Enlightenment formula. Science in the Age of Enlightenment

The name of the era is derived from the root "light". Educated people of this era, which fell on the XVII-XVIII centuries, contrasted the light of reason with religious obscurantism, the light of science with the darkness of ignorance, the light of truth with the shadows of delusions. The main element of the worldview again, as in ancient times, is Nature, but on a completely different basis. The fact is that at this time the industrial revolution begins, a technical revolution takes place, industry appears in the form of manufactories, factories, factories. And since it is impossible to build a steam engine, guided by the texts of Holy Scripture, then there is an urgent need for knowledge about the actual nature of things, about the properties of substances, the qualities of beings and the forces that move them.

The slogan of the science of the Enlightenment was formulated by the English materialist philosopher Francis Bacon in the famous treatise "New Organon": "Knowledge is power", and these words have become an aphorism up to the present day. Man cognizes nature not out of curiosity, but in order to benefit from it and put the forces of nature at his service. However, the practical side of knowledge has already been discussed in the previous chapter "Philosophy of Knowledge".

Science in the Age of Enlightenment empirical(from lat. empiria - experience) character. Scientists experiencing nature, trying to unravel its mysteries, eliciting the secrets of nature. This is done by methods of empirical research: observation, measurement, experiment. There is a union of physics and mathematics, and the use of the latter gives accuracy to the acquired knowledge and guarantees their evidence and universality: the mathematical form of the law of nature in the form formulas applies to all special cases and is therefore taken with necessity.

An iconic figure in the development of a new science was the great Italian scientist Galileo Galilei. He improved the telescope and with its help discovered the mountains on the moon and the satellites of Jupiter. Thanks to this discovery, he became convinced of the truth of the heliocentric model of the Universe proposed by Copernicus and became its persistent propagandist, citing many convincing arguments in its favor in the Dialogue on the Two Systems of the World. For propaganda of heliocentrism, Galileo was brought to trial by the Church Inquisition, which, under pain of execution, forced him to renounce his views. However, according to legend, leaving the courthouse, Galileo uttered the famous phrase: “And yet it spins!”, referring to the Earth.

The spirit of experimental and exact science was expressed in a number of Galileo's discoveries in mechanics. So, he decided to test the truth of Aristotle's statement that heavy bodies fall to the ground faster than light ones. For a thousand years, no one doubted this, but Galileo decided to check: is it really so? To test it, he designed a tipping board and with its help he threw bodies of various masses from the balustrade of the famous Leaning Tower in the city of Pisa: a musket ball and a cannonball. As a result of hundreds of tests, he received a statistically definite result: bodies of different masses fall down at the same time. Aristotle was wrong!

Observing how chandeliers sway on long chains in a church cathedral, Galileo noted with the help of his own pulse that the time of their movement between extreme points is constant. After conducting many experiments with pendulums, hanging all kinds of weights on a variety of threads, Galileo discovered the laws of oscillation, determining that the behavior of a pendulum depends solely on the mass of the load and the length of the thread on which it is suspended. Moreover, the dimensions of the load and the material are completely indifferent, so you can abstract from them and introduce the concept of a material point as a physical mass devoid of geometric dimensions. This is how idealization appears as a means of creating a theory. In the same way, Galileo investigated the fall of bodies with the help of an inclined board invented by him with bells marking time intervals. As a result of many tests, rolling balls of different masses along an inclined plane, Galileo discovered that the fall of a body occurs at an accelerated rate, and determined the exact numerical value of the acceleration of free fall.

Numerous and varied experiments were carried out by another great scientist - the Englishman Isaac Newton. He owns the discovery of the complex composition of white light, the beam of which he decomposed with the help of a glass prism into separate components - the seven colors of the rainbow. But most of all, Newton is known for the fact that, on the basis of observations and measurements, he formulated the basic laws of mechanics. Moreover, Newton's first law - "If no other bodies act on a body, it retains a state of rest or uniform rectilinear motion" - went against Aristotle's statement that, wasting kinetic energy, a moving body eventually stops. Relying on Galileo's study of the cause of the ebb and flow of the seas, Newton, using accurate data on the motion of the moon, discovered the law of universal gravitation. There is a story that the idea of ​​the law came to him after an apple fell on his head in the garden (the famous "Newton's apple"), but this is nothing more than an idle bike.

Newton's greatest achievement was the creation of a new method for accurately describing motion - mathematical analysis or differential and integral calculus, which used such idealizations as an infinitesimal quantity and the limit of the sum, which made it possible to calculate the exact values ​​of the trajectories of motion of bodies or their geometric dimensions and volumes. Mathematical analysis was also developed independently of Newton by the great German philosopher and scientist Gottfried Leibniz, and the two scientists corresponded for a long time with colleagues throughout Europe, insisting on their priority. At the same time, they showered each other with insults and accusations of plagiarism, that is, theft. human sum! Nothing human was alien to them!

An important scientific achievement was also the creation by the great French mathematician Rene Descartes of the method of analytic geometry and his invention of the famous Cartesian coordinate system. Moreover, he said that the idea of ​​\u200b\u200ba rectangular network of reference lines came to his mind when he observed a bizarre curved line, which was written out by a fly crawling along a tiled wall. Descartes' idea was that each point of this curved line can be given by two projections onto the reference lines and thus expressed by numbers. Then any trajectory can be described by numerical transformations, i.e., algebraically.

The philosophy of the Enlightenment this time responded to achievements in science and itself served the interests of the new leader of spiritual culture: after all, not only the scientists themselves were fond of science, but in general the educated estates up to the crowned persons. The Prussian King Frederick II, the Danish Queen Christina, and the Russian Empress Catherine II called themselves enlightened monarchs and supported scientists in every possible way. Science was the leading form of social consciousness, and philosophy acted as a reflection of this position, therefore the specificity of the philosophy of the Enlightenment is expressed by the term gnoseocentrism(from Greek. gnosis - knowledge).

Firstly, the scientists themselves were actively involved in philosophy: in the previous chapter "Philosophy of Knowledge" Bacon was presented as the ancestor of empiricism; Newton's closest friend and collaborator, John Locke, as the founder sensationalism, and Descartes and Leibniz - as the founders rationalism. However, the most notable phenomenon in the philosophy of the Enlightenment was mechanistic materialism, a special role in the approval of which was played by the French philosophers of the 18th century, known as encyclopedists, since they undertook and for many years supported the publication of the multi-volume "Encyclopedia, or explanatory dictionary of sciences, arts and crafts" (from fr. en cicle aux pedie - driving in a circle; from Greek. kiklos - wheel, circle, paidos - foot and gogos - leader). In ancient Greece, a teacher was a slave who accompanied children to school.

The impetus for further enlightenment was given by the famous revolutionary publicist Voltaire (now François-Marie Arouet), who, having lived in exile in England for many years, became friends with Newton and Locke there, and upon his return to France began to actively promote Newton's mechanics and Locke's materialism. A group of enthusiasts gathered around Voltaire and the publisher d'Alembert, who decided to bring the light of knowledge to the masses.

