Enlightenment is called, the movement of intellectual, cultural, ideological and political renewal that arose in Europe, as a result of the progress and diffusion of New Ideas and new scientific knowledge; the same ones that illuminated the minds of men, while contributing to modify their spirit. The illustration reached its greatest development in the eighteenth century, called, for this reason, the “Age of Enlightenment”.
Throughout Europe there was talk that we were living in the "Epoch of Enlightenment", in which men illuminated by the light of reason should establish a new organization that would replace the outdated Old Regime.
Under the rule of reason, man poses new questions:he despises the past, denies old beliefs, confronts the immovable doctrines of the church and turns to new ways of thinking with the intention of enlightening his knowledge. That is why the 18th century is known as the "Age of Enlightenment".
Characteristics of Illustration
The main characteristics of the Enlightenment are the following:
- The excessive predominance of reason, of «free examination», of free thought, as exclusive guides for man, not only in the search for knowledge and the increase of knowledge, but also, in the study of its time and its culture.
- The critical water, as well as the harsh attack on the prevailing order of things, which manifested itself through a "marked tendency to move away":
- Abstract , that is, of the incomprehensible, in the sciences
- Of what is revealed , that is, of the truths of the Catholic Church, in religion, tending to tolerance.
- Tradition , that is, of Absolutism in politics.
- Because of a marked interest in learning and teaching; for broadening knowledge; for advancing the sciences; to achieve the development of culture.
Representatives of the Enlightenment
The illustration was, therefore, the work of vigorous thinkers, of renowned intellectuals, of eminent men of science who spread. preferably, the new ideas, as well as other knowledge that revolutionized the eighteenth century.
The New Ideas
The New ideas, imbued with an eminently liberal spirit, were born through the work of those famous thinkers also called "philosophers", who spread their new political, social, economic, etc. conceptions, which guided the European thought of that time, against the unjust prevailing system of government. That is to say, that such theories, that such ideas, were erected in a vigorous current of public opinion totally contrary to the absolutist Regime of France, as well as other nations of Europe and the World.
This wonderful flow of opinions and thoughts was greatly enriched thanks, precisely, to the magnificent contribution of those eminent innovators of economic science, called «Economists», who also belong to this luminous intellectual current of the New Ideas of the Enlightenment.
The New ideas, born mostly within the Bourgeoisie, soon spread to almost all the educated classes of society, as well as to the people and certain sectors of the Clergy. They also did it in some monarchies, in which, liberal sovereigns, gave rise to Enlightened Despotism. The most effective means of disseminating the New Ideas, that is, Enlightenment thought, was the Encyclopedia, a monumental dictionary of human knowledge achieved until then.
These new ideas fundamentally pursued:
- In the Political Order :The abolition of the Absolutist Regime and the establishment of popular sovereignty; also, the recognition of individual freedom.
- In the Social Order :The establishment of justice for all classes of society; as well as the recognition of equality among all men.
- In the Economic order :The freedom of trade and industry and, likewise, the payment of taxes by all citizens, without distinctions or privileges.
Influence of the Enlightenment
The Philosophers
The Philosophers, also called political thinkers, were those writers of great talent, renowned intellectuals, who studied the political and social situation of France as well as other European nations, and then criticized the errors of the Old Regime, that is, of the absolutist system prevailing until then. They defended, through their writings, the abolition of social inequality, privileges and censorship, but, preferably, of the absolute monarchy. They were therefore in favor of the establishment of a government elected by the people (democratic government).
The new ideas, spread by these enlightened thinkers, either through their own books, or through the Encyclopedia, prepared the climate, the consciences, for the outbreak of the French Revolution, for this reason, considering them as the ideological precursors of this great and historical political-social movement.
The main philosophers of the Enlightenment were:Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu, faithful followers of the magnificent work of that great English thinker:John Locke (1632-1704), considered as the «Father of the new Ideas», because he was the first that he denied the doctrine of the divine right of royal authority and that, likewise, he rejected the absolutist system; conceding instead, singular importance to the opinion of citizens in the election of governments, thus laying the foundations of popular sovereignty. Such new ideas shook European absolutism to its foundations.
- Voltaire (1694-1778)
Voltarie, whose real name was Francisco Maria Arouet, was born in Paris and has achieved celebrity as a man of letters, historian and philosopher. Possessed of a sharp and ingenious spirit, he was the most relentless and devastating critic of the Old Regime and the clergy. For this he used satire and ridicule.
He of formidable talent he was, likewise, one of the most brilliant characters of the eighteenth century and, in turn, one of those who managed to exercise the greatest influence in his time and in the French Revolution.
