AES27 Lessons From the Enlightenment

“Knowledge is Power”

-Francis Bacon-

The Enlightenment is probably my favorite era of human history. And has the most impact on my worldview and values. It was the age of reason, with tremendous advancements in science, philosophy, politics and much more. It produced some of the most brilliant thinkers of the century, and paved the way for human progress with its strong commitments to freedom and science.

I’ve been learning a lot about the Enlightenment, particularly in the field of political theory. Here I will attempt to summarize what we can take from the Enlightenment, and how we may use these valuable lessons in today’s world.

The Age of Enlightenment is an intellectual movement that took place in the 18th century throughout the Western world. The Early Enlightenment thinkers have produced many successes, but it’s not without its failures. But from these failures, we can reassess our goals and reconstruct them to better suit our situation today, in the revised mindset we call the Mature Enlightenment.

Certainty vs. Fallibilism

At first, the Enlightenment commitment to Science used it as a certainty. An indisputable proof of what something ought to be. But after time went by and we became wiser, we realized that this is not what Science is supposed to be.

Over time, we understand that scientific progress is provisional. That fallibility is the strength of Science. Its incremental progress when a new scientific theory explained everything the old theory did plus some more. This fallibility allows us to keep improving and adapting over time.

Deduction vs. Experimentalism

The Early Enlightenment Thinkers were sure that you can find all the answers to your question within yourself, all you need to do is keep a clear mind and think very hard, keep deducing until you’ve found the answer.

Now we need something different. Experimentation is the key here. It's doing something more than just thinking. It's outward looking, it requires us to understand the outside world and experiment with the solutions we think we may have.

Technical vs. Procedural

The Early Enlightenment thinkers thought that you can get technical, unchanging answers for any issue, and it will stand the test of time. Now we recognize that there are serious limits to this way of thinking. Procedural answers best suit our world today. The solution we offer should always be open to modifications and improvement.

 So to wrap it all up, the main values we can take from the Enlightenment are: reason, science, progress, equality, liberty/freedom, and tolerance. Values that are needed now more than ever.