Age Of Enlightenment Research Articles

Enlightenment: Defining the Goals of Modernity

Modernity is seen as a historical process that started with the Renaissance and took shape with the French Revolution. Modernity, which passed through historical turning points such as Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment, gained its own character in these periods. In this study, the Enlightenment period and its ideas, which are accepted as one of the most important periods of modernity and the modern world, are discussed. During the Enlightenment period, it was emphasized that the human mind should be purified from traditions and other old-fashioned features. It is no coincidence that one of the first concepts that comes to mind when modernity is mentioned is the rational mind. The fact that reason is the central and determining element and character of modern human life, modern institutions and society is related to the Enlightenment period. In this article, the Age of Enlightenment is discussed within the framework of its basic characteristics, the features it brought to modernity and its relationship with religion. In the article, the foregrounding of reason and the spread of rationalization to all areas of modernity are evaluated as an achievement of the Enlightenment period. This study, which was carried out with the literature review method of the qualitative research method, one of the research methods of social sciences, evaluated the Enlightenment as a turning point in which the goals of modernity were determined.

The history of uveitis: from antiquity to the present day.

This comprehensive review traces the historical understanding and treatment of uveitis from ancient civilisations to modern medicine, a history which reflects the evolution of medical understanding and practice in general. Early descriptions of ocular inflammation appear in Egyptian medical papyri from 1700 BCE, with subsequent contributions from Greek and Roman physicians, including Hippocrates and Galen, who provided foundational observations of ocular inflammatory conditions. Medieval scholarsin the Middle East, particularly Avicenna, preserved and advanced classical knowledge while recognising the systemic nature of ocular inflammation. The Renaissance and Enlightenment periods brought anatomical precision and the emergence of ophthalmology as a distinct specialty, notably through innovations such as Helmholtz's ophthalmoscope in 1851. The twentieth century marked a paradigm shift with the evolution of immunological understanding, leading to the recognition of autoimmune mechanisms and genetic predispositions in uveitis. The introduction of corticosteroids mid-century revolutionised treatment, followed by the development of steroid-sparing immunomodulatory agents and, more recently, targeted biological therapies. Contemporary advances in imaging technology and the establishment of international collaborative groups have standardised classification and treatment approaches. This historical perspective demonstrates the progression from empirical observations to precision medicine in uveitis, highlighting the importance of understanding this evolution for advancing future therapeutic strategies.

Insight into the changes of European agriculture during the age of Baroque and Enlightenment: interdisciplinary survey of manor farmyard Švamberk (Czech Republic).

Following European exploration of the Americas in the late 15th century, new plants rapidly spread across Europe. Simultaneously, plants from Asia and Africa arrived. Initially, they were grown in ornamental gardens but later became integral to major production centres, significantly transforming European agriculture. Neophytes gained prominence during a period of rapid economic progress in central Europe, and many have been cultivated since the 17th century. Their importance is documented through written sources and archaeobotanical findings.This study of the manor farm Švamberk (Czechia) highlights how multidisciplinary research of agricultural production centres is crucial for understanding pre-industrial landscapes and the environmental impact of early modern societies. Agriculture's development correlates with changes in a landscape now suppressed by industrial interventions, yet key to sustainable development.Plant remains in vault infills and roofs at Švamberk farmstead were dated using dendrochronology, with 99 samples and 81,892 plant macroremains analyzed. Dendrochronological and strontium isotope analyses trace forestry and timber trade over time.Timber felled in the 17th century was likely local, but by the late 18th century, timber came via complex transportation from southern Bohemia. Primary crops were grains, oilseeds, and vegetables, with evidence of exotic species like maize, tobacco, sunflowers (native to the Americas), sorghum (native to Africa), Parthenocissus, and Chinese thuja (native to Asia), some of the oldest archaeological evidence of their cultivation in central Europe.

