Hume, Enlightenment, and Sociocultural Context
Historical and Sociocultural Framework of Hume’s Philosophy
The historical context of Hume’s thought is the 18th century, the era of the Enlightenment. This was a time marked by the triumph of the Whig Revolution and leading up to the French Revolution. The central part of this century can be considered a period of relative calm, preceded by the so-called religious wars and followed by a series of revolutionary wars.
Political Landscape
Politically, the most common form of government was absolute monarchy, often disguised as enlightened despotism. New political ideas spread throughout Europe, giving rise to the American Revolution (1776) and the French Revolution (1789). Absolutism and feudal society were gradually abolished by this revolutionary spirit. This movement culminated in France under the Napoleonic Empire and gradually extended throughout Europe during the 19th century, ending the old regime and leading to the triumph of bourgeois parliamentary democracies.
England was an exception: the triumph of the liberal revolution in 1688 shifted the country to a parliamentary monarchy, a liberal system based on the division of powers and the recognition of civil and political rights. Hume undertook the task of creating a Science of Man to support and strengthen the new social and political situation.
Sociocultural Context
In the mid-18th century, European society experienced population growth due to relative peace, improving economic conditions, increased agricultural performance, and the beginnings of the First Industrial Revolution. This had an impact on the existing social structure: the old structure of estates under absolutism was doomed to disappear. The bourgeoisie gained significant economic power and, in parallel, demanded certain political rights.
The Enlightenment
The 18th century is known as the century of the Enlightenment. The learned advocated for the idea of an autonomous and critical reason, interest in science, the secularization of thought, universal knowledge (embodied in the Encyclopaedia), confidence in progress and the development of human beings through education, a natural religion devoid of rules and tolerant, and the defense of political freedoms.
This enlightened spirit influenced all forms of knowledge:
- In science, Newtonian physics was prominent.
- In art, neoclassicism dominated.
- Music reached heights of great beauty.
- The edition of the Encyclopedia was also noteworthy.
Philosophical Context
Philosophy played a significant role in supporting efforts to achieve the emancipation of the individual, based on autonomous reason. The century began with the new empiricism from Hume, marking a new understanding of enlightened reason, in clear contrast to the rationalism that conditionally granted rights to experience. Other lines and currents of thought culminated in the German philosopher Kant, who, from a privileged position, synthesized and overcame them. His great purpose was simply to answer the big question: what is man? This involved the development of a theory of knowledge, based on Newtonian Science, bringing together the best of rationalism and empiricism, thus overcoming the limitations of each. Answering the question what can I know only detracted from answering the other two to accomplish its goal: what to do and what can I expect.