Unit 6: A Great Leap in Political Thought: The Age of Enlightenment

Introduction

The Eighteenth Century is commonly referred to as the “Age of Enlightenment” in terms of the history of political thought. Indeed, the rational thinking based on the Enlightenment movement portrayed the main characteristic of this century. Enlightenment has brought radical changes to both social and political sphere. In the eighteenth century the concept of the “limited state” that Locke had foreseen began to gain strength. Different from the Eighteenth Century, the owner of the power had shifted from monarchs to people or a nation. At this point, it is necessary to point out the different phases and characteristics of the Enlightenment idea which had emerged in different geographies. On top of that “enlightenment” refers to a different set of ideas which varies from one thinker to another of his place. In this context, Scottish, French and German Enlightenment schools should be referred. Although these schools were deeply separated from each other in terms of perspectives of the enlightenment idea, they also focused on common themes.

Enlightenment Thought

The Enlightenment Thought, born in the Eighteenth Century, shows a characteristic that places the reason at center. It can be said that the Enlightenment was symbolically a period beginning with the English Revolution of 1688 and reaching the peak by the French Revolution of 1789. In earlier periods, though a “new” politics and society emerged, the thinkers did not take a complete stance against to the “old” one. The faith in power of the reason is based on the criticism of the tradition, religion and authority that all together restrict individuals by the development of the scientific mind which takes the sanctuary. The thinkers of enlightenment have made an effort to establish an order in which the reason can prevail, and thus to realize the freedom of the individual. Rational thought is supported by a mentality of “progress”. According to this, social life is constantly moving forward from the perspective of the possession of reason and the development of scientific knowledge. In this process, past values, institutions and habits must be left behind. However, this process should not neglect the existence of statutory powers aiming at blocking. Another key concept for the enlightenment is freedom. Freedom refers to the liberation of people from self-restraint and becoming a “rational autonomous subject”. The man who moves with a reason will take his destiny in his own hand, using an attitude that is called free-will. The last concept that is determinant in terms of the enlightenment is the critique. The critical point of view that has began with the Renaissance manifests itself within the core of critical norm. It is one of the most important features of the idea of the enlightenment to pass through all kinds of rules, institutions and values.

Background of the Enlightenment

Enlightenment is one of the most important parts of the “modernity”. In the first period of the modernity, which is considered to have begun with the Renaissance, it was seen that the trade bourgeois emerged and the absolute monarchs ascended. The Scientific Revolution and the Reform movement have provided the least of the influence of the Catholic Church, which dominated politics in the past. Thus, a form called “modern” has emerged in terms of political institutions, theories and lifestyles. The background of the idea of enlightenment is primarily the Renaissance and Reform movements. Along with the Renaissance, a new world of fantasy emerged. After the birth of Christianity, the society confirming dogmas without questioning critically appraises the approach of all authorities including the church. Scientific knowledge rises and people begin to resort to knowing the truth about the event.A tradition of critical thinking based on reason was born with Renaissance. A humanist attitude has begun to emerge in front of the Christianity, which criticizes its attitude toward social relations on the opposition to the “other”, which is predominant in human values. Through the reform movement, the institutional authority of the church has undergone a powerful blow.

Streams of Enlightment

Looking at the Enlightenment movement in Europe, we notice three authentic traditions that differ from each other in terms of certain aspects. These traditions that have their own virtues and emphasises in terms of political developments can be pointed out as French Enlightenment, Scottish Enlightenment and German Enlightenment.

French Enlightenment

The most obvious example of enlightenment is the pattern emerging in France. It can be said that the items related to the determinative properties of enlightenment, which we have listed above, are strongly expressed in the French Enlightenment. For example, the most prominent examples of the understanding of “the opposition to religion and tradition” that places the reason at center of the Enlightenment are encountered among the French Enlightenment thinkers. In addition, the French Enlightenment thinkers stand on the construction of a new political and social structure by opposing the “old (ancient) regime”. The change must be comprehensive, changing all social dynamics. For this reason, it can be said that the idea of the French Enlightenment is very close to the idea of “revolution”. The leading names of the French Enlightenment are Condillac, Diderot, D’Alembert, Helvetius, Turgot and Voltaire.