The most famous of the encyclopedists were Denis Diderot, who defended the basic principles of materialism and atheism, as well as sensationalist epistemology in the Treatise on Sensations; Paul-Henri Holbach, author of the comprehensive book The System of Nature, in which he applied mechanics to explain many physical phenomena and processes, and this book was so popular that it was called the "Bible of Materialism"; the encyclopedist Julien La Mettrie, who became famous for his treatise "Man-Machine", in which he tried to explain human behavior by mechanical causes; doctor by profession Destude de Tracy Cabanis, who likened human thinking to the material functions of the body organs: “The brain secretes thought just like the liver secretes bile!”, but this version received the offensive nickname “vulgar materialism”.

Even the social life of the Encyclopedists tried to explain the action of natural causes. Thus, Charles Montesquieu, in his treatise On the Spirit of Laws, argued that people in their social activities are controlled by the mechanical forces of attraction and repulsion, connection and decomposition, we only call them in other words: friendship and enmity, love and hatred, etc. P.

He also created a materialistic, but essentially mechanistic doctrine geographical determinism, according to which social mores, the characters of people and even state orders are determined by geographical factors: terrain, topography, climate, etc. So, the islanders are closed, and the inhabitants of the continent are sociable; the highlanders are proud and independent, while the inhabitants of the plains are friendly and tolerant; the southerners are hot-tempered and hot-tempered, while the northerners are reserved and cold-blooded; in small territories, republics with a democratic system are established, and in vast spaces - monarchies with despotic rule, otherwise power cannot be retained.

Well, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his numerous writings, sharply criticized civilized society and considered natural state people's lives in the bosom of nature: pastoral(from fr. pastouraux - shepherds) as a society without power, without laws, without property and without a family. He wrote about this in the scandalous treatise “On the source and foundations of inequality between people”, where he called private property the cause of all social evils.

Enlightenment in Europe called the ideological trend among the educated part of the population of Europe in the second half of the XVII - XVIII centuries. The main ideas of the Enlightenment were:

The idea of ​​humanism, the natural right of every person to recognize the value of his personality, to happiness. Personality is valuable regardless of its origin, nationality, race.

Condemnation of social inequality of people, exploitation of man by man. anti-feudal sentiments.

The idea of ​​restructuring society on the basis of reason and science. Reason for enlighteners is an active instrument of transformation, and not a passive receptacle of ideally correct knowledge given by God, as the classicists considered it.

Criticism of the church, religious prohibitions and prejudices, critical revision of generally accepted spiritual and intellectual values.

condemnation of political tyranny.

- The idea of ​​enlightened absolutism- the rulers of countries should take care of the development of science and education among the population ("the union of kings and philosophy")

Enlightenment in literature made an invaluable contribution to the development of such a genre as the novel. The genres of the European philosophical novel and drama were founded precisely by the enlighteners. In the center of literary works written by enlighteners is the image of an intellectual hero, often a worker of art or science, who seeks to reform the world or fights for a worthy place in life. The works of the enlighteners are filled with propaganda of reading books and education. The characters express the author's ideas of a better society. The authors often cite voluminous arguments of their characters, their correspondence on the problems of economics, aesthetics, religion and church, politics, pedagogy, etc.

Outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment in literature: Voltaire, Charles Louis de Montesquieu, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Oliver Goldsmith, Mikhail Lomonosov, Grigory2 Skovoroda.

TO cultural treasures of the Enlightenment should include the rapid spread of newspapers, the beginning of the publication of magazines and encyclopedias, as well as the emergence of social clubs where debates on important public issues took place. These are academies, scientific societies, Masonic lodges, circles, secular and art salons and cafes.

THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT Enlightenment, intellectual and spiritual movement of the late 17th - early 19th centuries. in Europe and North America. It was a natural continuation of the humanism of the Renaissance and the rationalism of the beginning of the New Age, which laid the foundations of the enlightenment worldview: the rejection of the religious worldview and the appeal to reason as the only criterion for the knowledge of man and society. The name was fixed after the publication of the article by I. Kant The answer to the question: what is Enlightenment?(1784). The root word "light", from which the term "enlightenment" (English Enlightenment; French Les Lumières; German Aufklärung; Italian Illuminismo) comes, goes back to an ancient religious tradition, enshrined in both the Old and New Testaments. This is the Creator's separation of light from darkness, and the definition of God himself as Light. Christianization itself implies the enlightenment of mankind with the light of the teachings of Christ. Rethinking this image, the enlighteners put a new understanding into it, speaking about the enlightenment of a person with the light of reason.

The Enlightenment originated in England at the end of the 17th century. in the writings of its founder D. Locke (1632–1704) and his followers G. Bolingbroke (1678–1751), D. Addison (1672–1719), A. E. Shaftesbury (1671–1713), F. Hutcheson (1694– 1747) formulated the basic concepts of the enlightenment doctrine: "common good", "natural man", "natural law", "natural religion", "social contract". In the doctrine of natural law, set forth in Two treatises on state government(1690) D. Locke, the basic human rights are substantiated: freedom, equality, inviolability of the person and property, which are natural, eternal and inalienable. People need to voluntarily conclude a social contract, on the basis of which a body (state) is created that ensures the protection of their rights. The concept of a social contract was one of the fundamental ones in the doctrine of society developed by the figures of the early English Enlightenment.

In the 18th century, France became the center of the enlightenment movement. At the first stage of the French Enlightenment, the main figures were Ch. L. Montesquieu (1689–1755) and Voltaire (F. M. Arue, 1694–1778). In the works of Montesquieu, Locke's doctrine of the rule of law was further developed. In the treatise About the spirit of laws(1748) formulated the principle of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial. V Persian letters(1721) Montesquieu outlined the path along which the French Enlightenment thought with its cult of the rational and the natural had to go. However, Voltaire held different political views. He was the ideologist of enlightened absolutism and sought to instill the ideas of the Enlightenment in the monarchs of Europe (service with Frederick II, correspondence with Catherine II). He was distinguished by clearly expressed anti-clerical activity, opposed religious fanaticism and hypocrisy, church dogmatism and the primacy of the church over the state and society. The writer's work is diverse in topics and genres: anti-clerical writings Orleans virgin (1735), Fanaticism, or the Prophet Mohammed(1742); philosophical stories Candide, or Optimism (1759), Innocent(1767); tragedy brutus (1731), Tancred (1761); Philosophical letters (1733).

During the second stage of the French Enlightenment, Diderot (1713-1784) and the Encyclopedists played a major role. Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts, 1751-1780 became the first scientific encyclopedia, which outlined the basic concepts in the field of physical and mathematical sciences, natural sciences, economics, politics, engineering and art. In most cases, the articles were thorough and reflected the latest state of knowledge. Inspirers and editors encyclopedias Diderot and J. D "Alembert (1717–1783) appeared, Voltaire, Condillac, Helvetius, Holbach, Montesquieu, Rousseau took an active part in its creation. Articles on specific areas of knowledge were written by professionals - scientists, writers, engineers.

The third period put forward the figure of J.-J. Rousseau (1712–1778). He became the most prominent popularizer of the ideas of the Enlightenment, introducing elements of sensitivity and eloquent pathos into the rationalistic prose of the Enlightenment. Rousseau proposed his own way of the political structure of society. In the treatise On the social contract, or principles of political law(1762) he put forward the idea of ​​popular sovereignty. According to it, the government receives power from the hands of the people in the form of an assignment that it is obliged to fulfill in accordance with the people's will. If it violates this will, then the people can restrict, modify or take away the power given to them. One of the means of such a return of power may be the violent overthrow of the government. Rousseau's ideas found their further development in the theory and practice of the ideologists of the Great French Revolution.

