The Enlightenment (1688-1804) emerged in three European countries, in rough chronological order in Britain, then France and it ended in Germany. This episode (Part I) starts with a general characterisation of the Enlightenment and then focuses on the Enlightenment in Britain. The Enlightenment owes its momentum to the Scientific Revolution, which brought about a fundamental change in world views. The Enlightenment is an application of scientific principles to the intellectual and social world. In Britain it takes the form of Empiricism and Liberalism (John Locke, David Hume).

Literature:

(The following texts are a small selection).

Berlin, I.: Three Critics of the Enlightenment (ed. by Henry Hardy) Pimlico 2000

Cassirer, E.: The Philosophy of the Enlightenment (1932/2009)

Gay, P.: The Enlightenment (Volume 1: 1995; Volume 2: 1970

Hazard, P.: The Crisis of the European Mind (1680-1715)

Im Hof, U.: Enlightenment. Making of Europe (1994/1997)

Porter, R.: The Enlightenment (Studies in European History) (1990/2001)

Porter, R.: Enlightenment: Britain and the Creation of the Modern World. Penguin Press 2000

Randall, J. H. The Career of Philosophy. Vol. 2 (1962/2022)

Torre, J. R.: The Enlightenment in America, 1720-1825 (Pickering & Chatto 2011)

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy contain further material.