Counter-Enlightenment

Examples of Counter-Enlightenment in the following topics:

• Romanticism

  • Romanticism, fueled by the French Revolution, was a reaction to the scientific rationalism and classicism of the Age of Enlightenment.
  • Though influenced by other artistic and intellectual movements, the ideologies and events of the French Revolution created the primary context from which both Romanticism and the Counter-Enlightenment emerged.
  • Upholding the ideals of the Revolution, Romanticism was a revolt against the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and also a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature.
  • Romanticism was also inspired by the German Sturm und Drang movement (Storm and Stress), which prized intuition and emotion over Enlightenment rationalism.
  • Extremes of emotion were given free expression in reaction to the perceived constraints of rationalism imposed by the Enlightenment and associated aesthetic movements.

• The Political Revolution

  • The American Enlightenment promoted ideas of individual liberty, republican government, and religious toleration.
  • The American Enlightenment is the intellectual period in America in the mid-to-late 18th century (1715-1789), especially as it relates to the American Revolution and the European Enlightenment.
  • Both the Moderate Enlightenment and a Radical or Revolutionary Enlightenment were reactions against the authoritarianism, irrationality, and obscurantism of the established churches.
  • No brief summary can do justice to the diversity of enlightened thought in 18th-century Europe.
  • In his famous essay "What is Enlightenment?

• Enlightenment Ideals

  • The Age of Enlightenment, also known as the Enlightenment, was a philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe in the 18th century.
  • The Enlightenment took hold in most European countries, often with a specific local emphasis.
  • The Scottish Enlightenment, with its mostly liberal Calvinist and Newtonian focus, played a major role in the further development of the transatlantic Enlightenment.
  • Science came to play a leading role in Enlightenment discourse and thought.
  • Broadly speaking, Enlightenment science greatly valued empiricism and rational thought and was embedded with the Enlightenment ideal of advancement and progress.

• Introduction to the Enlightenment

  • The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Enlightenment, was a philosophical movement which dominated the world of ideas in Europe in the 18th century.
  • There were two distinct lines of Enlightenment thought: the radical enlightenment, inspired by the philosophy of Spinoza, advocating democracy, individual liberty, freedom of expression, and eradication of religious authority.
  • While the Enlightenment cannot be pigeonholed into a specific doctrine or set of dogmas, science came to play a leading role in Enlightenment discourse and thought.
  • Broadly speaking, Enlightenment science greatly valued empiricism and rational thought and was embedded with the Enlightenment ideal of advancement and progress.
  • As with most Enlightenment views, the benefits of science were not seen universally.

• Enlightened Despotism

  • Enlightened despots, inspired by the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment, held that royal power emanated not from divine right but from a social contract whereby a despot was entrusted with the power to govern in lieu of any other governments.
  • Although major thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment are credited for the development of government theories that were critical to the creation and evolution of the modern civil-society-driven democratic state, among the first ideas resulting from the political ideals of the Enlightenment was enlightened despotism (or enlightened absolutism).
  • The difference between a despot and an enlightened despot is based on a broad analysis of the degree to which they embraced the Age of Enlightenment.
  • However, historians debate the actual implementation of enlightened despotism.
  • However, Maria Theresa  found it hard to fit into the intellectual sphere of the Enlightenment.

• Philosophy and Science

  • The Enlightenment movement promoted knowledge through science, reason, and intellectual exchange.
  • The Enlightenment has long been hailed as the foundation of modern Western political and intellectual culture.
  • In 1784, Immanuel Kant wrote a well-known essay entitled "What Is Enlightenment?"
  • France was an important centre of the Enlightenment.
  • Identify the prominant philosophers, salons, and publications that fueled and shaped the Enlightenment.

• The American Enlightenment

  • The American Enlightenment was an era of prolific discourse in which Anglo-American intellectuals studied human nature, society, and religion.
  • Influenced by the scientific revolution of the 17th century, key Enlightenment thinkers applied scientific reasoning to studies of human nature, society, and religion.
  • Enlightenment thinkers reacted against the authoritarianism, irrationality, and perceived obscurantism of the established churches.
  • The culmination of these enlightenment ideas occurred with Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, in which he declared:
  • Summarize the central commitments of the Enlightenment, particularly as it appeared in the colonies

• Scientific Exploration

  • Science, based on empiricism and rational thought and embedded with the Enlightenment ideal of advancement and progress, came to play a leading role in Enlightenment discourse and thought.
  • While the Enlightenment cannot be pigeonholed into a specific doctrine or set of dogmas, science came to play a leading role in Enlightenment discourse and thought.
  • Broadly speaking, Enlightenment science greatly valued empiricism and rational thought and was embedded with the Enlightenment ideal of advancement and progress.
  • However, as with most Enlightenment views, the benefits of science were not seen universally.
  • Enlightenment-era changes in law also continue to shape legal systems today.

• The Enlightenment

  • Neoclassicism was the dominant artistic style of the Enlightenment period and drew inspiration from the classical art and culture of Ancient Greece and Rome.
  • The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a movement that began during the 18th century in Europe and the American colonies.
  • The Enlightenment has long been hailed as the foundation of modern Western political and intellectual culture.
  • Previous to the Enlightenment, the dominant artistic style was Rococo.
  • Describe the shifts in thinking and artwork that characterized the Enlightenment.

• Empress Maria-Theresa

  • These reforms were pragmatic responses to the challenges faced by her lands but not ideologically framed in the Age of Enlightenment.
  • Maria Theresa banned the creation of new burial grounds without prior government permission, thus countering wasteful and unhygienic burial customs.