The eighteenth century, following the age of Reason, gave birth to a new philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement that transformed the mentality of people not only in the Old Continent, but in the New World alike. This era, known as the Age of Enlightenment, promoted human intellect, reasoning, liberty and virtue. The symbolism behind Enlightenment is found in the elaborate metaphor of light being cast upon the world to reveal the truth in science, social and political order, education and all other human affairs. Probably the best way to describe the spirit of this historically significant period is to view it from the eyes of its most pronounced thinkers. In his work, Immanuel Kant explains: “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one’s own mind without another’s guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere aude) ‘Have the courage to use your own understanding’ is therefore the motto of the Enlightenment.”
Questioning the established order and investigating various phenomena in our physical and metaphysical world anew are characteristic of the Enlightenment. After Newton’s work and the powerful new wave of inventions and discoveries, nothing in the world appeared the same. People felt that if they have been wrong about so much in science, they are probably wrong about other aspects of their surroundings. This intensified the search for answers and despite governmental censorship and persecution, the voices of Enlightenment thinkers could not be silenced, their beliefs – not to be apostatized. On the contrary, the cogent concepts developed by Enlightenment thinkers exposed their true potential with the French and American Revolutions where the people confronted their oppressor and declared themselves independent.
A radical principle during the Enlightenment was the notion of liberty – social, political and religious. Near the beginning of the towering movement, these ideas gathered intellectuals and artists in a common pursuit of freedom of speech and artistic expressions. The Masonic salons and lodges became a favorite spot for intellectuals eager to share their thoughts. As these individuals supported the ideas of freedom and equality, the doors of the salons were open to virtually everybody. These were probably the first places to welcome catholics, jews, men and women alike. This movement significantly changed the public sphere, especially in the the growing and flourishing cities that offered relative anonymity for unorthodox thoughts.
Even at that point, the Freemasons were viewed as a threat to the Catholic church, because of the notion of brotherhood and religious tolerance they had established. This strong reaction and disapproval are already a proof that the Enlightenment was doing what it was intended to do – challenge the existing order. As the movement unfolded, more radical ideas were aired, causing clamor and disturbance which transformed countries for good: “By the 1780s, the Enlightenment had moved out of the comfortable milieu of salons, lodges, and coffee-houses and into new social and domestic spaces. True to its populist roots, it had become further democratized.”2
Most of the prominent thinkers of the time opposed the idea of hereditary monarchy and the church’s exclusive control of social life. Furthermore, many were generally hostile to religious dogmas, embracing the idea that human affairs should be governed by reason and knowledge, instead of religious tradition and mysticism. Yet, amidst the general atmosphere of cult to knowledge and rationality, different philosophers voiced different ideas regarding these fundamental pillars of societies. Still, there is not doubt the radical ideas of that time agitated the collective psyche and transformed the zeitgeist, paving the path for the French and American revolutions, and democracy.
Among the great ideologists of the Enlightenment are John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Immanuel Kant, Moses Mendelssohn, Montesquieu and Thomas Paine. Despite their ideological differences, they all embody the spirit of the Enlightenment which is still alive in their compelling works.
In attempts to identify a governmental system that would benefit the human condition and protect human virtues and liberty, many thinkers tried to see the individual in a basic and pristine condition. This is generally viewed as the ‘state of nature’ and its portrayal captured the interest of many philosophers. John Locke, for example, envisioned the natural condition of mankind as one of absolute freedom. Being able to live one’s life as best seen fit was an inborn right, not a privilege. Yet, Locke explains, this is not to say that people can commit wrongdoings and harm others. On the contrary, there is morality within us that is unspoiled in this pristine primitive condition without luxuries, or hierarchal order. The law of nature, as perceived by Locke, is the basis of all morality and commands that we do not hurt others’ life, health, possessions and liberty. The only thing that can disturb such peaceful order is another’s attempt to overtake our property, or enslave us. In this case, people have to defend themselves and try to preserve their freedom. Yet, this is precisely why a sovereign is needed in any society – in order to protect the peace and natural rights of people. It is easy to see how these ideas might have been a strong influence behind the American revolution. The Declaration of Independence outlines these same ideals and contains the pain of a people who have been oppressed and aggressed against, but also their strength and determination to attain liberation. In 1825, Jefferson himself explains the influence behind the revolution: “Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion”
Many historians dispute Locke’s influence, while others, like Carl Becker write: “Most Americans had absorbed Locke’s works as a kind of political gospel; and the Declaration, in its form, in its phraseology, follows closely certain sentences in Locke’s second treatise on government.”
Locke’s liberalism is incontestable in the declaration of Independence and his convictions have certainly motivated the colonies to stand up and protect their property. Property, in Lock’s writing, plays a very important role. Private property is the reward when one combines all his efforts with nature. Only when one puts himself into his work and nature, then land is made one’s own. Logically then, the colonists felt they had made the land their own when they set foot on the New Continent and started cultivating it. Paradoxically, they did not think America belonged to the native peoples, who have not invested their work in it. Therefore, settlers reasoned, the natives had no legitimate claim of private property. Near the outbreak of the Revolution, American settlers already had strong connections with the land and felt aggressive incursion from the King of England and his officers. As explained in the Declaration, the conditions called for immediate actions: “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world…”
The line of reasoning clearly reminds of Locke’s deductions. Another concept of his becomes evident – the notion of the Social Contract, which was a principal idea. This theory conveyed that if the sovereign fails to protect the people and abuses his power, disregarding people’s liberty, it is their natural right to overthrow this leader.
