The eighteenth-century Enlightenment was an intellectual movement centered in France, but reaching into countries around the world. Historians differ on whether the Enlightenment came mainly through elite intellectuals known as philosophes (men like Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Montesquieu, and the baron d'Holbach), or whether the movement occurred through broader social changes in Europe. Whether narrow or broad, however, Enlightenment ideals represented a very visible secular shift in the western world. Among the themes of the movement in France were a clear disdain for secular and church authority (particularly absolutist government and the Catholic Church); boundless optimism that science and the human mind could bring about incredible social progress, and even perfection; and the promotion of religious and social tolerance. Traditionally, the Enlightenment is said to have had its climax in the French Revolution.
The effects of the Enlightenment did not end with this revolution, however. Although the loss of human life in World War I wrought by technological advance led thinkers to criticize heavily the Enlightenment belief in human progress, that belief not only still existed, but could have profound implications for everyday life. In the United States (after the American War for Independence), this was perhaps most visible in what is called the early twentieth-century progressive movement. Here, a variety of mostly middle-class Americans responded to widespread national changes with social and political campaigns ranging from forest conservation to women’s suffrage. Improvements in medicine led to treatment of diseases and physical deformities, and associations were formed to annihilate tuberculosis, cancer, and other maladies. These associations included the American Social Hygiene Association, whose goal was to wipe out sexual disease and who felt that science could eradicate “social” diseases. Though progressives could come from different political parties, all shared a common belief that science could be used to solve social problems; and while some believed scientific methods could lead to greater personal autonomy, others wanted the state to force people to comply with policies meant to benefit the general public. Unfortunately, these policies could include forced sterilization and even euthanasia.
Although two world wars have tempered the belief that society can reach Montesquieu's perfect society, our faith in science today remains unflagging. We do, in fact, have good reason to remain optimistic, with advances in medicine and other areas (the first successful transplant of an artificial windpipe using the patient's own stem cells was reported just last month, for example). I wonder, however, how much damage this same Enlightenment did to the Christian faith with the hatred of what was called "superstition." Enlightenment thinkers in fact assaulted not faith itself, per se, but organized religion. I don't know, however, that this assault did not influence social attitudes toward faith.
The effects of the Enlightenment did not end with this revolution, however. Although the loss of human life in World War I wrought by technological advance led thinkers to criticize heavily the Enlightenment belief in human progress, that belief not only still existed, but could have profound implications for everyday life. In the United States (after the American War for Independence), this was perhaps most visible in what is called the early twentieth-century progressive movement. Here, a variety of mostly middle-class Americans responded to widespread national changes with social and political campaigns ranging from forest conservation to women’s suffrage. Improvements in medicine led to treatment of diseases and physical deformities, and associations were formed to annihilate tuberculosis, cancer, and other maladies. These associations included the American Social Hygiene Association, whose goal was to wipe out sexual disease and who felt that science could eradicate “social” diseases. Though progressives could come from different political parties, all shared a common belief that science could be used to solve social problems; and while some believed scientific methods could lead to greater personal autonomy, others wanted the state to force people to comply with policies meant to benefit the general public. Unfortunately, these policies could include forced sterilization and even euthanasia.
Although two world wars have tempered the belief that society can reach Montesquieu's perfect society, our faith in science today remains unflagging. We do, in fact, have good reason to remain optimistic, with advances in medicine and other areas (the first successful transplant of an artificial windpipe using the patient's own stem cells was reported just last month, for example). I wonder, however, how much damage this same Enlightenment did to the Christian faith with the hatred of what was called "superstition." Enlightenment thinkers in fact assaulted not faith itself, per se, but organized religion. I don't know, however, that this assault did not influence social attitudes toward faith.
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