The period of the late Enlightenment (late 18th - early 19th century) is associated with the countries of Eastern Europe, Russia and Germany. A new impetus to the Enlightenment is given by German literature and philosophical thought. The German enlighteners were the spiritual successors of the ideas of the English and French thinkers, but in their writings they were transformed and took on a deeply national character. I. G. Herder (1744–1803) asserted the originality of the national culture and language. His main work Ideas for the philosophy of the history of mankind(1784-1791) was the first fundamental classical work with which Germany entered the arena of world historical and philosophical science. The philosophical quest of the European Enlightenment was in tune with the work of many German writers. The pinnacle of the German Enlightenment, which received worldwide fame, were such works as Rogues (1781), Deceit and love (1784), wallenstein (1799), Mary Stuart(1801) F. Schiller (1759–1805), Emilia Galotti, Nathan the Wise G.E.Lessing (1729–1781) and especially Faust(1808–1832) I.-V. Goethe (1749-1832). Philosophers GW Leibniz (1646–1716) and I. Kant (1724–1804) played an important role in shaping the ideas of the Enlightenment. The idea of ​​progress, traditional for the Enlightenment, was developed in Critique of Pure Reason I. Kant (1724–1804), who became the founder of German classical philosophy.

Throughout the development of the Enlightenment, the concept of “reason” was at the center of the reasoning of its ideologists. The mind, in the view of the enlighteners, gives a person an understanding of both the social structure and himself. Both can be changed for the better, can be improved. Thus, the idea of ​​progress was substantiated, which was conceived as an irreversible course of history from the darkness of ignorance into the realm of reason. Scientific knowledge was considered the highest and most productive form of activity of the mind. It was during this era that sea travel acquired a systematic and scientific character. Geographical discoveries in the Pacific Ocean (Easter Islands, Tahiti and Hawaii, the east coast of Australia) by J. Roggeveen (1659–1729), D. Cook (1728–1779), L.A. F. Laperouse (1741-1788) laid the foundation for the systematic study and practical development of this region, which stimulated the development of natural sciences. A great contribution to botany was made by K. Linnaeus (1707–1778). In work plant species(1737) he described thousands of species of flora and fauna and gave them double Latin names. J.L. Buffon (1707–1788) introduced the term “biology” into scientific circulation, denoting “the science of life” with it. S. Lamarck (1744-1829) put forward the first theory of evolution. In mathematics, I. Newton (1642–1727) and G. W. Leibniz (1646–1716) almost simultaneously discovered differential and integral calculus. The development of mathematical analysis was promoted by L. Lagrange (1736–1813) and L. Euler (1707–1783). The founder of modern chemistry A.L. Lavoisier (1743-1794) compiled the first list of chemical elements. A characteristic feature of the scientific thought of the Enlightenment was that it focused on the practical use of the achievements of science in the interests of industrial and social development.

The task of educating the people, which the educators set themselves, required an attentive attitude to the issues of upbringing and education. Hence - a strong didactic principle, manifested not only in scientific treatises, but also in literature. As a true pragmatist, who attached great importance to those disciplines that were necessary for the development of industry and trade, D. Locke spoke in a treatise Thoughts on parenting(1693). A novel of education can be called The Life and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe(1719) D. Defoe (1660–1731). It presented a model of the behavior of a reasonable individual and showed the importance of knowledge and work in the life of an individual from a didactic point of view. The works of the founder of the English psychological novel, S. Richardson (1689–1761), are also didactic. Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded(1740) and Clarissa Harlow, or The Story of a Young Lady(1748-1750) - the Puritan-enlightenment ideal of the individual was embodied. The French enlighteners also spoke about the decisive role of education. K.A. Helvetius (1715-1771) in the works About the mind(1758) and About a human(1769) argued the influence of the "environment" on the upbringing, i.e. living conditions, social structure, customs and mores. Rousseau, unlike other enlighteners, was aware of the limitations of the mind. In the treatise About sciences and arts(1750) he questioned the cult of science and the boundless optimism associated with the possibility of progress, believing that with the development of civilization there is an impoverishment of culture. Related to these beliefs were Rousseau's calls to return to nature. In the essay Emil, or On Education(1762) and in the novel Julia, or New Eloise(1761) he developed the concept of natural education based on the use of the child's natural abilities, free at birth from vices and bad inclinations, which are formed in him later under the influence of society. According to Rousseau, children should be brought up in isolation from society, one on one with nature.

Enlightenment thought was directed towards the construction of utopian models of both the ideal state as a whole and the ideal individual. Therefore, the 18th century can be called the "golden age of utopia". The European culture of that time gave rise to a huge number of novels and treatises that tell about the transformation of the world according to the laws of reason and justice, - Will J. Mellier (1664–1729); The Code of Nature, or the True Spirit of Her Laws(1773) Morelli; On the rights and obligations of a citizen(1789) G.Mably (1709-1785); 2440(1770) L.S. Mercier (1740-1814). The novel by D. Swift (1667–1745) can be considered as a utopia and a dystopia at the same time. Gulliver's travels(1726), which debunks such fundamental ideas of the Enlightenment as the absolutization of scientific knowledge, faith in law and natural man.

In the artistic culture of the Enlightenment there was no single style of the era, a single artistic language. At the same time, various stylistic forms existed in it: late baroque, rococo, classicism, sentimentalism, pre-romanticism. The ratio of different types of art has changed. Music and literature came to the fore, the role of the theater increased. There was a change in the hierarchy of genres. Historical and mythological painting of the “great style” of the 17th century gave way to paintings on everyday and moral topics (J.B. Chardin (1699–1779), W. Hogarth (1697–1764), J.B. Grez (1725–1805 ) In the portrait genre, there is a transition from grandeur to intimacy (T. Gainsborough, 1727-1788, D. Reynolds, 1723-1792). A new genre of bourgeois drama and comedy appears in the theater, in which a new hero, a representative of the third estate, is brought to the stage - P.O. Beaumarchais (1732–1799) in Barber of Seville(1775) and The Marriage of Figaro(1784), by C. Goldoni (1707–1793) in Servant of two masters(1745, 1748) and Innkeeper(1753). The names of R. B. Sheridan (1751–1816), G. Fielding (1707–1754), C. Gozzi (1720–1806) stand out noticeably in the history of the world theater.

During the Age of Enlightenment, an unprecedented rise in musical art takes place. After the reform carried out by K.V. Gluck (1714–1787), opera became a synthetic art, combining music, singing and complex dramatic action in one performance. FJ Haydn (1732–1809) raised instrumental music to the highest level of classical art. The pinnacle of the musical culture of the Enlightenment is the work of J.S. Bach (1685–1750) and W.A. Mozart (1756–1791). The enlightenment ideal comes through especially brightly in Mozart's opera magical flute(1791), which is distinguished by the cult of reason, light, the idea of ​​man as the crown of the universe.

The enlightenment movement, having common basic principles, developed differently in different countries. The formation of the Enlightenment in each state was associated with its political, social and economic conditions, as well as with national characteristics.