Rudyard Kipling's Kim : A Novel of Networks

abstract: This analysis explores Rudyard Kipling's view of the limitations of Western universalist philosophy through three train scenes in Kim (1901). Each scene develops Kim's Bildung in relation to the culturally hybrid spaces of colonized India, and each contrasts the experience of hybridity against European Enlightenment concepts of the material world. There are two distinct types of enlightenment involved: Kim's western education is associated with scientific objectivity, instrumental rationality, and progressive conceptions of civilization; his eastern education involves spiritual clarity, the interdependence of all entities, and transcendence of materialism and its related suffering. Such concepts are challenged by the novel's modernization of Bildungsroman , which emphasizes networks of relations, rather than independence and autonomy. A comparative reading of two panoramic views—from the Grand Trunk Road and from the lama's enlightened perspective—illustrates Kipling's rejection of a unified theory of enlightenment, further complicating the implications of Western Enlightenment for unreconciled hybridity.

ქართული და ევროპული განმანათლებლობა

All scientists, who research The Georgian Enlightenment are inte­rested for the similarities and the differences of the Georgian and the European Enlightenment. The Late Revival was the transition period of the West Euro­pean culture. It was the middle period of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Thus, this was the main reason of diversity of many styles of art and lite­rature. Some of them – the Baroque and the Classicism were the rep­resentations of the Late Revival and the other part was the result of the new epoch – The Enlightenment. The Georgian literature was developed side by side to Eastern lite­rature and European literature. For the development of the Georgian lite­rature was important the Eastern literature as well as the European litera­ture, but in the different epochs the influence was larger or smaller. According to this the Georgian literature of XVI-XVIII ages, which is named by Korneli Kekelidze as the Georgian Revival, was influenced by Eastern literature, but the Christianity was the main reason of the strong connection with Western and European lite­ra­ture and the representation of it was the Georgian Baroque (M. Nach­­khebia), and the Georgian Enlightenment (R. Baramidze, I. Ratiani). The central figure of the Georgian Enlightenment was David Gura­mishvili. He was a great representative of the Georgian Enligh­tenment as well as Georgian kings – Vakhtang the VI, Teimuraz the first, Archil – who were great poets too. The main quality of the literature of the European and the Georgian Enlightenment is democratization of literature and poetry. It should be no­ted that Davit Guramishvili was very closely connec­ted with democra­tization of Georgian poetry. David Guramishvili has widened and deepened the national-popular traditions of Geor­gian poetry. His poetry expresses folk wisdom, spread as aphorisms in his ,,Davitiani”. The ideal of the European Enlightenment is the reasonable gentleman who will express himself well in the commonplaces of the day, but will not bore others with his own special learning. The Classicism and The Baroque were well established in Europe. The most important theoretical work of the epoch of Neoclassicism in Europe was the Art of Poetry, published in France in 1647 by Boileau. This theoretical treatise remains one of the most famous works of criticism ever written. As long as the neoclassical doctrines ruled the world of letters, Boileau’s name was supreme. According to Boileau’s theory, truth and beauty are one. The poet uses his reason to discover truth in nature. It is plain that what Boileau means by nature is human nature and that he believes that this is best portrayed in the classics. The advice to study nature ends up by being the advice to study the classics. The most popular poets and writers of the Georgian Revival, Georgian Baroque, Georgian Classicism and Georgian Enlighten­ment didn’t write theoretical treatises, philosophical doctrines and theoretical letters, but their works and their poetry includes their ideas and philosophical, ethical, cos­mological and sicio-political views. That is why we can talk not only about similarities, but also about differences of Georgian Enlightenment and European Enlightenment. The main likenesses of the Georgian Enlightenment and the European Enlightenment are the creative methods – these are rationalism and the principle of the historicism, which is developed as the principle of the realism. The main difference of the Georgian Enlightenment and the European Enlightenment is the attitude to Christianity and the Church. The writers and the poets of the Georgian Enlightenment were not aggressive to Christianity and the Church.

