How the philosophy of the Enlightenment challenged religious authority

The philosophy of the Enlightenment was a period of intellectual and cultural flourishing in Europe and Western civilization, emerging in the late 17th century in Western and Central Europe. Characterized by an emphasis on reason, empirical evidence, and the scientific method, it promoted ideals of individual liberty, religious tolerance, progress, and natural rights.

2 articles, 1 book · about 3 hr 7 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   the philosophy of the enlightenment · Wikipedia · 60+ min read

   According to Jonathan Israel, the Radical Enlightenment was inspired by Spinoza's philosophy and advocated democracy, individual liberty, freedom of expression, and eradication of religious authority. Separately, Descartes' skepticism was refined by Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) and Hume's writings in the 1740s. Some followed Pierre Bayle and argued that atheists could indeed be moral men. Bayle observed that, in his day, "prudent persons will always maintain an appearance of [religion]," and believed even atheists could go beyond self-interest to create and interact in society. Jonathan Israel called journals "the most influential cultural innovation of European intellectual culture." They shifted the cultivated public's attention from established authorities to novelty and innovation, promoting toleration and intellectual objectivity.

2. Read
   "Enlightenment" · plato.stanford.edu · 60+ min read

   The Enlightenment's new science undermined assumptions that constrained philosophical inquiry and promoted philosophy from theology's handmaiden to an independent force, able to challenge the old and construct the new in theory and practice on its own principles.

3. Book
   

   Candide · Bookshop.org

   Candide by Voltaire is a witty, bantering tale and a savage, satiric thrust at philosophical optimism that proclaims disaster and human suffering are part of a benevolent cosmic plan.

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