Since he was young he had suffered the arbitrariness of the prevailing absolutist regime in France, since he was imprisoned in the Bastille for his "acid and scathing criticism of society, the despotic government and religion." He then traveled to England and, then amazed at his constitutional government, wrote back to his homeland, his masterful work:"Letters on the English", a book in which after examining the democratic doctrines of Locke he was amazed at the English liberal system.
Voltaire was, therefore, in favor of the suppression of absolutism and social inequality, as well as religious intolerance. With his ingenious, combative and ironic spirit, he finally managed to make the people lose respect and fear of the King and the upper classes of society. - Rousseau (1712-1778)
Juan Jacobo Rousseau, born in Geneva (Switzerland), is considered one of the writers who exerted the greatest influence on the French Revolution, since he not only focused on criticizing the errors of absolutism, but, going further, was in favor of a radical reform, of a total reform of society and government through the abolition of the absolute Monarchy and the establishment of Democracy, "imposed if necessary by the force of the Revolution." Rousseau also stated that the law is the expression of the popular will, and that, for this reason, the source of sovereignty lies in the people, in the nation.
His new ideas were brilliantly exposed in his speeches on the Origin of the Inequality of Men and, above all, in his fundamental book:"The Social Contract".
- Montesquieu (1689-1775)
Carlos de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, was an enlightened nobleman, an eminent thinker who exerted great influence on the French Revolution. At the age of 30 he wrote his first book:"The Persian Letters", in which he satirized the customs of society and the political institutions of France; but his masterful work was constituted by "The Spirit of the Laws", in which he declared himself in favor of the English parliamentary government, as well as the establishment of the perfect State, based on the government of three powers, separated and perfectly limited in their functions:the Legislative, Executive and Judicial, foundation of the current democratic governments of the World.
The Economists
The economists were those men of science who studied the economic system until then predominant in France and in the majority of European nations, at the same time that they criticized the defects of its organization. They defended the freedom of industry, trade and work and also advocated a fair distribution of taxes among all classes of society. Thus, their primary purpose was to increase national wealth through the intensification of all economic activities, as well as the removal of obstacles and unnecessary state controls.
Its main representatives of the illustration were the French:Quesnay and Gournay belonging to the Physiocratic School, and the English Adam Smith, of the Liberal School.
Quesnay
He argued that the land was the only source of wealth, and that, for this reason, agriculture had to be promoted and protected. He also defended the freedom of work, industry and commerce. He founded the school called Physiocratic (from the Greek physio =nature and cratos =wealth), that is, the school that held that nature, that agriculture, was the source of all wealth. He wrote his work:«Physiocracy or Government of Nature».
Gournay
Disciple of Quesnay, he was in favor of the ideas of his teacher; but he also maintained that not only was the land the only source of wealth, but also industry. He also called for a regime of freedom for industry and commerce, while attacking monopolies.
Adam Smith
Considered the Father of Political Economy, he maintained that work, in its different forms, was the only source of wealth and "that it should be carried out with absolute and total freedom, from which came the name of liberal that was given to his school." Like the previous economists, he claimed greater protection and freedom for economic activities, but he differed from those in that he gave equal importance to agriculture and livestock as well as to industry and commerce. Adam Smith wrote the famous work "The Wealth of Nations".
Turgot
Minister of Finance to Louis XVI, he stood out as an eminent economist. A supporter of new ideas, he advocated freedom of trade and work, as well as equality in the payment of taxes to the State by the 3 classes. He wrote the famous work: «Reflections on the formation and distribution of wealth» .
The Encyclopedia, vehicle of ideas of the illustration
In the eighteenth century came to light The Encyclopedia , a monumental work published in 28 volumes, a true compilation of human knowledge achieved until then (sciences, arts, letters, politics, religion and morals); authentic universal reasoned dictionary, written by a group of philosophers, economists and men of science, as well as by other highly talented writers, among whom stood out:the philosopher Diderot and the mathematician D'Alembert, who directed the work; also collaborated:Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu, etc.
«Between 1751 and 1772 the Encyclopedia gathered some sixty thousand articles in twenty-eight volumes prepared by 160 collaborators. During those twenty years, its authors had to face suspensions, persecution and censorship. Between 1776 and 1780 a supplement of seven volumes appeared.
Among the new ideas that the Encyclopedia spread we have:that of popular sovereignty, that of individual freedom and that of freedom of thought, as well as that of freedom of industry and commerce. He also fought against religious ideas and monarchical absolutism. The Encyclopedia was "the maximum vehicle of the ideas of the Enlightenment", due to its critical and liberal spirit.