Thematic on the Enlightenment

The Power within the Enlightened­-man There was a time in which people were unwilling to accept the idea of accepting new ideas. The mentality of people was hand picked by a limited amount of “Gods” as Kings were referred to. People were unable to stand out in the crowd, and instead conformed to what was allowed to be known, but that all changed. Denis Diderot questioned the grasp religion had on the world and pushed forth his radical ideas into the Encyclopedia, which covered all aspects of: religion, science and technology, arts, politics, etc. In the Encyclopedia, he in fact subtly hinted his opposition towards the corruption of church and state and gave way to the new era that would come to question God himself and all pre existing ways of life. It was the Age of Reason, also known as the Enlightenment, which is now known as the intellectual movement that helped expand people’s willingness to question. It ultimately led to the breaking of traditional ideas and was the driving force in the birth and growth of democracy and the power of man.

Diderot paved the way for numerous future known names to take the same rebellious stand against the traditional way of life. Enlightenment Literature was a celebration of ideas­it was all about what the human mind was truly capable of. They were optimistic about understanding the world with new potential knowledge. Intellectuals began to consider the possibility of freedom and democracy.The greatest display of rebellion was the Declaration of Independence that called for the abolishment of grasp Britain held against the Americas. The Declaration of independence was created by great minds like: Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith. Their reasoning of breaking the ties with the mother country was due to the fact, people begun to rebel and rationalize about the ideals of what it really meant to live. They reasoned that the only way to truly be free was to fight against those unfair ways and from here they contrived this new idea of the importance of the individual. The Enlightenment fully encompassed this idea of the rights of individuals and their importance in society. People like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau all created these new found ideas of people having the right to life, liberty and prosperity. Voltaire was influenced by Montesquieu and although he feared the passions of the common people, he ridiculed the pompous behaviors of the aristocrats. He truthfully thought he was the friend of peasants and serfs.He was hopeful that the enlightened monarchs would do things based on the good of all people.John Locke specifically believed in the empowerment of the people and ensured that the best form of government was a limited one. In the book Two Treatises of Government, John Locke rejected the idea of divine right of Kings and argued that when the King loses the consent of his governed, they all have the ability to remove him a King. It is important to know that this particular work was the primary influence in the libertarian ideals of the American Revolution. Less than a decade later, Thomas Jefferson, used the ideas of John Locke to create the Bill of Rights, which was integrated into the Declaration of Independence; it helped paved way for the power of the individual. The Bill of Rights also challenged this idea of “Divine Right of Kings” that basically named the King the dictator of a nation. With the Bill of Rights, the people became the ones in charge of maintaining a country together. The Enlightenment ensured that the radicalism that became of the King was unheard of; in the Americas, they no longer referred to the one in charge as the King anymore, but as a representative of the people. This entire idea of government being controlled by the divinity of a single person, based on the supposed decision of God became obsolete. The government began to separate church and state and began to rationalize how their government will go about without the control of religion and explore new ideas. Instead, people began to “slowly separate from the collective and began to develop as an antithesis of the collective agrarian society of prior centuries; thus, giving rise to a wave of new philosophical thought that evolved into the popular movement of the Enlightenment” (Aaron).

