religious institutions
In the 1560’s, France’s Catholics were being challenged by the Calvinists of Geneva for over a decade. After the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre King Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes that mandated Catholicism as the kingdom’s religion, but also offered Huguenots the ability to hold public offices, be able to worship at certain times and places, and enter hospitals and un...
..., incoherent maxims, without taste, without selection, and without design. If the Song of Songs in an inept rhapsody, what shall we think of a religion that urges men to believe them to be of divine inspiration? In a word, the vileness and absurdity of the biblical Jews demonstrates the vileness and absurdity of Christianity." (Gay 354) These statements illustrate Voltaire's views toward religion.
Voltaire went to prison twice and spent multiple years in exile. The experiences he went through in his lifetime helped him develop his views on religion. He believed that everyone had the right to choose their religion and be free to practice that religion where they want. There would be conflicts between religious citizens and the government if there wasn’t freedom of religion. This choice should be available in England, according to Voltaire, to prevent problems from arising. “If one religion only were allowed in England, the government would very possibly become arbitrary; if there were two, the people would cut one another's throats; but as there are such multitude, they all live happy and in peace.” The choice of religion belongs solely to the individual and shouldn’t be able to be taken away from a
The French people were quick to blame the government for all the misfortune they possess, yet ignored the potential evil or crisis the social body was heading towards within themselves. Because of the rapid sequence of horrific events in the beginning of the French revolution, it prevented the subversive principles to be spread passes the frontiers of France, and the wars of conquest which succeeded them gave to the public mind a direction little favorable to revolutionary principles (2). French men have disgraced the religion by ‘attacking with a steady and systematic animosity, and all it is there that the weapon of ridicule has been used with the most ease and success (2). Metternich was not in support of the French
“Ecrasons l’infame,” which is interpreted, “We must crush the vile thing.” This is the expression Voltaire used to articulate his feelings for organized religion. With many natural theists soon to follow his path, Voltaire expressed his hatred for cultural religions, opting for a universal God of nature. Given a few more centuries, Darwin would have given Voltaire the scientific theory to support his desire for atheism. But alas, with no other theory in place, intelligent individuals of 18th century France were forced to use creationism to explain the world in its beauty and organization. This, as previously stated, was not a problem for Voltaire. His issue was the moral implications that separated religious groups, often to the point of war with one another. Religious intolerance was a subject he dealt with in many of his works, especially Candide. The religious characters in this work were mostly negative with the exception of Brethren predecessor, the Anabaptist, and the old woman. His opinion of various religions was also established in Candide, although it was simply a vague one, clumping all organized religions into an “evil superstitions” category. The conclusion of this work also gave us insight on Voltaire’s view of religion as either positive or detrimental to society and the individual.
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.
The social injustice of religious persecution seen in France during the 19th Century was much more visible than that of the 21st Century. In the case of official state legislation, the Anti-Sacrilege Act passed by King Charles X in 1825 significantly defined the French policy of religious intolerance d...
In 1759, French philosopher, writer, and historian François-Marie Arouet, who wrote under the pen name Voltaire which he adopted in 1718, published the novella Candide in Geneva, Switzerland. It was published by Gabriel Cramer. Candide was originally written in French but was then translated into English by Tobias Smollett. Mr. Boni assigned this book to us because he wanted to enhance our understanding of how the Roman Catholic Church had control over everything and he also wanted to show us all the hypocrisy that occurred in that era. This book is useful to my course of studies because it relates to topics we have studied. Candide relates to The Enlightenment and The Protestant Reformation. Since Candide was written during the Age of The
The Renaissance period brought about changes in the cultural and social arrangements of the people living during this era. The Catholic Church was still the major religion during this era. One of the major strengths of the Catholic Church during the beginning of the Renaissance was its ability to hold the norms and traditions of the society. During the Renaissance period, the church was an integral part of the society. It defined what rules and regulations people were to follow and how they lived their lives. The Catholic Church provided an avenue for people to hold onto the cultural and social beliefs they had developed over time (Wolffe 89). In the midst of all the changes that were taking place at the time, it was important to find a way to retain the traditions that the people had followed for so long. Even with the growing opposition to the Catholic Church, people still held onto some of the teachings that had become part of them as taught by the church. In fact, even when people moved away from the Catholic Church, they still carried some of the traditions as defined by the Catholic Church. In addition the Catholic Church also provided a well defined hierarchy in the church. There lineage of the church was well developed and people had become familiar with it. This was a positive aspect since people were familiar with the structure of the Catholic Church.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. “The Social Contract”. Modern Political Thought, Second Edition. Ed. David Wootton. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2008. 427-487.
SparkNotes: René Descartes (1596–1650). (n.d.). SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Retrieved February 8, 2011, from http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/descartes
During the latter part of the 18th century, to be a French citizen almost certainly meant that you were Catholic as well. People outside the Catholic church were denied complete ...
Mill, J.S. (1852). A Peer Reviewed Academic Resource, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/milljs/ on February 15th, 2014.