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Overview Chapter Seventeen: AP European
The Enlightenment is the broad term applied to the intellectual developments of the
eighteenth century, as articulated by a relatively small number of thinkers and writers
primarily in western Europe. Their work and thoughts set the stage for much of our thinking
today about personal freedoms and the reform of existing conditions and institutions. Although
the seeds for many of the Enlightenment’s ideas can be found in the moderate political and
social atmosphere of England, France was the hotbed of the movement. French philosophes,
particularly Voltaire and Montesquieu, were pioneers in championing Enlightenment ideas. The
increased knowledge at their disposal, as exemplified by the Encyclopedia, made them
confident that their reforms were both reasonable and possible. The concept of deism, for
example, provided a means by which thinkers could accept the new rationalism without
specifically denying the role of the supernatural (God) in human life. They rejected what they
believed to be the oppressive and irrational views of the Roman Church. At the same time, the
philosophes called for and supported a greater degree of religious toleration for all the faiths of
Europe. Proposals for reform of criminal justice and punishment were exemplified by the works
of Beccaria. The attention given to economic systems by prominent Enlightenment thinkers
should also be observed. Adam Smith’s position raised many new questions about the
mercantile practices of the time and remained the philosophical basis for the Industrial
Revolution. His work has proved fundamental to Western society’s debate over economic
progress and individual well-being. Yet it is in political thought that the philosophes have
continued to have the greatest impact. Not since the ancient Greeks had government been
opened to so much investigation and criticism. Enlightenment thinkers attempted to discover
the rationality behind Europe’s governmental systems, thereby going well beyond mere
criticism of corruption in government and church. Many writers, such as Rousseau, were vague
as to how their new systems would work, but Montesquieu outlined a system calling for a new
balance between the elements of government. Many Enlightenment ideas reached eastern
Europe in the form of "Enlightened Absolutism." The rulers of Prussia, Austria, and Russia
attempted to strengthen themselves by utilizing select Enlightenment principles. Frederick II
(the Great) of Prussia, Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II of Austria, and Catherine II (the
Great) of Russia were able to create the appearance of enlightened reform with little alteration
of the existing political and social framework. By the end of the century, the Prussian,
Austrian, and Russian empires had largely rejected Enlightenment ideals.
Influences
The ideas of the Enlightenment were based on the Newtonian worldview, Locke's psychology,
Britain's wealth and stability, French reform, and the emerging print culture in Europe. The
print culture facilitated increasing secularism, made writing an economically viable profession,
and allowed the emergence of collective public opinion. Literary culture was generally divided
between high and low.
Philosophes
The writers and critics of the eighteenth century who believed that religion, politics, society,
and the economy could be reformed to better support human liberty – the philosophes –
included Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau, Hume, and Kant. Voltaire was the most influential,
and his satire Candide reflects the philosophes' concerns and general attitudes. They were not
an organized group, and they did not agree on all issues, but they all sought to use reason
and common sense to improve institutions and social practices. The commercial and
professional classes read and discussed the philosophes' works.
Religion
Many 18th-century philosophes were hostile to the church and religious institutions
in general. They did not, however, in general oppose religion itself. Deism was a
movement that understood religion as something natural and rational, with God as
the "divine watchmaker" who had created the universe, set it in motion according to
certain laws, then left it alone. Deists believed the existence of God could be proved
empirically, and they believed in life after death, when virtue would be rewarded and
sin punished. Philosophes valued religious toleration, though they did not always
practice it. Jewish thinkers – particularly Spinoza and Mendelsohn – both
contributed to, and responded to, the ideas of the Enlightenment. Enlightenment
thinkers had less direct contact with Islam, and most sources of information about
Islam available in the West were hostile.
Society
The philosophes believed that human relationships obeyed rational laws, just as physical
nature did; through empirical examination and reason, those social laws could be learned, and
society could be improved. This is the foundation of what we now call "social science." Prisons
and legal punishments were one area that philosophes hoped to reform, with the goal of
achieving the greatest good for the greatest number of people. They criticized mercantilism.
