¶ … Enlightenment-era, Neo-Classical works with Romantic overtones 'Tartuffe," Candide, and Frankenstein all use unnatural forms of character representation to question the common conceptions of what is natural and of human and environmental 'nature.' Moliere uses highly artificial ways of representing characters in dramatic forms to show the unnatural nature of an older man becoming attracted to a younger woman. Voltaire uses unnatural and absurd situations to question the unnatural belief of Professor Pangloss that this is the best of all possible worlds. Mary Shelley creates a fantastic or unnatural scenario to show the unnatural nature of a human scientist's attempt to turn himself into a kind of God-like creator through the use of reason and science alone. "Tartuffe" is the most obviously unnatural of the three works in terms of its style. It is a play, and the characters do not really develop as human beings because of the compressed nature of the plot. The characters talk to the audience, and speak in rhyme. It is obvious, because of the constructed and comedic nature of the play, that the hypocrisy of the title character will eventually be revealed and the man he is taking advantage of is a fool. The character of Tartuffe is unnatural, not simply because of his religious pretensions, but also because of his designs upon his host's daughter and wife. Only through a distrust of social hierarchies does this comeuppance take place, however. Here, the Enlightenment trust in reason and
Marx set the anti-religious tone of twentieth century political ideologies, in particular, anti-Semitism. Defenders of Marx will take scholars to task who question Marx on alleged anti-Semitism, claiming that the critics are quoting Marx out of context. Whether or not Marx is or was anti-Semitic (which this author is maintaining is the case), he was perceived so in his time and his writings were used by later Soviet regimes to
Enlightenment and Scientific Method Robert Hollinger, in his essay "What is the Enlightenment?," notes the centrality of science to the "Enlightenment project," as he defines it, offering as one of the four basic tenets that constitute the "basic ideas of the Enlightenment" the view that "only a society based on science and universal values is truly free and rational: only its inhabitants can be happy." (Smith 1998, p. 71). As Smith
82) because he had to find a bridge from the old paradigm to the new one. He argued that science could restore man to the dominion he enjoyed before the "Fall" (caused by ignorance). Some scholars argue that Bacon never saw any environmental change as undesirable and viewed all science as good. Rene Descartes also profoundly influenced the modern idea of nature. He argued that mind and matter are distinct
Rather, corruption continued and the widespread execution of revolutionaries by Maximilien Robespierre and Louis de Saint-Just of the Committee of Safety was largely justified with the radicalized views of Enlightenment philosopher Rousseau with regard to the revolution (Church; Lefebvre; Rude). Robespierre's distorted perception of Rousseau's views lead to an adamant and unwaivering desire to drive the revolution forward at any cost, including that of substantial human life. Robespierre was
Enlightenment Upon the Colonies Enlightenment As may be common knowledge by people raised, educated, and living in America for many years will know, during the American Enlightenment period, many people were inspired. There were ideas abound. It was an era of relative tolerance and humanist thinking. Documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were composed and ratified during this period as well. Clearly, the American Enlightenment
Enlightenment In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, a scientific revolution occurred which gave humankind a much better understanding of the universe and its functioning than ever before. One of those scientists was Isaac Newton, who, in addition to his work with gravitational laws, also developed principles of light and refraction. From this revolution in science came an intellectual and cultural movement who's name came from a metaphor based in
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