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What is Your Favorite Hit of the European Enlightenment?

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
By "hit", I mean idea, notion, value, principle etc. So what is your favorite idea, notion, value, and/or principle to come out of the European Enlightenment?

Does your favorite hit have roots in Christianity and/or another religion?




_______________________
And now, to make it up to you for inflicting yet another insufferable thread on you...

 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
By "hit", I mean idea, notion, value, principle etc. So what is your favorite idea, notion, value, and/or principle to come out of the European Enlightenment?

Does your favorite hit have roots in Christianity and/or another religion?




_______________________
And now, to make it up to you for inflicting yet another insufferable thread on you...


For me it was the leaps made in art, most of which i adore but some, not so much
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
By "hit", I mean idea, notion, value, principle etc. So what is your favorite idea, notion, value, and/or principle to come out of the European Enlightenment?

It is the answer to the question "What is enlightenment?":
"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity (Unmündigkeit)." - Immanuel Kant via Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment? - Wikipedia
and the resulting "Sapere aude".

Does your favorite hit have roots in Christianity and/or another religion?
In a way as it is in opposition to the notion of many religions that people are dumb and need leadership. On the other hand it is also an advancement of the ideas of Erasmus von Rotterdam and Martin Luther that the leadership doesn't have to be the church.
 

Daemon Sophic

Avatar in flux
It is the answer to the question "What is enlightenment?":
"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity (Unmündigkeit)." - Immanuel Kant via Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment? - Wikipedia
and the resulting "Sapere aude".


In a way as it is in opposition to the notion of many religions that people are dumb and need leadership. On the other hand it is also an advancement of the ideas of Erasmus von Rotterdam and Martin Luther that the leadership doesn't have to be the church.
This.

It is the main idea of the "Age of Enlightenment" itself. We don't need to reflexively reach for the answers to life's questions/problems in mystical fantasies, or even in 'wise and generous' kings or other men of authority.
It is the idea of taking the hard (mature) path of searching for answers, confirming their correctness, and then proceeding with acting upon those answers. It was the beginning of moving from philosophy and faith, toward science and innovation, not just as an occasional "Wow! That worked out well. Who knew?", to more of a "There's gotta be a better way to do this. Hmmm...Stand back! I'm gonna science this thing!" :cool:
 

Daemon Sophic

Avatar in flux
If we accept such a linear process existed, then The Enlightenment would have been far closer to the end of this process than the beginning.
While your point has merit, I believe it was The Age of Enlightenment when such forms of thinking went from being patently unacceptable, or at best ‘tolerated’, to becoming the norm.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
For me, the greatest "hit" of the European Enlightenment is its affirmation of epistemic egalitarianism. The notion that any rational, informed person is the epistemic equal of any other rational, informed person pretty much makes possible just about all the other major accomplishments of the Enlightenment. It seems to me, it's the cornerstone.

Can epistemic egalitarianism be traced back to an origin in a religion?
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
By "hit", I mean idea, notion, value, principle etc. So what is your favorite idea, notion, value, and/or principle to come out of the European Enlightenment?

Does your favorite hit have roots in Christianity and/or another religion?




_______________________
And now, to make it up to you for inflicting yet another insufferable thread on you...


Cartesian doubt - I see it more as how I happen to go about life than a favorite "hit". Question one's own beliefs.
 
The notion that any rational, informed person is the epistemic equal of any other rational, informed person pretty much makes possible just about all the other major accomplishments of the Enlightenment. It seems to me, it's the cornerstone.

Can epistemic egalitarianism be traced back to an origin in a religion?

My theological knowledge is admittedly somewhat basic so I may be misrepresenting this idea, but isn't that similar to one of the fundamental principles of Protestantism: priesthood of all believers?

All believers have been given equal access to god and have the ability to understand His truths without mediation.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Libertarianism....while aspects of it go back further in history,
1789 saw the first recorded use of the term by Wm Belsham
(a Brit who sympathised with revolting Ameristanians).
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
Libertarianism....while aspects of it go back further in history,
1789 saw the first recorded use of the term by Wm Belsham
(a Brit who sympathised with revolting Ameristanians).

When I saw 'potentially offensive movement' I thought it would be an animated gif of Willie gyrating. But this is far, far more troublesome...
 
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