English Enlightenment. The period of formation of the educational ideology falls at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was the result and consequence of the English bourgeois revolution of the middle of the 17th century, which is the fundamental difference between the island Enlightenment and the continental one. Having survived the bloody upheavals of the civil war and religious intolerance, the British strove for stability, and not for a radical change in the existing system. Hence the moderation, restraint, and skepticism that characterize the English Enlightenment. The national feature of England was the strong influence of Puritanism on all spheres of public life, therefore, the belief in the limitless possibilities of the mind, common to enlightenment thought, was combined by English thinkers with deep religiosity.

French Enlightenment differed by the most radical views on all political and social issues. French thinkers created doctrines that denied private property (Rousseau, Mably, Morelli), defending atheistic views (Didero, Helvetius, P.A. Holbach). It was France, which for a century became the center of enlightenment thought, that contributed to the rapid spread of advanced ideas in Europe - from Spain to Russia and North America. These ideas inspired the ideologists of the French Revolution, which radically changed the social and political structure of France.

American Enlightenment. The movement of the American Enlightenment is closely connected with the struggle of the English colonies in North America for independence (1775-1783), which ended with the creation of the United States of America. T. Payne (1737–1809), T. Jefferson (1743–1826) and B. Franklin (1706–1790) were engaged in the development of socio-political programs that prepared the theoretical basis for building an independent state. Their theoretical programs formed the basis of the main legislative acts of the new state: the Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the Constitution of 1787.

German Enlightenment. The development of the German Enlightenment was influenced by the political fragmentation of Germany and its economic backwardness, which determined the predominant interest of the German enlighteners not in socio-political problems, but in questions of philosophy, morality, aesthetics and education. A peculiar variant of the European Enlightenment was the literary movement "Storm and Drang" , to which Herder, Goethe and Schiller belonged. Unlike their predecessors, they had a negative attitude towards the cult of reason, preferring the sensual principle in man. A feature of the German Enlightenment was also the flourishing of philosophical and aesthetic thought (G. Lessing Laocoön, or on the Limits of Painting and Poetry.1766; I. Winkelman History of ancient art,1764).

Enlightenment is considered the stage of development of European culture of the late XVII - early XIX century. Rationalism, mind, science - these three concepts began to come to the fore. The basis of the ideology of the Enlightenment is faith in man. The eighteenth century is the time of great hopes of man for himself and his abilities, the time of faith in the human mind and the high purpose of man. Enlighteners were convinced that a healthy fantasy, imagination, feeling must be formed. Books began to appear in which writers wanted to put as much information as possible about the world around people, to give them an idea of ​​other countries and continents. Of course, one cannot but recall such famous people as Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau. A whole variety of genres from the scientific encyclopedia to the parenting novel appears during this period. Voltaire in this regard said: "All genres are beautiful, except for the boring."

Voltaire(1694-1778)

Voltaire's creative heritage is enormous: fifty volumes of six hundred pages each. It was about him that Victor Hugo said that "this is not a man, this is an EPOCH." Voltaire still has the glory of an outstanding scientist, philosopher, poet. What can be found in Voltaire's Philosophical Letters? The principles of philosophy, which are still relevant today: tolerance, the right to freely express one's own thoughts. And what about religion? It was also a hot topic. It turns out that the enlighteners, in particular Voltaire, did not reject the existence of God, but rejected the influence of God on the fate of man. It is known that the Russian Empress Catherine the Great was in correspondence with Voltaire. After the philosopher's death, she wanted to buy his library, along with their correspondence - but the letters were bought and subsequently published by Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais, author of The Marriage of Figaro.

By the way, Voltaire's working day lasted from 18 to 20 hours. At night, he often got up, woke his secretary and dictated to him, or wrote himself. He also drank up to 50 cups of coffee a day.

Jean Jacques Rousseau(1712 - 1778)

Rousseau was not a supporter of radical measures, but his ideas were inspired by the fighters for the ideals of the French Revolution.

Also, like Voltaire, he is a French philosopher, one of the most influential thinkers of the 18th century, the ideological predecessor of the French Revolution. In his first works, Rousseau expressed the provisions of his worldview. The foundations of civil life, the division of labor, property, the state and laws are only a source of inequality, misfortune and depravity of people. Proceeding from the idea that a person is naturally endowed with a tendency to goodness, Rousseau believed that the main task of pedagogy is the development of good inclinations invested in a person by nature. From this point of view, Rousseau rebelled against all violent methods in the matter of education, and especially against the cluttering of the child's mind with unnecessary knowledge. Rousseau's ideas influenced the French Revolution, they are written into the American Constitution, his pedagogical theories still make themselves felt indirectly in almost every school around the world, and his influence on literature has survived to this day. Rousseau developed his political ideas in a series of works, the pinnacle of which is the treatise On the Social Contract, published in 1762. “Man is born to be free, but meanwhile he is everywhere in chains.” These words, which begin the first chapter of the treatise, went around the whole world.

By the way, Jean Jacques Rousseau was the author of a musical dictionary and wrote the comic opera The Village Sorcerer, which became the ancestor of French vaudeville operas and lasted on the French opera stage for more than 60 years. As a result of his conflict with the church and the government (early 1760s, after the publication of the book "Emile, or On Education"), Rousseau's inherent suspicion took on extremely painful forms. He saw conspiracies everywhere. It was his "Social Contract" that inspired the fighters for the ideals of the French Revolution; Rousseau himself, paradoxically, was never in favor of such drastic measures.

Denis Diderot(1713-1784)

Diderot traveled around Russia with pleasure and lived in St. Petersburg.

French philosopher-educator - foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Founder and editor of the Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts. In the philosophical works of Denis Diderot, being a supporter of an enlightened monarchy, he made an irreconcilable criticism of absolutism, the Christian religion and the church, defended (based on sensationalism) materialistic ideas. Diderot's literary works are written mainly in the traditions of the realistic-everyday novel of the Enlightenment. If the bourgeoisie sought to destroy the class barriers between themselves and the privileged nobility, then Diderot destroyed class barriers in literary genres. From now on, the tragedy became more humanized. All classes could be represented in a dramatic work. At the same time, the rationalistic construction of characters gave way to a real depiction of living people. Like Voltaire, he did not trust the masses of the people, incapable, in his opinion, of sound judgment in "moral and political matters." Diderot maintained friendly relations with Dmitry Golitsyn. As an art critic, he wrote annual reviews of art exhibitions - "Salons". And from 1773 to 1774 Diderot, at the invitation of Catherine II, traveled to Russia and lived in St. Petersburg.

Montesquieu (1689-1755)

Montesquieu developed the doctrine of the separation of powers.

Full name is Charles-Louis de Seconda, Baron La Brad i de Montesquieu. French writer, jurist and philosopher, author of the novel "Persian Letters", articles from the "Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts", the work "On the Spirit of Laws", a supporter of a naturalistic approach to the study of society. Developed the doctrine of the separation of powers. Montesquieu led a simple, solitary life, and with full spiritual strength and deep seriousness he concentrated on the task of an observer, thinking and seeking the norm. The post of President of the Parliament of Bordeaux, which Montesquieu inherited in 1716, soon began to weigh him down. In 1726, he resigned this position, but, as owner of the castle of La Brede, he faithfully maintained the corporate convictions of the parliamentary aristocracy.

