Enlightenment Study Guide From Norton Anthology, Vol. D, pages 91-99

1. The text refers to a “quarrel between ‘ancients’ and ‘moderns’: (91). Ancients believed that OLD  ideas were the best, and feared that the “new commitment to individualism promoted by the moderns might lead to social alienation, unscrupulous self-seeking, and lack of moral responsibility” (91).

2. Moderns, on the other hand, valued the “importance of individual autonomy,, broad education for Women, and intellectual and geographical exploration.” (92)

3. Both ancient and modern “thinkers believed in reason as a dependable guide” (92).

4. Focusing on reason, thinkers believed that “illumination occurs not by divine inspiration or by order of kings, but by the reasoning powers of the ordinary human mind” (92).

5. While some philosophers questioned our ability to know anything with certainty, others, such as Isaac Newton, believed that the universe was “entirely rational and Orderly” (92). These thinkers held onto the idea of “God as a watchmaker” (92). “. . . known as deists” they “justified Evil in the world by arguing that God never interfered with nature or with human action” (92).

6. Following this pattern of thinking, Alexander Pope’s “Essay on Man” pointed out that “one could hope to steer with reason as a guide, but one had to face the omnipresence of unreasonable passions” (92).  This paradox can be thought of as the central conflict of the Enlightenment period—my note.

7. Enlightenment thinkers “were the ones who shifted the dominant model of truth  from divine revelation to human forms of knowledge,: science, statistics, history, litterature"(93).

8. “. . . revolution, civil war, and other forms of political instability dominated this period” (94).

9. Several important works of literature point to the questions and conflicts during this period. Unfortunately we can’t read them all ☺, but it’s important to know what they were writing about (see 95-96):

Aphra Behn questioned “whether slavery could be ethical.”

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz “advocate[d] for the right of women to education and a freedom of the mind.”

Moliere’s Tartuffe illustrated how society could be troubled by “ religious sham,” Jonathan Swift “lash[ed] the English for institutionalized injustice;” and Voltaire’s Candide demonstrates that “moralists don’t always practice what they preach”—that is, act morally.

10. 18th century writers depended on literary conventions (agreed upon and accepted forms) to “control an unpredictable world” (98). Just as Blues and country music follows certain rhythms and conventions, mystery novels seem formulaic, and contemporary movies typically follow a three part arc—my note. “The problems of society became particularly important in connection with satire, a popular Enlightenment form. Satire involves criticism of vice and folly.” (99).