Architectural Meaning of Compromising Style of Korean Traditional Catholic Church in the Period of Enlightenment of Korea - Focused on the Case of ‘Nabawi’ Catholic Church -

Architectural Meaning of Compromising Style of Korean Traditional Catholic Church in the Period of Enlightenment of Korea - Focused on the Case of ‘Nabawi’ Catholic Church -

I. I. von Felbiger and the creation of the European school education system

Introduction. One of the most important conditions for the success of any type of activity is its systematic nature. This statement fully applies to such an important area of the spiritual life of society as education. The creation of the educational system in Europe is associated with the name of the outstanding teacher-reformer Johann Ignaz von Felbiger (1724-1788), who vividly proved himself as a scientist, founder of educational institutions, author of important documents and textbooks that for many decades determined the content and nature of schooling in European countries and in Russia. Materials and methods. The author uses the following research methods: analysis of historical and pedagogical literature, biographical and historical methods, an axiological scientific approach to the study of the value content in the activities of I. I. von Felbiger. The work uses publications by foreign and Russian authors. Results. The period of I. I. von Felbiger's life and his organizational activities coincided with the age of Enlightenment, which led to an increase in interest among a significant part of the population of many European countries in science and its practical use in the interests of society, as well as to the problems of educational development. I. I. von Felbiger acted as the organizer of educational institutions designed for various groups the population and the levels of training of students. He substantiated the idea of the first public school system in history and partially implemented it into practice. Over time, this system, which in some countries was called Sagan, became generally accepted in Europe. His ideas were developed in the process of creating a school education system in the Russian Empire. Discussion. Von Felbiger's activities in the field of education were multifaceted. He carried out the practical management of the educational institution, was a teacher, the general commissioner for education of the whole country, and finally, he created valuable legislative acts that received approval from the monarchs and ordinary teachers. He also authored methodological and educational manuals for teachers that corresponded to the current needs of society. Conclusion. The famous educational reformer von Felbiger left a vivid mark on the history of European science and culture. He went down in the history of pedagogy as the creator of the Sagan school system. The history of his life and work, as well as the genesis of the first education system he created in Europe, deserve further comprehensive study.

“China” and the Emergence of Religious Toleration in Enlightenment Philosophers, Part II: Voltaire's Project of Universal Toleration and the Legacy of Intercultural Self‐Critique

ABSTRACTThis article explores the significance of engaging in intercultural reversals of perspectives by reconstructing Voltaire's reflections on the relationship between China and Europe. It highlights the ensuing ethics of universal religious tolerance in this civilizational comparison. Voltaire employed China as a heuristic model primarily to criticize the intolerance and fanaticism of French Catholics. He also used the methodology of intercultural reversals of perspectives to articulate his arguments for universal religious toleration. This paper's focus on the philosophical reception of China reveals the emergence of what we call “intercultural self‐critique” and an important conception of religious toleration during the European Enlightenment.

Thomas Hobbes' Contributions to Development Theory and Political Philosophy

This study critically examined Thomas Hobbes' contributions to development theory and political philosophy. The study aimed to analyze Hobbes' key ideas, including the conception of human nature, the theory of the social contract and state formation, and the perspective on sovereignty and absolute power, and to assess their lasting impact on subsequent development theories and political thought. The analysis drew on a review of Hobbes' primary works, such as Leviathan and De Cive, as well as secondary sources that examined the influence of these ideas. The study employed a qualitative, interpretive approach, situating Hobbes' theories within the broader intellectual and historical context of the Enlightenment era. The findings demonstrated that Hobbes' mechanistic view of human nature, driven by self-preservation and competition, highlighted the necessity of a structured society and a strong governing authority to mitigate societal disorder. The social contract theory, which justified the transfer of individual rights to a sovereign power in exchange for security and order, profoundly shaped theories of state formation and the legitimacy of political authority. Moreover, Hobbes' advocacy for absolute, centralized sovereignty continued to inform debates on the role of the state in ensuring stability and progress. The study concludes that Hobbes' ideas remain highly relevant in analyzing and addressing contemporary development challenges, particularly in societies grappling with issues of governance, corruption, and the breakdown of social contracts, as exemplified by the case of Nigeria. The study recommends that countries facing such challenges should prioritize strengthening their governance structures and political institutions to maintain order, enforce the rule of law, and create conditions for societal well-being and security. Hobbes' work continues to serve as a foundation for ongoing discussions on the nature of the state and the mechanisms required to promote sustainable development.