He was a type of French aristocrat, already rare at that time, who did not allow himself to be caught by the temptations of the court, and became a scholar in the spirit of noble independence. The great travels in Europe undertaken by Montesquieu in 1728-1731 had the character of serious research trips. Montesquieu actively visited literary salons and clubs, was familiar with many writers, scientists, diplomats. Among his interlocutors, for example, can be attributed to the French researcher of controversial issues of international law Gabriel Mably.

1 See; Markov G.E. History of economy and material culture in primitive and early class society. M.: MSU, 1979. S. 1920.

1 Shell culture - about 600-400 thousand years ago, it was named after finds near the city of Shell (France). It is characterized by extremely primitive stone tools, hand axes. Economy: hunting and gathering. The physical type of a person is Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus, Atlanthropus, Heidelberg Man, etc.

2 Exogamy - the prohibition of marriages within the same team.

1 The Rig Veda is a collection of religious hymns of philosophical and cosmological content, which took shape in the 10th century. BC.

1 See: Story national economy: Dictionary-reference book / Ed. A.N. Markova.
- M.: VZFEI, 1995. - S. 19.

1 The Hittite kingdom arose in the 17th century BC. on the territory of Asia Minor; during its heyday (XIV-XIII centuries BC) also included some areas of the Eastern Mediterranean and Northern Mesopotamia. In the XII century. BC. under the onslaught of the peoples of the sea, the state of the Hittites ceased to exist.

1 Founded in the 16th century. BC. the tribes of the Hurrians who came from the Iranian highlands; occupied a significant part of Northern Mesopotamia, in the XIV century. BC. was subject to the Hittites.

1 On the territory of the Eastern Mediterranean as early as the III-II millennium BC. city-states appear, the largest among which were Ebla and Ugarit in Syria, Hatzor in Palestine, Byblos and Sidon in Phoenicia. In the XII century. BC. The State of Israel begins to form in Palestine.

2 This state arose in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. in the valley of the rivers Kerkhe and Karun (southwest of modern Iran): the history of Elam is closely connected with the history of Mesopotamia. 12th century BC. was the heyday of the state, in the VI century. BC. it became part of the Achaemenid state.

1 Existed at the end of IV-I centuries. BC, covered part of the territory of the Middle East, Iran and Afghanistan.

1 Greek archaio - ancient.

1 Cities united in the Union (from German Hanse - Union).

1 Spanish conquerors-adventurers.

1 The Independents (English - literally independent) - a political party that expressed the interests of the radical wing of the bourgeoisie and the bourgeois new nobility, were in power in 1649-1660.

1 Levellers (eng. - lit. equalizers) - a radical political party.

2 Diggers (eng. - lit. diggers) - the extreme left wing of the revolutionary democracy, stood out from the Leveller movement.

1 In the XV-XVII centuries. the French kings fought a long struggle with the Habsburgs: the Italian wars of 1494-1559, the Thirty Years' War of 1618-1648. In 1667, France began the War of Devolution against Spain, using hereditary, so-called right of devolution, as a pretext. According to the Peace of Ankhen concluded in 1668, France retained 11 cities captured by it, but returned Frant-Comte to Spain.

1 The Anabaptists demanded a second baptism (at a conscious age), denied the church hierarchy, opposed wealth, for the community of property.

1 Marx K., Engels F. Op. T. 7. - S. 342.

1 Ansei Treaties - unequal treaties concluded by the USA, Russia, England and France with Japan in 1854-1858, which put an end to Japan's external isolation.

1 Marx K. Engels F. Op. T.4. – S. 524.

Enlightenment is a necessary step in the cultural development of any country that is parting with the feudal way of life. It sees its main task in upbringing and education, in familiarizing everyone and everyone with knowledge. The Age of Enlightenment is one of the brightest in the development of philosophy and spiritual culture in Europe.

Main idea this era, it was equality of all people not only before God, but also before the laws, before other people. And the enlighteners saw the solution of this idea in the dissemination of knowledge. In the article "The Answer to the Question: What is the Enlightenment?" Immanuel Kant wrote:

Enlightenment is a person's exit from the state of his minority, in which he is through his own fault. Immaturity is the inability to use one's reason without guidance from someone else. Immaturity through one's own fault is one the cause of which lies not in a lack of reason, but in a lack of determination and courage to use it ...

Religion at that time seemed to enlighteners-atheists the enemy of man, therefore, in the Age of Enlightenment, the idea of ​​God as a great mechanic and the world as a huge mechanism became especially popular.

Thanks to the achievements of the natural sciences, the idea arose that the time of miracles and mysteries has passed, that all the secrets of the universe have been revealed, and the Universe and society are subject to logical laws accessible to the human mind. Mind Victory - second idea era.

third idea the Enlightenment became historical optimism.

The Age of Enlightenment can rightly be called the "golden age of utopia." Enlightenment primarily included a belief in the ability to change a person for the better, "rationally" transforming political and social foundations.

The Renaissance ideal of a free person acquires an attribute of universality and responsibility: a person of Enlightenment thinks not only about himself, but also about others, about his place in society.

The main centers of the Enlightenment were England, France, Germany. From 1689 - the year of the last revolution in England - the Age of Enlightenment begins. It was a glorious era, begun with one revolution and ending with three: industrial - in England, political - in France, philosophical and aesthetic in Germany. For a hundred years - from 1689 to 1789. - the world has changed. The remnants of feudalism eroded more and more, bourgeois relations, which were finally established after the Great French Revolution, were louder and louder.

The 18th century entered the history of the West as the Age of Enlightenment. The ideology of the Enlightenment arose in the 17th century. - its ancestor is considered to be an English philosopher D. Locke(1632-1704), but its heyday came in the next century. It has been most developed in France, where it is represented by such thinkers as Voltaire (1694-1778),C. Montesquieu(1689-1755), J.-J. Rousseau(1712-1778) and others. VGermany Enlightenment is associated with names I. Herder, I.V. Goethe, I. Kant etc., in USA -T. Jefferson, B. Franklin and etc.

According to the content of the XVIII century. became a continuation of the previous and the Renaissance. He sharply opposed himself to the "gloomy" Middle Ages, further elevated the authority and role of reason and science, made the ideas of humanism extremely relevant. However, it was not at all a simple repetition of the previous one. 18th century completed the New Age and created all the necessary prerequisites for the subsequent development of the Western world.

Tracing and comprehending the evolution of mankind, Enlightenment philosophers developed a fairly slender and coherent concept of past, present and future. The basis of this concept was the concepts of "state of nature", "natural law", "human nature", "social contract", reason, progress, "bright future", etc.

According to this concept, the evolution of mankind began with a "state of nature", based on "natural law", which in turn corresponded to "human nature".

The latter, according to the enlighteners, is a combination of such qualities and values ​​as love, pity, compassion, mercy, freedom, equality, brotherhood, justice, etc., which are inherent only in man and distinguish him from all other living beings. They are natural, since they are born together with a person and act simultaneously as his properties and his inalienable, inalienable rights. Without them and without the right to them, a person ceases to be a person. Rousseau considers freedom as the very essence of man and humanity, and pity as the natural foundation of all social virtues. Rousseau is the author of the famous saying: "man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains."

The period of the natural state of mankind, which meant primitive society, was called the "golden age" by the enlighteners, since, in their opinion, it was marked by the highest triumph of freedom, equality, justice and other principles and values. At the same time, all these principles were not guaranteed by anything, were under constant threat and were increasingly violated, the reason for which was the lack of love and the excess of rivalry between people.

