Enlightenment Philosophy: Reason's Core Principles and Global Impact

Key Characteristics of Enlightenment Reason

• Reason is autonomous and self-sufficient.
• Reason has internal limitations.
• Reason is critical: It critiques external factors that undermine its freedom. It performs a sharp analysis of all reality and engages in careful self-criticism. Reason tends to be analytical and tolerant.
• Reason is empirical: It must relate to experience and the empirical world to find a secular rationality.

Enlightenment Reason and Deism

The application of reason to religion led many Enlightenment philosophers to Deism. Deism defends the existence of God as the supreme being, a creator who set the laws of nature but is not concerned with the world, rejecting revelation and religious rituals.

Kant's Perspective on Enlightenment

For Immanuel Kant, the essence of the Enlightenment is Enlightenment thinking itself.

Geographical Spread and Key Figures of the Enlightenment

The English Enlightenment

The Enlightenment originated in England, acquiring an empirical focus, particularly prominent in the natural sciences and its approach to religion. Key figures include John Locke, David Hume, and Isaac Newton.

The French Enlightenment and the Encyclopedia

The Enlightenment extended primarily to France, focusing on topics related to human action. The greatest contribution of the French Enlightenment was the Encyclopedia, an expression of profound confidence in reason. Its purpose was to spread culture, foster anti-dogmatic and critical opinion, and challenge prejudices carried by tradition. Its most important representatives were Jean le Rond d'Alembert, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire.

The German Enlightenment

In Germany, there was a strong interest in the analysis of analytical and critical reason. This method emphasized faith in reason and the rejection of obscurantism.

Philosophical Currents of the Enlightenment Era

Rationalism

A 17th-century philosophical current characterized by the exaltation of reason and rational knowledge, often with contempt for sensible knowledge. It posits the existence of innate ideas and advocates for rational and deductive knowledge derived from first principles, independent of experience. This approach often distanced itself from political and social concerns.

Empiricism

An 18th-century philosophical current, primarily associated with English philosophers. Its characteristics include:

• Knowledge originates solely from sensory experience.
• Rejection of innate ideas.
• Knowledge is limited, specifically rejecting metaphysical claims.
• Emphasis on the association of ideas and principles.