O discurso iconográfico como signo das Luzes: o frontispicio da Encyclopédie e a obra de Mestre Ataíde

French Enlightenment thought developed its own iconography. Mestre Ataíde, a prominent Brazilian artist from the colonial period, had engraving manuals in his library, including plates from the Encyclopédie. A comparative analysis of the compositional structure and lines of force of the Frontispiece of the Encyclopédie (Cochin, 1675) and the works Ascension of Christ (1806) and Assumption of the Virgin (1804), both by Mestre Ataíde, suggests the potential presence of Enlightenment symbols in their iconography. Based on this premise, it is expected to contribute to studies that connect French Enlightenment ideals to Brazil in the 19th century.

The classical and modern trends of interaction between European philosophy and medicine

The interaction between European philosophy and medicine during historical periods of the New Time, the Enlightenment era and XX-XXI century is highlighted in the article. Special attention is paid to the influence of research in the world outlook and motivation basis of human activity, conducted by the main philosophers of the classical and modern time; on the formation of theoretical and axiological basis of modern medicine, as well as the concept of interrelation of human’s mental and physiological health. The main aspects of theoretical research in ontology (or metaphysics), gnoseology (epistemology), methodology, social philosophy and ethics connected to medicine theory and practice are also discussed in the article.

Kant and the smallpox inoculation

Smallpox was an endemic, very contagious disease which caused a high mortality rate during the age of enlightenment. In order to counter act this epidemic, smallpox inoculation was developed. This technique consisted in the inoculation of infected pus taken from a sick person into a healthy one in order to prevent the risks of natural smallpox infection. It was in this context that a German doctor in charge of inoculation wrote to Kant twice in 1799, and again in 1800, to ask him if inoculation was morally permissible. Kant wrote a draft of an answer, but it was never completed or published during his lifetime. These drafts provide elements of an answer that he nevertheless refused to give explicitly in the Doctrine of Virtue (1797) where the question of the morality of inoculation remained unanswered.

Voltaire FRS: His career as a scientist

Abstract Voltaire is remembered as one of the leading thinkers of the European Enlightenment, often quoted today for his views on free speech and religious toleration. In his lifetime he also enjoyed a reputation as a scientific thinker. His Éléments de la philosophie de Newton, published in 1738, did much to further understanding of Isaac Newton in Europe and led to Voltaire’s election as a Fellow of the Royal Society. He even tried his hand at experimental research and briefly entertained an ambition to become the Permanent Secretary of the French Académie des sciences. The plan came to nothing, but Voltaire’s presentation and promotion of Newtonian physics was enormously influential and has continued to this day to influence our understanding of Enlightenment scientific thinking.

Нужен ли философской антропологии «социогенетический поворот»?