In the end, society had to think about their protection and guarantees. So it arose, and with it - , and . It arose not by the will of God, but as a result of a conscious agreement, a "social contract" between people. It was the state that was supposed to guarantee strict observance of the principles and norms of natural law. Together with its emergence, the former natural state of society gave way to civil. His appearance also meant the birth civilization.

According to the enlighteners, the subsequent evolution of mankind showed that the state did not cope well with the tasks assigned to it. Society moved further and further away from the principles of natural law, various kinds of unfreedom multiplied in it, inequality and injustice grew. The highest point in this process was feudalism with its absolute monarchy, which the enlighteners subjected to severe and irreconcilable criticism.

They claimed that feudal system incompatible with the principles of reason and natural law, and therefore must give way to a new society in which these principles will be restored anew. At the same time, they understood that a return to the past, to the "golden age" is impossible. Therefore, the grandiose program they proposed for building a new society had a pronounced futuristic character: it was aimed at a "bright future", a "radiant tomorrow", in the words of the French enlighteners, in which Freedom and Equality would again triumph. Justice, etc. It is noteworthy that the leaders of the French Revolution declared 1793 the first year of the "new era".

Enlighteners saw two main obstacles on the way to a "bright future": despotism, acting in the form of an absolute monarchy, and obscurantism, the embodiment of which was religion and the Church.

As the main means of building a new society put forward education and upbringing. Ignorant, unenlightened. a dark person, according to the enlighteners, cannot be free. In turn, only an ignorant monarch puts up with oppression, inequality and injustice, not realizing all their immorality.

Therefore, educators have high hopes for an enlightened monarch, "sovereign philosopher", "wise man on the throne", who will be able to consciously rid society of lack of freedom, injustice and other vices. A decisive role in achieving a brighter future was assigned to mind. In their belief in the possibility of creating a just society, the enlighteners relied on faith in the progress of the mind and the ability of man to endless self-improvement. Reason was declared the supreme judge of everything that exists.

In addition to the general program for the reorganization of society, the enlighteners put forward solutions to many specific problems. In particular, they developed classical concept of political pluralism, a special contribution to the creation of which belongs to Montesquieu. This concept is based on the well-known principle of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial. Montesquieu put the law above power, believing that the latter must strictly follow the letter and spirit of the law. He believed that power comes from strength, and law from reason.

Enlighteners also developed a holistic and deep concept of man, his rights and freedom. Its main ideas and provisions were reflected in the famous "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen" (1789), which began the French Revolution. This Declaration proclaimed as inalienable human rights freedom of the individual, speech, conscience, equality under the law, the right to fight against oppression. She also declared inviolable private property.

With regard to culture, in the studies of the Enlighteners, two main directions in understanding the relationship between national and world cultures quite clearly took shape - cultural relativism and universalism. Most enlighteners, especially French ones, adhered to cultural universalism, which proceeded from the fact that there is a unity of the human race, a “human nature” that is common to all, that with all the diversity of nations and peoples, there are universal, universal, supranational moral, aesthetic and other values. Because of this, a world culture is quite possible, and for the European peoples it already exists, and in the future, thanks to the progress of reason, enlightenment and education, humanity will create a unified world culture in the full sense.

Supporters of cultural relativism, whose founder is I. Herder. hold opposite positions, arguing that there is no single human nature, but there are only Germans, French, Russians, etc., that there are only national cultures, that there is no world culture and it is impossible. The dispute started by the enlighteners continues to this day, acting today as a problem of the relationship between national and universal values.

The ideology of the Enlightenment determined the development of all areas of culture in the 18th century. Was in a very difficult position religion. For the first time, she becomes the subject of harsh criticism. Its most ardent and decisive critic is Voltaire. He owns the famous call: "Crush the reptile!", directed against religion and especially the Church. It is the Church that is for him the main source of troubles and misfortunes of the people. He denounces her as a defender of the feudal system, a stronghold of obscurantism, fanaticism and intolerance, an opponent of reason, science and enlightenment. In general, the XVIII century. marked by a sharp weakening of the religious foundations of culture and the strengthening of its secular character.

In much more favorable conditions develops philosophy. This is not surprising, since the entire ideology of the Enlightenment was the creation of enlightenment philosophers. In their philosophical studies, they continue the criticism of religion and medieval scholasticism, begun by previous eras. At the same time, many of them, including Voltaire, do not completely break with religion and adhere to the concept of deism, according to which God. being the World Mind, is the Creator of nature, however, after its creation, He does not interfere in its existence.

Other philosophers of the Enlightenment, especially the French materialists - Diderot, Holbach, Helvetius - took a more decisive position in relation to religion. They rejected deism and explained the world in terms of itself, relying on natural laws.

Philosophy of the 18th century developed in close unity and cooperation with science and natural science. A huge achievement of this collaboration was the publication "Encyclopedia" in 35 volumes (1751-1780), the inspirers and editors of which were Diderot and D "Alembert. The contents of the Encyclopedia were advanced ideas and views on the world and man. It was a collection of valuable knowledge and information about the development of science, art and crafts.

XVIII a century flock time of rapid development Sciences. During this period, the scientific revolution that began earlier ends, and science - meaning natural science - reaches its classical form. The main features and criteria of such a science are as follows: the objectivity of knowledge, the experience of its origin, the exclusion of everything subjective from it. Science acquires unprecedented social prestige. Together with philosophy, Ohm appears as the only adequate embodiment of reason.

The unusually increased authority of science leads to the fact that already in the 18th century. the first forms appear scientism. which puts science in the place of religion, absolutizes and deifies the role and significance of science. On its basis, the so-called scientistic utopianism is also formed, according to which the laws of society can become completely “transparent”, fully known; and politics - to be based on a system of scientific laws, no different from the laws of nature. Such views, in particular, were tended by Diderot, who looked at society and man through the prism of natural science and the laws of nature. With this approach, a person ceases to be the subject of cognition and action, is deprived of freedom and is identified with an ordinary object or machine.

Also developing very successfully art culture, where there is much more continuity. Art of the 18th century is in many ways a direct continuation of the previous century. The main styles are still classicism and baroque. At the same time, there is an internal differentiation of art, its fragmentation into a growing number of trends and directions that do not look very clear, blurry. New styles are emerging, in particular, rococo and sentimentalism.

In general, the art of the XVIII century. - in comparison with the previous one - it seems less deep and sublime, it appears lighter, airy and superficial. It demonstrates an ironic and skeptical attitude towards what was previously considered noble, chosen and sublime. The Epicurean principle, the craving for hedonism, the spirit of pleasure and pleasure are noticeably enhanced in it. At the same time, art becomes more natural, closer to reality. Moreover, it intrudes more and more into social life, struggle and politics, becomes biased.

Classicism represents primarily a French artist J.-L. David (1748-1825). His work reflects great historical events, the theme of civic duty. His famous painting "The Oath of the Horatii" sounds like a call to fight against absolutism. This work is distinguished by a strict composition, clear rhythm, bright and juicy coloring. Another of his paintings - "The Death of Marat" - is dedicated to the French Revolution, in which David took an active part. Here, on the contrary, emphasized conciseness, asceticism of pictorial means dominates. The painting “The Coronation of Napoleon I” became a grandiose canvas on a historical theme.

