This week in class we discussed Enlightenment Theory. The enlightenment covers a lot of ground with many different theories. The big ones go as follows: rationalism, empiricism, and then skepticism.
Rationalism is the essential idea that knowledge is gained and understood through reason. Empiricism is the idea that knowledge is gained and understood through the senses and the experience felt through the senses. Skepticism is the idea that there is no such thing as true knowledge because being truly knowledgeable is impossible.
It was noted in our lecture that Descartes is a rationalist. Descartes is famous for saying “I think therefore I am.” This implies that there is a self who thinks, a dualism, a dualistic existence. Because you, as a person and as a being, think, you can be sure that you exist and are real.
Also in our lecture, it was said (on empiricism) that “you need your senses; your senses will give you truth.” Another movement that played into empiricism was romance and idealism, where many stories played up archetypes such as knights and chivalry. This emphasis on senses naturally lent itself to more romantic, emotion driven ideas. I think that since archetypes of chivalry and what represented good and evil were popularized, thought processes that cultivated the human emotions and senses would naturally popularize along with it.
Eventually, Aristocratic ideology leads into Progressive ideology to Conservative ideology, then to Aristocratic ideology. This implies a cycle of ideology of emphasizing aristocratic ideas, then progression, then conservative classical notions, and eventually back to aristocratic ideas.
Overall, enlightenment offered an incredibly wide array of thought processes and there was a lot of growth within this time period.
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