POL320Y1 Lecture Notes - Baruch Spinoza, Ernst Cassirer, Deism
Document Summary
Period referring to cultural and literary and political ideas. The participants of the era thought of themselves of living in the enlightenment. Self-conscious identification with life and shedding the light of reason with everyone: reason, religion, public sphere, progress, politics. Values: liberty, equality, fraternity, autonomy, authenticity. Rationalism: descartes, hobbes, spinoza, newton, locke (most influential figure for 18th cen. The difference between 17th cen. and 18th cen. Thinkers use reason, a radical form of rationalism. Part of the enlightenment rationalism; everyone has reason- we use reason to not only answer questions, but to acknowledge the universality of reason. Reason functions the same way in all human beings. Using your own reason allows a liberation from ignorance, external authority, and from the past (ex. Central theme that is completely absent from 17th cen. Is the emphasis of getting everyone to use reason.