Baroque 18th century did not give figures equal in scale and significance to Rubens. Being the "great style" of the era of absolutism, it is gradually losing its influence, and by the middle of the 18th century. it is increasingly being overtaken by the rococo style, which is sometimes called the degenerate baroque.

Most widespread rococo received in France. One of its most famous representatives is the artist O. Fragonard (1732-1806). He continues the line of Rubens, which is manifested in his sensual perception of color and special attention to the beauty of female flesh, exciting bodily forms. A striking example in this regard is the picture "Bathers" expressing a real apotheosis of life, sensual joy and pleasure. At the same time, the flesh and forms depicted by Fragonard appear as if incorporeal, airy and even ephemeral. In his works, virtuosity, grace, sophistication, light and air effects come to the fore. It is in this spirit that the picture "Swing" is written.

Sentimentalism, which arose in the second half of the 18th century, was the first opposition to the enlightenment deification of the mind. He opposed the cult of natural feeling to reason. One of the founders and main figures of sentimentalism is J.-J. Rousseau. He famously said: “The mind can err. feeling - never!". In his works - "Julia, or New Eloise", "Confession", etc. - he depicts the life and concerns of ordinary people, their feelings and thoughts, sings of nature, critically evaluates urban life, idealizes the patriarchal peasant life.

The Greatest Artists of the 18th Century out of style. These include primarily the French artist A. Watteau (1684-1721) and Spanish painter F. Goya (1746-1828).

Creativity Watteau is closest to the Rococo style. Therefore, he is sometimes called the genius of the Rococo era. At the same time, the influence of Rubens and Van Dyck, Poussin and Titian is felt in his works. He is rightfully considered the forerunner of romanticism and the first great romantic in painting. J. Who compares Watgos to Mozart. All this makes the work of the French artist extremely complex and ambiguous.

The main themes of his works are nature and woman, love and music. Watteau became one of the greatest painters of the human soul, its immeasurable depths and subtlest overflows. He created an amazingly musical painting, as if vibrating and pulsating. It is marked by bright theatricality. It combines real and imaginary, serious and funny, joy and sadness. In the picture " Morning toilet» Watteau depicted a wonderful naked girl. The canvas "Piero" is dedicated to the Italian comedian. The most famous work of the artist is the painting " Pilgrimage to the island of Cythera.

No less complex and multifaceted is the art of F. Goya. With his work, he continues the realistic trend of Rembrandt. In his works one can detect the influence of Poussin, Rubens and other great artists. At the same time, his art is organically merged with Spanish painting - especially with the art of Velasque. Goya is one of the painters whose work has a pronounced national character. Goya successfully worked in almost all genres of painting. As a court painter, he created magnificent portraits of members of the royal family. Among them is the "Portrait of Queen Marie-Louise". In the portrait genre, he also created such masterpieces as Maja on the Balcony, Portrait of Sabasa Garcia. Many of Goya's paintings depict simple working people, scenes from folk life, beautiful Spanish landscapes, bullfights, etc. Among the famous works is a series of etchings "Caprichos", executed with amazing artistic power.

It is necessary to highlight musical art surviving in the 18th century. unprecedented growth and prosperity. If the 17th century considered the century of the theater, then the XVIII century. can rightly be called the age of music. Her social prestige increases so much that she comes to the first place among the arts, displacing painting from there.

Music of the 18th century represent such names as F. Haydn, K. Gluck, G. Handel. Among the great composers, I.S. Bach (1685-1750) and W.A. Mozart (1756-1791).

Bach is the last great genius of the Baroque era. He successfully worked in almost all musical genres, except for opera. His music was far ahead of its time, anticipating many later styles, including Romanticism. Bach's work is the pinnacle of the art of polyphony. In the field of vocal and dramatic music, the most famous masterpiece of the composer is the cantata "Passion according to Matthew", which tells about the last days of the life of Christ. The greatest glory to Bach during his lifetime brought organ music. Here he knows no equal. In the field of music for the clavier, the composer's brilliant creation is "The Well-Tempered Clavier”, which is a kind of encyclopedia of music styles of the 17th-18th centuries.

Austrian composer V.A. Mozart is one of the greatest geniuses in the world of art. He belongs to the Viennese classical school. His music is distinguished by classical, transparent clarity and piercing purity of sound. However, his work goes beyond any particular style. In his works, the principles of classicism are combined with the aesthetics of sentimentalism. They also present lightness, grace, sophistication and tenderness of a gallant style.

At the same time, Mozart is the forerunner of romanticism - the first great romantic in music. His work covers almost all genres, and everywhere he acts as a bold innovator. During Mozart's lifetime, his operas enjoyed the greatest success. The most famous among them are Wedding6aFigaro. Don Juan, The Magic Flute. It also deserves special mention Requiem". However, the real fame came to Mozart after his death. He became a symbol of incredible talent, unsurpassed genius, selfless loyalty to art.

The Age of Enlightenment is of fundamental importance for the subsequent history of Western Europe. It became a time of affirmation and triumph of the human mind. It acted both as a project and as the beginning of the modern era. The ideals and values ​​proclaimed by it have played a decisive role in the development of mankind for two centuries. However, many of them are now in deep crisis.

The Age of Enlightenment (the end of the 17th - 18th centuries) was a time of great social upheavals, on the one hand, the rapid development of material culture, the emergence of machine production, and on the other, an exacerbation of social injustice. Enlightenment is basically democratic, the main task is to share the knowledge of the whole people, every person.

The 17th century is the source of modernity, the period of modern times. The time of realization that the ideal of a man of the Renaissance not only remained unattainable, but also crashed. It leads, on the one hand, to the strengthening of an orderly, measured way of life and thinking, on the other hand, to rebellious moods in the most diverse segments of the population.

Features of the Age of Enlightenment, the "Age of Reason":

1) the emergence and development of bourgeois economic relations;

2) liberation of public consciousness from religious pressure;

3) spreading the ideals of Protestantism;

4) the development of natural science, the growth of interest in scientific and philosophical knowledge;

5) a new understanding of human existence (the attitude towards God, society, the state, other people has changed);

6) a new understanding of man (the subject of attention is nature, its laws are studied, as well as the patterns of development of society, the state);

7) historical optimism (the age of utopias);

8) the triumph of Reason;

9) ideas of equality of all people.

Enlightenment considered nature as the highest reality, the identity of the world and nature; debunked political and legal norms, aesthetic and ethical codes of the old class society; created a positive system of values ​​of Western civilization, addressed to a person, regardless of his social affiliation. 17th century man feels like a "citizen of the world" (great geographical discoveries). The interaction of society and the state takes the form of an agreement, the idea of ​​unity under the influence of the strong power of the monarch becomes dominant. Absolute monarchy as a form of state can unite disparate peoples and lands.

For the thinkers of the Enlightenment, the universalism of creative and vital interests is characteristic (“Encyclopedia of Arts, Sciences and Crafts” in 28 volumes; it offered new ethical and aesthetic standards, socio-political ideals and moral values; all prominent figures of the Enlightenment from France participated in the publication, Germany, Holland, England and other countries; organizer of the publication Diderot).