Many French economic reformers were physiocrats, who believed that government's primary
role was to provide only the protections necessary to allow owners to use their property to
best advantage; they particularly advocated agricultural reform. Adam Smith's 1776 Inquiry
into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is commonly described as the founding
document for laissez-faire (hands-off) economic policy, but Smith's thinking was more
sophisticated than that. One painfully unsophisticated concept embedded in his work, the
"four-stage theory" of social development, would have long-term consequences in
relationships between the West and other cultures. The philosophes had other weak spots as
well, most notably their strong tendency to equate "human" with "male." The Encyclopedia
compiled by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert was a monumental undertaking, a 28volume compendium of the views of most of France's leading philosophes on subjects ranging
from religion to canal building. The Encyclopedists hoped to secularize learning; they believed
that the good life could be achieved by harnessing the earth's natural resources, and applying
reason to social institutions. The Encyclopedia was completed in 1772, and had sold between
14,000 and 16,000 copies before 1789. It helped spread Enlightenment ideas throughout
Europe.
Political Thought
The French philosophes were the most discontented of a discontented lot. France's problems
gave the philosophes more to criticize there than elsewhere in Europe at the time. The French
philosophes' proposed a wide array of reforms. Montesquieu and Rousseau both had a
substantial influence on future political developments, and they represent two very different
perspectives. Montesquieu admired the British constitution, and thought many of its features
could be introduced into a French monarchical system in which the aristocracy played a
significant role. Rousseau was a radical, who raised the fundamental question of what
constitutes the good life. He believed society was more important than the individual, because
only within a properly functioning society could an individual live a moral life.
Roles of Women
The salons of French women were instrumental in spreading the ideas of the philosophes, but
most of the philosophes were at best weak advocates of reforms that would help women.
Some philosophes advocated improvements in education for women. But many philosophes –
even the otherwise radical Rousseau! – had very traditional ideas about gender roles, and
endorsed the double standard that frowned on female sexual expression. The beliefs that
women were physiologically inferior to men, and that women's activities and aspirations
should be limited to the domestic sphere, were widely endorsed by philosophes. Late in the
eighteenth century, Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women placed
women's rights within the Enlightenment agenda.
Art (Neoclassicism)
Two contrasting styles dominated eighteenth-century European art and architecture.
The Rococo style embraced lavish, often lighthearted decoration with an emphasis
on pastel colors and play of light. Neoclassicism embodied a return to figurative and
architectural models drawn from the Renaissance and the ancient world. The Rococo
became associated with the aristocracies of the Old Regime while Neoclassicism
recalled ancient republican values. Rococo architecture and decoration originated in
early eighteenth-century France. The popularity of the city of Rome as a destination
for artists and aristocratic tourists contributed to the rise of Neoclassicism.
Absolute Monarchies/ Despotism
Many philosophes were fundamentally monarchists, though of course they believed
monarchies should be reformed. Voltaire, Diderot, and the physiocrats, in particular,
advocated rationalization of monarchies. In the final third of the 18th century, enlightened
absolutism emerged under Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia, Joseph II of Austria, and
Catherine II (the Great) of Russia. One critical area in which these rulers differed from the
philosophes was in their attitudes towards war, which the philosophes rejected as irrational.
Frederick the Great tried to improve Prussian agriculture and the economy, with limited
success. He widened religious toleration, codified Prussian law, and described himself as "the
first servant of the State." Joseph II of Austria was unsuccessful in many of his reform efforts,
either because he was opposed by the nobility or because they incited peasant revolts, and his
successor repealed many of them. Catherine the Great empowered the local nobility, largely
because she did not have the strength to oppose them, and had some success in growing
Russia's economy. She expanded Russian territory dramatically, through various means
including the partition of Poland. Late in the 18th century, all three of these regimes became
increasingly conservative and politically repressive. In the aftermath of the French Revolution,
central and eastern Europe's ruling classes had rejected change and Enlightenment values.