Scottish Enlightenment

The idea of enlightenment has also been influenced by a different outlook in England. The reason for the so-called Scottish Enlightenment in England is that the most important names in this movement are Scottish. Francis Hutcheson, David Hume, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson and Thomas Reid are some of the most important figures of the Scottish Enlightenment.

The basis of the Scottish Enlightenment is the new understanding of science with John Newton and John Locke’s libertarian ideas. Newton has established a belief that nature is a mechanism that works with certain laws. In this context, it appears that it is possible to solve the mystery of nature if the operating rules of the mechanism in question are present.

The Scottish Enlightenment, asserts that the reason alone will not be enough to understand man and society. Even trying to explain everything by reason will lead people to the wrong path. According to Francis Hutcheson, one of the most important names in the Scottish Enlightenment, people present some behavior even though they do not benefit from them. John Locke’s thoughts was another factor that influenced the Scottish Enlightenment. As mentioned earlier, John Locke emphasizes the limitation of political power to protect individual rights. Locke’s first contribution to the Scottish Enlightenment emerges epistemologically.

Scottish Enlightenment has some basic assumptions, such as spontaneous order and market economy. This is the most important difference of the Scottish Enlightenment from the French Enlightenment thought. As mentioned above, French Enlightenment thinkers knew that they would resist the change projects of the society. For this reason, they thought that society would have to force change, which means to pressure people for social transformation.

David Hume

The most important name of the Scottish Enlightenment is David Hume. Epistemologically, Hume, like Locke, argued that knowledge depends on senses. However, according to Hume, information transmission does not take place only through rational means. Psychological factors such as emotions and intuitions also affect the emergence of information. Also the implications and experiences of the relationships we build up with other people also play a role in birth of knowledge.

According to Hume, there is a close link between economic and political freedoms. He argued that the development of capitalism is effective in decentralization in power. Individuals who made independent decisions in economic terms also showed these free attitudes in political decision-making processes. The rise of the state’s intervention in the economic field has brought the narrowing of the field of domination over people’s lives.

Moving from this, Hume has stood on free trade and opposed mercantilism, which began to rise during its time. On the contrary, he argued that free trade would generally increase the prosperity of the communities.

Hume is one of the most important names in liberal political theory. It can also be said that Hume has opened a new perspective within liberalism in terms of the state of the state. In Locke’s approach, the state’s reason for existence is explained by a hypothetical situation like “social contract”. Hume, however, has developed a more “utilitarian” understanding of reason and concreteness more appropriately in terms of the legitimacy of the state.

As a matter of fact, in liberal theory, this approach has been adopted more and more for many years.

The German Enlightenment

The German Enlightenment, despite some common themes, has been significantly differentiated from the French and Scottish ones. The first reason for this is the socio-economic and cultural conditions of Germany. Compared to countries such as Germany, France and England, it made its national unity quite late. In addition,

Germany is relatively behind in terms of the emergence of capitalism and the bourgeoisie. This has caused the political influences of the idea of Enlightenment to be felt more strongly in Germany. In this regard, the German Enlightenment thinkers have been the major advocators of the “enlightened despotism” in relation to their argument that social change, including the concept of progress, is necessary.

One of the elements that allow the administrators to adopt the thesis of the German Enlightenment is that a thoughtful movement called “cameralism” is born in Germany before the Enlightenment. Cameralism has underpinned the richness of the state. For the state to be prosperous, a strong and authoritarian administration should be established. Cameralism also includes an understanding that the state intervenes in lives of its citizens to achieve its aims. Germany is the country where Protestantism was born through Martin Luther. Therefore, the most comprehensive and most serious opposition to the institutional authority of the Catholic Church has emerged in this country.

The most important figures of the German Enlightenment are thinkers like Leibniz, Thomasius, Christian Wolff. These thinkers generally participate in the rationality of the Enlightenment and the discourse of freedom. However, reason should be used in consideration of social benefits. Freedom has no limit. The boundaries of the freedom of man will draw certain principles of common life. In the same way, human freedom should be used within a certain responsibility.

Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant is the most important name of the German Enlightenment idea. He has also provided one of the bestknown definitions of Enlightenment: “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.” Here, the expression “immaturity” is particularly important.