Philosophical anthropology, which arose each time in a specific historical reality, sought to create a universal image of man, calling this process the revelation of his essence. This problem was solved by Russian philosophy, which developed the Orthodox Christian tradition within certain historical boundaries. Modern philosophy, solving this problem, cannot ignore the basic philosophical and anthropological ideas of different civilizations, primarily Eastern, Western and Russian philosophy. The space for their comparison and synthesis can be the semantic conceptual field of sociogenesis, which opens up a universal approach to the formation of a human being as a global cultural and biological species. The sociogenetic approach reveals the opportunity to compare two main essential models of man, which are represented by the version of the self-sufficient individual, which developed in the European Enlightenment, and the version of the conciliar (communal) man, the discussion of which began in Russian philosophy of the 19th century. In the context of sociogenesis, the basis for distinguishing anthropological versions is the opposition of individualistic and communal (conciliar) principles of behavior. A specifi c synthesis of these principles in one or another cultural-historical model appears as a solution to the contradiction between the individual and species model of behavior within the cultural-biological species “human being”. In the natural world, the coordination of individual and species behavior is resolved through the genetic inheritance of species behavior, eliminating the conflict between species and individual. The sociogenetic evolution of a human being has posed the task of searching for species-specifi c universal principles of behavior, which has complicated the solution of the problem of harmonizing species and individual behavior. The complexity of the situation is that human behavior is directed by cultural programs in the context of a sociogenetic search for a species program capable of ensuring the global consolidation of the human species. In this context, philosophical anthropology requires a sociogenetic support, and the appeal to it can be called the “sociogenetic turn” in philosophical anthropology.

Interiors in the Age of Enlightenment: A Cultural History

Interiors in the Age of Enlightenment: A Cultural History

Some Factors Influencing Legal Continuity in the Age of Enlightenment

In this article, certain factors that influenced legal continuity during the Age of Enlightenment are discussed. The major processes of the period are analyzed, and the importance of legal traditions as the foundation of legal continuity is highlighted. A brief overview of the key approaches to understanding legal traditions is given. Particular attention is paid to the regional divergences of the Age of Enlightenment, with a focus on its specifics in England and later Great Britain, the German and Italian states, France, Russia, and the USA. It was revealed that all factors can be divided into two groups. The first group includes general conditions, circumstances, and prerequisites, which can be further classified into natural and social ones. Natural factors are largely unaffected by the landscape of the period, while social factors are closely tied to society. The factors pertaining to the Age of Enlightenment are part of the latter group. They are of two types. The first type is not actually related to the legal reality of the period. The second type reflects the Enlightenment political and legal doctrines. Conclusions are drawn about the direct and indirect impacts of these factors on the historical processes. It is also demonstrated that the factors of legal continuity formed a unique combination in each studied society, with their influence apparent even after the Age of Enlightenment.

Contradiction in Kant’s Hierarchical Racism and Egalitarian Humanism

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), a prominent and influential German Enlightenment philosopher, believes that white people are superior to non-white people. He divides mankind into four groups: "white" (Europeans), "yellow" (Asians), "black" (Africans), and "red" (American Indians). Kant claims that other races, except the white race, are unable to acquire moral maturity due to a lack of talent (a gift of nature). He argues that whites themselves have all the motivation and talents, while blacks can receive education, but only as slaves. Native Americans cannot receive an education, they don't care about anything, they are lazy. This contradicts his egalitarian humanism. He proposes the belief in universal democracy and categorical moral imperative, where he argues that everyone should be seen and treated as “ends”, not as means to an end. One should also act as one would want all other people to act towards him or her, and according to the maxim one would wish the action to be a universal law. This paper adopts the laws of thought, that is, the principle of identity, the principle of non-contradiction, and the principle of excluded middle to interrogate and evaluate the consistent tenability of Kantian hierarchical racism on one side and egalitarian humanism, espoused in categorical imperative, on the other side. The conclusion is that there is a contradiction.