The strangely surprising thing about this immense change in the outlook of people’s live was the fact that “even though the release from mortal authority and the servitude of religion was central to the Enlightenment, they did not banish the Deities. Instead they either personified deities as part of the natural world which allowed the individual the opportunity to be “part or particle of God” (Emerson, 657). The reason why this was especially interesting was because this meant that somehow, the entire view of life was shifted, yet the idea of a single God was still intact. Instead of religion completely transforming its ideals, people began to shift their take on religion and due to this change in ideals; people began forming their own churches. “The followers of the Enlightenment did not simply limit the role of God in one’s life, but denied that God has any direct involvement in our lives. God was understood as the “Divine Watchmaker” who set the universe in motion, just as a watchmaker would wind a watch, and then left everything else up to us” (Gross). The man who started it all was Martin Luther. “In 1517,  Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses, a series of condemnation of Church practices, to the door of the Cathedral at Wittenberg. He questioned the efficacy of indulgences and this was seen as an attack on the Church as a whole” (Grosse). From this new idea of ideas of religion, new churches like: Calvinism, Baptism, Anabaptist, Anglican, Lutheran, etc were born. The separation from the grips of Catholicism expanded and people began to make their own decisions about the faith they intended to pursue. An example of this would be how Calvinists believe in the idea of predestination, this idea that God already knows who and when people will go to hell or heaven and there is no way of stopping it because it is already pre­determined. Before the Enlightenment people never questioned the all knowing idea of Christianity, mostly because people were illiterate at the time. However, due to this idea of individuals being powerful in the world, it allowed for many more people to become literate and therefore interpret the bible for what they truly believe, again displaying this idea of rebellion. The entire era of Enlightenment was to question the realms of what is now and trying to think of the possibilities of the future.

Another thing that drastically changed the way American lived was the book, Wealth of Nations by discussing the importance of laissez­faire. That the economy could only function with the idea of an invisible hands, which is an off hands government approach which would help regulate the economy. Adam Smith basically provided an insight into morality, money, and many subjects which we deal with on daily basis without having any idea about their origin. The Wealth of Nations specifically reads, “about how the mercantile system that existed at the time of writing, but along the way, gives a complicated but brilliant account of an economic system based in human nature and deeply rooted social dynamics” (Smith). It is important to realize that his numerous sequels of these books help individuals come to understand new found business about law and ethics. “He specifically attacked the mercantile system and how Smith's first major criticism of mercantilism is that it conflates value and wealth with precious metals” (Gradesaver). He was the first to invent this idea of Gross Domestic Product, which is the dollar’s value made of all finished products made within a country’s border. He went against this idea of previous medals being the standard measurement of wealth in a nation; therefore he felt that by using the profit of production within our borders, we would ensure to realize annually how much profit the United States really does make due to made things within the nations and things exported to other countries, there by comparing to previous years our wealth, which is how we can indicate our prosperity or down turn. This form of wealth indicator would have never been possible, had it not been due for Adam Smith. He is this idea of breaking from the traditions of breaking free and exploring that new found knowledge.

The Enlightenment Art was all about bringing reason and real life practical matter to life. It was based on the idea that the “business of the artist was conceived of as the imitation of nature, and as far as high art was concerned, this process of imitation should be informed by an intelligent grasp of the processes used to produce classical art” (The Enlightenment).Two major styles developed in the visual arts: Rococo and Neoclassicism. Rococo was known as the style fighting the Grandeur theme, it instead was dualistic which meant that it private and considered for the higher class as well as the lower class and could be public instead of private.It reflected a desire to rekindle the spirit and forms of classical art from ancient Greece and Rome, and was based on the principles of order and reason. The illustration of human beings should be the most value type of art, simply because it was real and gave order to the world of art. An especially needed quality for an art piece to be considered Rococo is the decorative and elaborate form in which the paintings, sculpture, drawing, etc was drawn in. An example of this real world drawing would be in Joseph Wright of Derby's painting A Philosopher Giving A Lecture at the Orrery(1765), he demonstrates the mechanical model of the solar system. The solar system had never been thought up of and so having found out a system that demonstrated the motions of the planets around the sun; we see the first steps into astrological advancement, which is what the Enlightenment also discusses the importance of advancements. This is important because the Enlightenment was all about new ideas and yet even so was not meant to so much create emotion but instead curiosity and simple admiration for new things.. Eugene Delacroix, for example painted La liberté guidant le peuple, which is latin for Liberty Leading the People, the painting was influenced by the July Revolution of 1830. Delacroix truly felt he had to paint this because just as the people felt it was their duty to fight for their beliefs, it was his duty to paint that particular moment. This was the portrayal of an art that was a big more expressive and emotional in terms of the content of settings, place and what the art should make you feel. However, even a war is predicate and although it may elicit some deep emotions, it is still considered straightforward and more decorative than it would emotionally draining. Delacroix expressed his individuality through this painting through the use of very orderly and defined strokes as well as having a particular reason behind his painting.