Kant, opposed the idea that the reason was the only way to bring humanity to reality. On the contrary, the reason is not exempt from critical thinking. In this respect, one of the most important contributions of Kant to the idea of Enlightenment is encountered. Kant has argued that one of the most prominent features of Enlightenment is the “age of criticism”. According to him, a man must adopt a critical understanding to be free from boundaries restricting him in using his free-will.

Montesquieu

Montesquieu, born of a child of an aristocratic family, has been interested in academic work since his youth. He lived in a time when the logic of enlightenment was strong. He was closely related to the French Enlightenment thoughts. However, Montesquieu cannot be directly considered as an Enlightenment thinker. He has developed much broader theories about them, though he does not have the same understanding as the Enlightenment on the subject of reason and scientific knowledge. In the modern world, Montesquieu is perhaps the first thinker to analyze politics and sociology in a scientific way. Montesquieu has made a major contribution to the shaping of our present understanding of social science, by determining that the links between events must be determined to understand social and political relations. Montesquieu’s first published work is headed by Persian Letters. In this work, he criticized the traditions and customs of his country in sarcastic way, in so-called mouths of two Iranians who visited France. This approach is quite harmonious with the critical point of view of all of Enlightenment.

Climate TheoryV

Montesquieu has said that many political administrations in history have established their own rules. In the same way, he expressed that there are different forms of governance that are different in every part of the world. He has benefited from the theory of climates to find these reasons. According to Montesquieu, climate and land determine the general characteristics of societies. Social characteristics are also reflected in the forms of management. In the same way, the emergence of social rules has the effect of these variables.

With these theses, Montesquieu had to demonstrate reasons for changing the laws from country to country. The legislator has to act in all its activities, taking into account these differences. In other words, when laws are enacted, they should be acted in the direction of general spiritual characteristics.

Montesquieu’s most important contribution to the theory of politics is to raise the notion of “separation of powers”. The concept of separation of powers became one of the most important means of limiting power after it emerged. According to Montesquieu, the state has three basic powers.

1. Legislation is a force that has the power to make common legal arrangements that apply to the whole community.
2. The main function of the executive organ is to ensure the internal and external security of the state.
3. The jurisdiction is aimed at to punishing the criminals and resolving the disputes among the people.

If all three powers are gathered in different organs, the will of freedom will coherently be preserved. Montesquieu, in the union of these three powers, emphasizes that “everything is done”.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Born as a citizen of Geneva, Rousseau has not gone through a formal education process, contrary to many contemporary contemporaries. In his youth, he worked with his father, who was a watchmaker. Later, Rousseau, who left his family, went to Paris from the period’s intellectual and intellectual centers. Rousseau, who earned his life through music in Paris, soon became acquainted with the thinkers of the Enlightenment and became a recognized feature in the intellectual community.

State of Nature and Social Contract

Like other thinkers of the period, Rousseau’s point of departure is the natural state hypothesis. According to Locke, property is a natural right. His initial idea is that everything in the world is the common property of everyone.

According to Rousseau, inequality between people is two kinds. The first is “natural or physical inequalities” that occur outside the wills such as age, health, body. The other is defined as “spiritual or political inequalities” based on a kind of reconciliation and on people’s acceptance or at least acceptance. Rousseau, in his book entitled “Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men” mentions the fictional nature of all people living in equal and free form. According to him, people live in an environment of freedom that they can equally and routinely do. Rousseau has stated that independence and freedom are often confused with each other. Independence is that a person must do everything that comes from within, and in this respect there is no power that restricts itself. Such behaviors may not be welcomed by other people and may even prevent them from exercising their freedoms. Freedom is limited to the freedom of others. In this context, Rousseau says that no one has the right to do things that are not right by others. In other words, freedom does not belong to individual individuals but to the whole that they create. Also, where there is no justice, freedom cannot be mentioned and justice can be provided through common law rules.

