Empiricism and the Enlightenment: A Philosophical Overview
Empiricism
General Features of Empiricism
Classical empiricism spanned the 17th and 18th centuries, encompassing both the Baroque and Enlightenment periods. This predominantly English school of thought arose from a unique historical context. While bourgeois revolutions against absolutism occurred across Europe in the mid-17th century, only in England, where the economic power of the bourgeoisie merged with the political power of the nobility, did these revolutions truly succeed. Following a period of political crises and civil wars, a parliamentary monarchy was established in 1688, securing the economic, political, and cultural rights of the bourgeoisie. England became a model for other nations, and two Englishmen, Locke (with his theory of political liberalism) and Newton (with his scientific contributions), stand out as key Enlightenment figures.
Empiricism, like rationalism, considered the problem of knowledge central to philosophy, but their answers often diverged. While both were influenced by modern science, rationalism focused on its mathematical aspects, whereas empiricism emphasized the importance of experience.
Key Features of Empiricism:
- Experience as the Source of Knowledge: Empiricists believed the mind began as a “blank slate,” filled through experience, rejecting the innate ideas proposed by rationalists.
- Limits of Human Knowledge: Knowledge is restricted to experience. Attempts to transcend experience result in probable or doubtful claims. Hume’s skepticism exemplifies this challenge to rationalism’s pursuit of absolute knowledge.
- Knowledge as Ideas: We know ideas, not things themselves. This aligns with rationalism, but George Berkeley’s interpretation led to radical idealism (denying material reality). Reason, in a critical capacity, explores its own limits and possibilities, avoiding metaphysical concerns and focusing on practical matters (political, moral, etc.).
The Enlightenment
General Characteristics of the Enlightenment
The Enlightenment represents the ideology and culture developed by the European bourgeoisie during their struggle against absolutism and the nobility. It can also be seen as the culmination of Renaissance rationalism. Originating in France, this phenomenon spread across Europe during the 18th century. The Enlightenment embodied the critical stance adopted by the bourgeoisie against the established order.
Key Characteristics of the Enlightenment:
- Rationalism: “Rational” was a ubiquitous term in 18th-century literature, philosophy, and science. Intellectuals of this era referred to their time as the “Age of Enlightenment,” emphasizing the power of logic and intelligence to illuminate all aspects of existence. They prioritized reason, believing humans could understand everything through intellect, and only that which could be understood by reason was real. This rationalism led to a fight against superstition, ending the era of “witch hunts.” In religion, rationalist arguments gave rise to deism. Many Enlightenment figures were deists, believing in a creator God but rejecting revealed religions and advocating religious tolerance.
- Pursuit of Happiness: Enlightenment thinkers believed nature intended humans to be happy. This happiness, from a bourgeois perspective, rested on private property, freedom, and equality (specifically legal and political, not economic equality).
- Belief in the Natural Goodness of Man: Philosophers of this period believed humans were inherently good.
- Optimism: Eighteenth-century thinkers viewed nature as a perfect machine, fostering optimism. They also believed history represented the progressive evolution of humanity, leading towards a perfect society, a kind of earthly paradise.
- Secularism: The Enlightenment marked Europe’s first secular culture, existing outside of, and sometimes in opposition to, Christianity. This stemmed partly from the Church’s rejection of the bourgeois lifestyle, which embraced trade, lending with interest, and profit. Christian virtues were secularized; instead of “love” (love of neighbor for God’s sake), they spoke of “philanthropy” (love of man for man’s sake). This secularism is evident in the literature of the time, which shifted from religious texts to works on philosophy and science.