Neoclassicism is known as the severe and very non expressive form of art that was created in rebellion to the flamboyant style of the Rococo. Neoclassical artists would include: Antonio Canova, John Louis Davis, Robert Smith, and Anton Raphael Mengs. Jacques­Louis Davis was highly famous for his painting The Death of Socrates, which illustrates Socrates in a calm and relaxed for even though he is accepting death. In the painting, Socrates “continues to speak even while reaching for the cup, demonstrating his indifference to death and his unyielding commitment to his ideals” (Socrates). This picture therefore sums up the idea of death to the philosopher which can be understood because the art was meant to be straightforward and not meant to dive into the emotionality within a viewer, instead it was art to simply admire. Other noteworthy artists, like Theobald Reinhold von Oer, whose piece Weimar’s Courtyard of the Muses, was meant to illustrate the German literary and and cultural movement that established basis for a new humanism. It was based on the principles of this new humanism; the“Enlightenment humanism is characterized by such keywords as autonomy, reason, and progress, and it is usually distinguished from Renaissance humanism because of its more secular nature,” in addition to also combining parts of the renaissance humanism which incorporate some ideals of religion (Humanism). Take for example, Antonio Canova, his piece Cupid and Psyche, goes back to that idea previously talked about how the Enlightenment incorporated deities as natural part of the world as well as the humanism described previously. The god Cupid in this sculpture is in the height of love and tenderness, immediately after having awaken the lifeless Psyche with a kiss. This is important because it illustrates the breaking of traditional art due to the fact that Psyche and Cupid were about mythological Gods, henceforth displaying this open­mindedness of the Enlightenment and the simplicity of how the art can be described illustrates an idea of everyday life, not in extremes of expressionism at all.

Enlightenment Music was characterized by a number of new ideas. Most prominent was this shift in melodies, during the enlightenment era, melodies were all about short phrases and simple accompaniments. More than a just new stylistic definition of music that was defined based on the time period, it was important to note that, that the Enlightenment music was made between “a turning point encompassing the years of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire,” this is especially important because this music was not just a random selection of years that were mundane, instead this music thrived during a time of revolutionary and groundbreaking new not only ideals but questioning of life (Enlightenment). It became a necessity for the language of music to be “international”, meaning that it should appeal to everyone. It was revolution not just within the form of politics but a revolution within the mind. Music was meant to be individualized yet during the previous eras music was not nearly as important. It was during the era of Enlightenment that music thrived and became popular. In fact“most of the composers during this time period had created great music due to the fact that they were surrounded by the thriving culture and art” (Enlightenment). A prominent characteristic that set apart this music from most was that music during this time was meant to be natural and immediately pleasing. Noteworthy composers during this time included: Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, George Frederick Handel, Ludwig von Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Antonio Vivaldi. It was actually Bach and Handel that can be given the credit for commencing this new movement of music, it is said they paved the way for some of the greatest composer of the Enlightenment. It was interesting because these two were not considered to be innovator in the world of music, yet are two of the most respected composer because they are still illustrated as geniuses of music for the simple fact they were the primary influencers, let's say the wise grandfather of the Enlightenment music era. Johann Sebastian Bach composed music with the intention that his music would not only be heard but felt. He had originally composed music that was all about religion, yet nearing the end of his life he broke away from that. “His secular music had reflected his love of life and for crazy humor” (MediaWiki). It truly went against tradition, but he decided to compose music that gave ideas instead of just sound, which his life rapidly depleting he poured out music that expressed his inner emotionality and left it out for the world to see him not as a simple piece in a puzzle but see him as an individual with unique qualities based on his music. Next we move onto George Frideric Handel, “the main difference between Bach and Handel was that Handel had written his music for the purpose of the people while Bach had written music for God” (Enlightenment). His music was particularly known for being copied from difference composers, however, he used the incorporation of many composers as well as international sounds in order to create a unique blend of music that was displayed as pleasing and universal to people. Henceforth their commencement into the secular form of music helped other like previously stated before, Beethoven, Mozart, etc.