Other parts of the Declaration of Independence that manifest Enlightenment ideals and, probably, Locke’s line of thought, affirm: “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Locke himself explained in his writings that a government’s purpose was indeed to secure life, liberty, and property. The notion of happiness was first identified as a conscious effort of governments in this document, but the rest is clearly influenced by Locke’s Enlightened spirit. As discussed by historians, the ideologists of the American revolution were attentive of issues of public virtue and corruption. In fact, corruption was considered the greatest threat to liberty. This partly explains the antagonism towards the covetous royal governments that were in the habit of imposing higher and higher taxes to maintain their luxurious lifestyle. This was, in fact, characteristic and very important aspect in both the American and the French Revolution.
Similarly to John Locke’s influence on the American Revolution, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire are generally considered the fundamental thinkers behind the French Revolution. Voltaire was a restless opposer of the French aristocracy and the authority of the church and the state. After being put in jail based solely of the word of a French aristocrat, he left France and settled comfortably in the intellectual circles of England.
At the time, England had already had its revolution and had transformed its institutions to a constitutional monarchy. Voltaire became a fervent proponent of the English ways: “this is a country where all the arts are honored and rewarded…where one thinks freely and nobly without being held back by any servile fear.”
Further, Voltaire utilized his vivid wit, irony, satire and hyperbole to communicate his revolt against aristocracy, religious intolerance and the concept of Providence and metaphysical optimism. Along with his recognized letters, Candide is a powerful work that unravels the injustice and absurdity in the French political and social order as well as the Catholic dogma. This was, indeed, an intellectual tool of criticism and strong satire. Voltaire was repulsed by the corruption and double-facedness within religious institutions (priests are supposed to be celibate, but instead they become the carriers of syphilis). These strong opposition of his undoubtedly affected the mentality of the French, who were just as tired, repulsed and discontent with the reality. Once again, reason and liberty were the underlying principles that fueled the revolutionary movement aiming to abrogate the hereditary monarchy: “The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression … The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation … Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau is another Enlightenment thinker who discussed the Social Contract and is credited with influencing the French Revolution. Just like Hobbs and Locke, he used the methodological concept of the State of Nature in order to strip the individual of artificial cultural influence and, thus, find precisely what a legitimate government should be. In his acclaimed essay “What is the Origin of Inequality Among Men” Rousseau introduced the principles of a reasonable government that would maintain obedience and liberty. Essentially, Rousseau saw men to be free, but in contract among themselves, establishing sovereignty of the people and identifying a leader, but knowing no master.
In reality, however, Rousseau finds the individual restrained by inequality. This was the reasoning behind one of his most famous quotes “Man was born free; and everywhere he is in chains”
The concept of the General will is essential to understanding Rousseau and also very controversial. It was initially introduced in his “Discourse on Political Economy” which explains absolute equality is achieved when everyone surrenders himself in the general whole. Thereafter, no one has interest of gaining for himself, or taking from others as everything is common and free for all. The sovereign, as a legitimate and efficient leader, only embodies the general will and should only be interested in protecting it. This attempt to rationalize France’s political order assuredly influences the social upheaval right before and during the French Revolution.
It is important to note that neither the American, nor the French revolution evolved in vacuum. On the contrary, they aired the restless spirit of a prominent era, where many thinkers exchanged ideas and intricately influenced each other. Therefore, it is hard to point a single ideologist behind the revolutions. Moreover, it is the zeitgeist, with the complexity of all the political, social and religious philosophies that triggered these events. The two revolutions, divided by a vast ocean and more than a decade also were interrelated. Ironically, France, under Louis XVI, supported the colonists during the American Revolution, which only worsened the economic situation in the country, headed the people to famine and intensified further remonstration, which ultimately lead to the King’s assassination. After the American Revolution set the example that Enlightenment ideals can be achieved, the French Revolution committed to the same path. Some of the American revolutionaries, Benjamin Franklin among them, have stayed in Paris where they were contacted by French intellectuals. Undoubtedly, this affected the mentality of the people before the revolution. And while it is true that the average revolutionary , or villager had not read the works of Enlightenment thinkers, their ideas positively affected the social atmosphere.
The Age of Enlightenment significantly reconstructed the political and demographic map of the world and, to a large extent, created institutions as we know them today. It left a huge body of knowledge, art work and philosophical musings. It can be seen in both the beauty and harmony of the arts and the turmoil of historical revolutionary accounts. Mozart’s melodic and uplifting tone was a prelude to majestic social opposition and idealistic search of liberty and equality. Tragically, this was also proem to the terrors of France. In the end, the Enlightenment, with all the changes it inspired, was the manifestation of the human will, intellect and free spirit. People dared to know!
