During the Middle Ages, much Greek learning had been preserved in the nearby Arabic world. It was also preserved in the Byzantine Empire, until that empire’s downfall in 1453. But it was only during the Renaissance that this Greek learning was rediscovered in Western Europe. The Western world thus gained renewed access to the original Latin and Greek versions of key philosophical texts. And with this new emphasis upon the older Greek learning … came an increased emphasis on the Greek methods of pursuing truth. Free inquiry had now been revived in the West, and it would be exemplified in some further progress in the years to come.
Raphael’s “The School of Athens,” a Renaissance painting that dramatized Greek learning
The Philosophers’ Meal, an Enlightenment painting of several of the French Encyclopédistes
A brief definition of the periods denoted by the Renaissance and the Enlightenment
The early Renaissance overlaps somewhat with the later Middle Ages. But, for our purposes here, the term “Renaissance” will be defined simply as the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. It would soon be followed by the even greater scientific learning of the “Age of Enlightenment.” This period is sometimes simply called the “Enlightenment.” For our purposes here, the term “Enlightenment” will be defined as the very next period: the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Together, these periods would go from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. They would both bring considerable progress for the West, alongside a somewhat darker legacy of imperial conquests elsewhere in the world. Obviously, these darker aspects of the period should not be emulated today. But many other aspects of both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment are worthy of emulation, or at least of remembrance. They may have much to teach us about human nature, good government, and even the natural world itself. This post will thus focus upon the generally positive heritage of both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment periods, and what their twin legacies might have to teach us today.
Nicolaus Copernicus, an early Renaissance advocate of a Sun-centered theory of the universe
Sir Thomas More, the author of “Utopia” – one of the greatest of all Renaissance-era books
The scientific and philosophical legacies of both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment
The legacy of both periods is truly marvelous to contemplate. Perhaps I should start with the scientific aspects of their achievements. Specifically, the Renaissance gave us some great scientific advances in medicine and astronomy, including the Sun-centered theory of the universe. The Enlightenment gave us some great scientific advances in chemistry and in (largely Newtonian) physics. It also gave us some practical advances in maritime navigation. It’s true that the Renaissance also saw the totalitarianism of Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” and his other work “Discourses on Livy.” But it also gave us the brilliant satires of Sir Thomas More’s “Utopia” (among other great writings of the era). I should acknowledge that there were some darker parts of Enlightenment political theory as well. For example, there were Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “Discourse on Inequality,” and his other work “The Social Contract” – which laid the foundations of modern socialism and communism. (More about the problems with these things here and here, respectively.) But Enlightenment political philosophy also included the contributions of John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Adam Smith (among others). All of these three men, including Adam Smith, influenced the Founding Fathers – and I prove the latter’s influence upon the Founding Fathers here. Rousseau is sometimes said to have influenced our Founding Fathers as well. But there is much evidence to contradict this, such as various anti-Rousseau quotations from our Founding Fathers. (Some of these are available here, for anyone who is interested.) By contrast, the evidence that Locke and Montesquieu influenced our Founding Fathers is crystal clear – as I show here, here, and here respectively. Thus, many Enlightenment philosophers really did exert an influence upon the American Revolution, while others (like Helvetius and Rousseau) really did exert an influence upon the French Revolution – although that latter influence seems to be of a less salutary kind. Shortly after the Enlightenment ended, the French Revolutionary Wars would then give way to the Napoleonic Wars, which likewise rocked the Western world.
Isaac Newton, a major Enlightenment figure, and one of the greatest scientists in history
Immanuel Kant, one of the greatest philosophers of the entire Enlightenment period
Later times give way to scientific progress on the one hand, and romanticism on the other
In the wake of the Enlightenment’s (truly unfortunate) departure, one begins to see Western philosophy going in two different directions. One is a more rational and scientific direction, while the other seems to be a more romantic direction – which is sometimes captured by the phrase “Age of Romanticism.” Some apply this phrase only to the early nineteenth century, while others apply it to the larger nineteenth century as a whole. Either way, we can see these two very different directions in many aspects of post-Enlightenment thinking. For example, the nineteenth century gave us some scientific advances in psychology, biology, and electricity theory. But this same century also gave us the political nuttiness of G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Nietzsche, among many others. The twentieth century, in a similar way, gave us some great scientific advances in relativity theory, atomic theory, and even chaos theory. But this same century also gave us the vast wasteland of twentieth-century philosophy. In this century, fascism and communism were both implemented by cruel twentieth-century regimes, like Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Some intellectuals even branched off from socialism and Marxism, to create empty philosophical movements like postmodernism and post-structuralism – which seemed determined to find even more ways of being fallacious. Incidentally, this was also the period in which Western philosophy (and Western society in general) began to move in a more atheist or agnostic direction – a change whose legacy is still debated today. But the scientific side of academia seems to have gone in one direction, while the ivory-tower side seems to be going in a somewhat different direction. In many ways, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries thus show a divergence between the more rational and scientific side of academia, and its more romantic or emotional side.
Gottfried Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, one of the nuttiest philosophers of the Age of Romanticism
James Clerk Maxwell, one of the greatest scientists in history (associated with electricity)
Thus, the Renaissance and Enlightenment legacy is being both preserved and discarded
The scientific side of academia actually seems to preserve (and even improve) upon the best aspects of the Enlightenment, by expanding the frontiers of knowledge even further. By contrast, the ivory-tower side of academia seems determined to discard its legacy, as though it were something of which one “ought” to be ashamed. The postmodern reaction to these things might be better explored in another post. Suffice it to say here that they’re not exactly “lining up” to preserve any aspect of Western culture, much less acknowledge that it has any good sides to it. Thus, the legacy of both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment seems to be both preserved and discarded simultaneously by academia. This may, in part, be because of the diverging branches of the Western intelligentsia. Therefore, it seems to fall to us today … to decide which one of these, if any, will be allowed to triumph over the other in the popular sphere. I hope that logic and common sense will win out in the end, and that the corruptions of recent decades will be thrown onto the “ash-heap of history,” so that we may avoid any repetitions of these same mistakes. That is, I hope that our Renaissance and Enlightenment heritage may be re-discovered and re-vitalized, and brought to the center of our public consciousness.
Jean-Paul Sartre, who may be one of the worst philosophers of the entire twentieth century
Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists in history (associated with relativity)
Conclusion: We have great reason to cherish these generally positive legacies forever
There is much to learn from the discoveries of these periods, with regards to both science and good government. The more that we learn from these periods, the more that we will be able to solve our most pressing (and even vexing) modern problems. In many ways, we seem to have great reason to cherish the generally positive legacy of both the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods. I hope that these periods’ contributions may thus be allowed to live on forever … and never die.
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