Ludwig von Beethoven was especially innovative in his composition of music, considering that he had a particular interest in politics within his music. After grieving for the death of the reformist Emperor Joseph II in 1789, Beethoven became sympathetic to enlightenment ideals. He especially promoted the French Revolution which was displayed by his Symphony No.3 which was dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte after having self­proclaimed himself as the Emperor of the France. In 1804 he even changed the description of this symphony from “in honor of a good man”, to “the memory of a great man.” What was truly ironic about Beethoven was the fact that he was one of the most known classical composers, which was during the era of the Enlightenment, yet he was “firmly rooted in the Classical era, Beethoven's music was revolutionary for his time, breaking forms, creating styles, and introducing the world to the Romantic era” (Beethoven).

Finally Wolfgang Amadeus can be described as the epitome of enlightenment music. He is definitely one of the most recognized Enlightenment musical composers and in addition to being one of the most known composers in all eras of music as well. Mozart was known as a prodigy, at a very young age, he was known to compose music for his father to hear. It is not exaggerated when you say that music chose Mozart, by the age of five Mozart was a composer, and although he was unable to write down what notes were played, he felt the music and chose what was beautiful in accordance to his own wants. It was “Mozart’s travels to England and France had exposed him to the ideals of independence and equality” (Till). Mozart displayed this immense amount of support on the newfound ideas of society. It was in his opera ‘“The Marriage of Figaro” epitomized the new ways of thinking by giving servants a central role’, something that was unheard of before the Enlightenment (Till). It was Mozart who first illustrated the idea of equally amongst entertainment. Those less fortune than aristocrats still deserved to be amongst the beauty of music, theatres, and art. In other words, he was truly an influential character not only in the musical sense but in helping people understand what it was to truly be a powerful individual and not in the terms of money, but in the terms of what specific qualities defined you as a person.

 The commencement of these rationalized ideals all began with the single stroke of magic, by a man named Denis Diderot that first retaliated due to the unfairness of the state and then the church. He argued for the complete abolishment of church and states to get mixed together, because all it does is create chaos. The Enlightenment was the intellectual movement that helped expand the ideals of democracy throughout the world. It questioned traditional ideas and changed the world from a religious mindset to that of rationalism. In other worlds it is quite evident that throughout the course of the Enlightenment Era, there was acts of rebellion not only in literature but in all forms of media. It was through the use of literature, however, that the enlightened writers were able to pass on their questioning on the old standard of living. Lets recap on the ideas Diderot inflicted upon the people. The idea of an encyclopedia was unheard of but yet people were finally willing to question what was spoon fed to them since birth. The idea of advancement was something to be scared about, people were instilled into the idea of divine right of kings and life to be dictated based on the plan of religion. Advancements in all aspects of life were contributed by the Enlightenment. The only way we have transitioned into the people we are today, that is people that are willing to expand their horizons, be the best you can be, question education, society and yourself, and the idea of equality was all rooted in the heart of the Enlightenment, with people like Mozart, Locke, Montesquieu, Luther, Goya etc. The effects of the Enlightenment era are not only still seen today but felt amongst the crowds of people that comprise the world. And just as Mozart’s music is too unwilling to die within the hearts of people, the idea of expansion of not only knowledge but curiosity of advancements will always drive people, and so the moment the Enlightenment stepped “foot” on this world, was the moment its influence became eternal.



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