Questions tagged [enlightenment]
36 questions
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What is the meaning of this Voltaire quote?
What is the meaning of this Voltaire quote ?
Nos cinq sens imparfaits, donnés par la nature, de nos biens, de nos
maux sont la seuls mesure.
I can't even parse this sentence.
Starckman
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Rationalism and Catholicism / Protestantism
How much more “incompatible” was rationalism with Catholicism compared to Protestant christianity?
Of course everyone learned in high school that the enlightenment was in direct opposition to Catholic dogma. In the 18th century it relentlessly…
viuser
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Does enlightenment mean loss of all emotions?
In Hinduism, it is believed that any being which is free from pain and suffering and happiness attains enlightenment.
A mechanical robot created in the image of man is capable of doing everything a man does physically.
I have been wondering about…
Ajinkya
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What views of government were based on Kantian ethics?
Historically, what kinds of government and politics have been influenced by the maxims of Kant's "categorical imperative"?
Take for example, the maxim that one should only act in such a way that the action can be made a universal law, binding on all…
jonathanconway
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What is the difference between Modernity and Enlightenment?
I know several Enlightenment-era philosophers such as Smith and Locke were responsible for diminishing what Arendt calls "the realm of the political" and then they proceeded to reduce humans to their economic roles which Arendt says is a problem of…
Ash Rivers
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Is color intrinsic to light?
Is there any proof to Sir Isaac Newton's claim that color exists only in the mind? That there is nothing intrinsically blue about light with a short wavelength. To us it would look the same whether the cones in our retina detect color or whether…
Zane Scheepers
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What is the prerequisite knowledge for reading philosophers of the Enlightenment?
I want to read philosophical texts, however I have not done so because I am daunted by the prospect of it. I guess this stems from the nature of ideas, that is they are usually in dialogue with other ideas that have preceded them. Ideas don't exist…
seeker
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Enlightenment as the beginning of observation, examination and control
By studying Foucault, one would certainly realize that "Enlightenment" played a major role in creating discourses that led to disciplines and that the multiplicity of the latter contributed to more control and thus more power for the…
O.A.
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Voltaire "if god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him" what does it mean?
Voltaire said "if god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him".
What is the context or meaning of that quotation?
Religion(or existence of god) gives us many advantages?
Or, is he being sarcastic to say that god is just a concept created…
Vito
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Is there transformation of self through realization in Western Philosophy
Transformation through realization a.k.a enlightenment is a recurring theme in eastern philosophy. Is there a counterpart for this in Western Philosophical writings?
zrini
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The Enlightenment thinkers and the myth of the noble savage
We can read in Wikipedia (but also elsewhere) that "During the Age of Enlightenment, intellectuals rhetorically used the idealization of indigenous peoples as political criticism of European culture" (Wikipedia, Primitivism).
But as of examples of…
Starckman
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Problem understanding a paragraph about the Enlightenment project
Could you explain the following sentences especially the last one? I have a problem understanding them:
The Enlightenment project, writes David Harvey in The Condition of Postmodernity, 'took it as axiomatic that there was only one possible answer…
Asadi
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How did Edward Herbert explain "the problem of evil"?
Edward Herbert, even though he is considered the father of Deism, had thoughts that differ from what we now consider as "Deism" in popular style. For example, he did not deny the existence of revelation. He believed in the existence of heaven and…
Vito
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How Humanism, the philosophy of the Enlightenment, and classical liberalism are related?
How Humanism (as the philosophical movement of the Renaissance historical period), the philosophy of the Enlightenment, and classical liberalism are related?
I have some difficulties distinguishing them from one another, since they share many of…
Starckman
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According to Horkheimer and Adorno, how is the Enlightenment Dialectical?
In 1947 the Frankfurt School philosophers Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno published their seminal work "Dialektik der Aufklärung", first translated to English in 1972 as "Dialectic of Enlightenment".
The work consists of several articles which…
user14511