Emergence of General Will

Rousseau summarizes The Social Contract in terms of the individuals involved in the contract as follows: “Each of us puts his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will; and we as a body receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole. According to Rousseau, the composition of the will of the individual signing the contract is the “general will”. Rousseau, in his masterpiece entitled “The Social Contract”, argued that the election of the people to represent him would mean enslaving himself, thus changing the nature of citizenship and the democratic process. Rousseau’s concept of “general will” is referred to understanding of unity of powers. In this respect, sovereignty is not transferable, indivisible and cannot be represented. Therefore, the general will that is the sovereignty the people actually own must use their own hands without resorting to the mechanism.

The Classification of Governments

According to Rousseau, each three basic forms of government, namely the monarchy, the aristocracy and the democracy, can be meaningful to the extent that they conform to the geographical and demographic situation of the country from which they emerge. For Rousseau, it is the whole of the sovereign, citizens who make up the general will. Thus, Rousseau identifies the sovereign with the people; from there, to the theory of popular sovereignty. On the other hand, like other theoreticians of the sovereignty, Rousseau emphasized the role and significance of the laws to use power. Similar to other sovereign theoreticians, the reflection of the sovereign’s will comes through the laws in Rousseau, and the laws connect all nationalities. The last question to be answered here is how to use your sovereignty. The thinker who advocates that the sovereignty is a combination of the wills of all the individuals making up society will defend a democratic administration, unlike its predecessors, who try to place the monarchy on rational and legitimate premises. Rousseau, however, focuses primarily on the difficulty of finding a political system that would be equally beneficial for every society, under the influence of Montesquieu’s geographical theory. Rousseau went beyond his time with his political ideas and in a sense opened the way to a “democratic revolution”.

Political Thought in the 19 ^th Century

The Nineteenth Century is a time of radical changes in the political arena. Under the influence of the revolutions of the previous century, a new state formation called “nationstate” began to rise in different parts of the world. The nation-state model that takes its legitimacy from governing of people has spread to different parts of the world after the French Revolution. Thus, the concept of “national sovereignty” emerged. It is also seen that democracies have also increased in the same period. Especially in the Western world, democratic governance has begun to spread rapidly. On the other hand, in the nineteenth century, ideologies have also risen. The dominant ideology of the period was directly influenced by liberalism, especially in Western countries. However, within the same century, socialism, which has been driven by the claim of defending the rights of the working class, has also gained momentum. Socialist thinkers, especially Karl Marx, have begun to address a serious mass. This has led the liberal-capitalist states to go through serious reforms within themselves. The “wild capitalism” concept, which was more influential in the early days, left a new mode of human improvement in place. In addition, democracy has also been reformed and the right to vote has been expanded.

Alexis de Tocqueville

The greatest contribution to the theory of democracy in the nineteenth century was made by the French thinker Alexis de Tocqueville. Tocqueville, the historical conditions that have emerged in the past prepare the infrastructure of a democratic order. In this respect, he said that democracy was the most realistic model in the period of his life. In addition, Tocqueville predicted that democracy will spread in different parts of the world in the future.

Dynamics of Democracy in America

According to Tocqueville, the first reason for a stronger democracy in America is the importance given to local governments. In this country, central power has not worked to sum up all the power itself. In America, administrative authority has been distributed to local government units since its foundation. According to him, democracy in America begins in local units. From here, it stands out through different political units. So, the democratic model of the country, like a network, is spread from top to bottom. Tocqueville, as another reason for the strong democracy in America, has shown the development of civil society. According to Tocqueville, in America there are strong intermediate institutions between the individual and the state. These institutions point to the fact that the “freedom of association” in America is at an advanced level. Tocqueville argued that religion is also an important factor in determining democracy in a strong way. According to him, religious belief is one of the most important parts of human life. Even if the laws were changed throughout history, people’s religious beliefs remained largely the same.

The Problem of Tyranny in Majority

One of the most important debates about the theory of democracy today is that the groups that are not included in the majority in democratic governments can suffer. Tocqueville has a concern that democratic governance may shift to the “tyranny of the majority”. In democratic governments, it is necessary to establish a “check and balance” mechanism between different state powers. However, this is not enough to protect the freedom of individuals because the legislature may consider it to be the supreme power in society and to make any kind of decision. Democracy should also ensure the protection of minority rights while giving power to the majority. Otherwise, it will become impossible to express different opinions in society.