An enlightened aristocrat at the crossroads of countries and languages

This paper focuses on the personality of an important aristocrat from the Age of Enlightenment, Ignác Dominik Chorynský, as a person living and acting on the border of countries and languages, creating an extensive network of social and intellectual contacts around him. The vast personal archive of this nobleman conserved in Opava still awaits closer examination. Ignác Dominik Chorynský, a member of an old Moravian family, settled after 1750 in Velké Hoštice under Prussian domination, due to his marriage to Countess Barbora Hodic, while also being active in Opava, on Austrian territory. This paper examines the “frontier” position of Ignác Dominik from several aspects. The first is from the political aspect: the count was a subject of the King of Prussia and, at the same time, a regional governor in the Prussian and Austrian parts of Opava, still subordinate to the House of Habsburg. Moreover, his brother Jan Nepomuk fell in the Seven Years’ War against Prussia. Obviously, the position on the border also played a role in the representation of the count, as evidenced by the “Banquet Hall of Three Lands”, which he had built in Velké Hoštice. In the following portion, this paper presents Ignác Dominik’s wide network of contacts: amongst the local nobility in Silesia, amongst actors on the Prussian side (Frederick II, the nobles and intellectuals of Wrocław), and in Moravia (his brothers Matyáš and František Jan, Count Mittrowsky, etc.). This paper then delves into the theme of artistic transfers, as Ignác Dominik contributed to the cultural development of his region with his activities (building the castle in Velké Hoštice, rebuilding the so-called “Blücher Palace” in Opava, collecting works of art, etc.). Finally, this paper focuses on the possible role of Silesian and Prussian milieu on Ignác Dominik’s cultural activities. This paper also demonstrates the unique position of the Opava and Hlučín regions after the Wars of Austrian Succession and the imminent role of Ignác Dominik and his close friends in the cultural development of the region.

The Realization of Ceramic Industry Reform and the Theory of National Wealth Technology in the National Newspaper of the Period of Patriotic Enlightenment(1900-1910) : Focusing on HwangseongShinmun and DaehanMaeilSinbo

The Realization of Ceramic Industry Reform and the Theory of National Wealth Technology in the National Newspaper of the Period of Patriotic Enlightenment(1900-1910) : Focusing on HwangseongShinmun and DaehanMaeilSinbo

“Heard Melodies are sweet, but those unheard are Keatsean”: Linguistic Blind Spots in Ode on a Grecian Urn

John Keats’s famous Ode, although well-received by the critical fraternity at large, continues to baffle many, as it anxiously unites the ekphrastic with the epigrammatic, the unheard with the overheard, and most controversially, beauty with truth, towards its end. The blind spot, created through an inapparent harmony is, I argue, the result of a misreading of Keatsean ideology in general. Ode on a Grecian Urn is the product of an intellectual and ideological entanglement with the philosophers of the German Enlightenment, especially Friedrich Schlegel, whose On the Study of Greek Poetry (originally published in 1797) remains the most prominent influence of Germanic Hellenization on Keats. Furthermore, the Ode must not be read as an allusive perpetuation of aforementioned influences, but a conscious departure from it, vis-à-vis allusion and the false consciousness of reality birthed within the linguistic perfection of epigrammatic utterances in the poem. This is complicated by the manifold references to psycho-physiological exhaustion across the poem whose origins, I emphasize, are to be comprehended linguistically, for Keats carefully resists third-order ideology through punctuated lines and their subsequent parentheses, where Keatsean counter-argument exists in-between ideologically approved, rhetorical exuberance and pauses that should ideally symbolize an inside-out reading, or reading the text backwards. Particular emphasis is laid on the second and fifth stanzas of the Ode, and the connotative implications of words like “goal”, “cloyed” and “wilt”. Through close-reading and textual analysis, I further argue how Keatsean resistance often exposes the written lie without uttering the textual truth. By way of a conclusion, I shall present the different adaptations of an apparent dialectic harmony between “beauty” and “truth” amongst the Victorians, early and late, but also how the transcendental illusion of dialectic harmony, in essence, is the mutual contradiction of an antinomian sublime, fabricated to indulge in the false consciousness of Germanic Hellenization while re-textualizing itself palimpsestically in an analytic reading. Keywords: Greek Poetry; Keats; Grecian Urn; Germanic Hellenization; Ideology