Literary schools:

classicism - Voltaire (reflected the signs of the times, complexity and inconsistency, denounced the vices of the state, the hypocrisy of the official church, wrote more than 70 works);

romanticism - Rousseau ( rejected formal excesses, defended the simplicity and naturalness of the language, appeal to the truth of life, positive heroes always sacrifice themselves and their lives to moral principles, a person is great with feelings, literature should reflect them and influence the personality);

realism - Diderot (the task of art is to serve the advanced ideas of the era, the principle of ideology).

Features of the painting of the Enlightenment:

The secular nature of art;

Everyday life, a reflection of the real life of real people;

The emergence of "mood landscapes" (Watto, Gainsborough, Guardi);

Attention to the sketch (personal, individual perception, the mood reflected in it, cause a greater emotional and aesthetic impact than the finished work);

Priority to drawing and engraving (establish a more direct connection between viewers and the artist than paintings);

Strengthening the role of color, multicolor, brightness (the picture not only expresses and reflects something, but also decorates the place where it is located).

During the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, the first public exhibitions were held - salons ( a new kind of connection between art and society).

The theater turned out to be close to the spirit of the era. A turbulent social life suggested interesting plots to him, filling the old forms with new content. The theater entered people's lives because it fulfilled the tasks of the time.

The music of the Enlightenment strikes a person with the scale and depth of analysis of the most hidden corners of the human soul. The attitude to music is changing, which in the 17th century. was just an applied instrument of influence in both the secular and religious spheres of culture. In France and Italy in the second half of the century, a new secular type of music, opera, flourished. In Germany and Austria, the most "serious" forms of musical works developed - the oratorio and mass (in church culture) and the concert (in secular culture). The pinnacle of the musical culture of the Enlightenment is the work of Bach and Mozart. Reason, the cult of light, the idea of ​​man as the crown of the universe in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute are combined with the main ideas of utopias of the 18th century.

The visible embodiment of the "better worlds" for the people of the Enlightenment were gardens and parks. . As in utopias, they constructed an alternative world to the existing one. A world that met the ideas of the time about ethical ideals, a happy life, the harmony of nature and man, people among themselves, the freedom and self-sufficiency of the human person. Like nature in general, a garden or park became a place for philosophical conversations and reflections. The park of the Enlightenment was created for the lofty and noble purpose - to serve as a perfect environment for a perfect person. The composition of parks and gardens included libraries, art galleries, museums, theaters, temples. The garden is a reflection of enlightenment ideas about happiness as a “natural state” of a “natural person”, the main condition of which was a return to nature.

European art of the 18th century combined two different principles: classicism and romanticism.

Classicism included the idea of ​​subordinating man to the social system. Classicism of the 18th century unlike XVII included elements of romanticism. Classicism connects the orderliness of the world with humanity, with wisdom, which should lead people to rational understanding, to religious tolerance, to higher justice.

Romanticism emphasized the individual and personal principles. Romanticism (from French - novel) - representatives of the artistic direction, from the end of the 18th century. putting forward the demand for an emotional, free and, above all, individual attitude of the artist to life. New in the art of the XVIII century. was the trend of sentimentalism. Sentimentalism illuminated the inner, intimate world of human feelings and thoughts, and did not require special stylistic design.

In this way, the cultural heritage of the New Age is distinguished by the richness of genres and styles, the depth of comprehension of human passions, the greatest optimism and faith in man and his mind.

Culture of the 19th century

At its core, the culture of the XIX century. is based on the values ​​of the culture of the New Age - rationalism, anthropocentrism, scientism, Eurocentrism, etc. By the 19th century. the world has become qualitatively different and culture chooses the path of reassessment of values. The main focus of culture is the search for the place and role of man in the world, the measure of justice. In the 19th century the crisis of Christian cosmology and organization develops into a crisis of the entire Christian worldview and morality.

The idea of ​​progress is the main one in social thought (various views were put forward: Comte, Hegel, Marx regarding the driving forces of social progress, the criteria that determine its direction, the laws of history that determine its course and the sequence of successive states of society and culture).

General features of the ideas of progress:

There are objective laws of history that determine the development of human society - humanity follows the path of historical progress, an important component of which is cultural progress;

Historical progress is unilinear;

Further progress must raise the culture of the entire non-European world to the level of European culture.

The set of ideas associated with the last of these provisions is called eurocentrism. It is a product of European ("Western") civilization and expresses its own self-esteem. Eurocentrism is an apology for Western culture, Western values, Western way of life. The ideologist of Eurocentrism, the German philosopher and theologian E. Troelch (1865-1923): only the European spirit, having inherited the great ancient culture and knowing the "holy truths of Christianity", is able to understand the unity of the human race and its historical path.

However, already in the 19th century, the study of the cultures of various peoples raises doubts about the possibility of lining them up in one line "according to the growth" of their level of development. Historical and ethnographic data indicate that even in the primitive cultures of backward peoples there are achievements, the assimilation of which can enrich European culture (for example, musical forms, medical art). The disdainful attitude towards "uncivilized" peoples is condemned by the humanistic intelligentsia.

Art of the 19th century.

Lack of a single aesthetic dominant - generic, specific, genre. Asynchrony and multi-style, the struggle of opposite directions in the development of art. The last attempts to overcome the fragmentation of art were made at the beginning of the century by romanticism (“dynamic synthesis of the arts”), and at the end by neo-romanticism, or modernity. There is a kind of "relocation" of specific and genre forms of artistic exploration of reality. Some go into the background (architecture), others move to the fore: in romanticism - music and poetry, in realism - the social novel, etc.

In the 19th century a classical model of institutions of artistic culture is emerging. The world of art, along with professional creativity, includes folklore, applied arts and the art industry. In the 19th century the “industry of literature”, the “industry of spectacles”, etc., are born - these components of “mass culture”.

Stages of development of art of the 19th century:

1) the era of romanticism (the first half of the 19th century);

2) the era of realism (40s of the 19th century);

3) the era of decadence (from the end of the 50s to the beginning of the First World War).

1) Flight beyond the spatial limits of bourgeois society took three forms:

The first direction is going into nature (hence the interest in the countryside, criticism of the city, interest in the spirituality of the people, expressed in folklore).

Second direction – departure from reality in a different time (not finding support in the present, romanticism breaks the natural connection of times, idealizes the past, its customs, patriarchal way of life (Coleridge, J. Sand), crafts (Novalis, Hoffmann), chivalric code of honor (V. Scott), etc.).

The third direction is withdrawal into one's own inner world, into one's "I" (fairy tales of Hoffmann, Gauf, romantic portrait).

The recognition of the high value rank of the individual, inherent in the culture of the New Age, is expressed in romanticism in the idea of ​​its uniqueness and originality. In romanticism, the aestheticization of the whole worldview takes place, the idea of ​​a "synthesis of the arts".

2) Realism as a type of culture is a product of modern times, critical realism is the highest point of realism. Realism was united with romanticism not only by disappointment in the results of the revolution, a negative attitude towards established bourgeois reality, but also by an appeal to the spiritual world of man, the struggle for self-affirmation of the individual. The theme of nationality, discovered by the Romantics, is close to realism. Realism is interested in the exact depiction of characters in typical circumstances (Maupassant, Balzac, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy and others).

3) Decadence (from French - “decline”) - in its genesis, the phenomenon is complex and contradictory, associated with various trends in artistic culture. It denotes crisis phenomena in the spiritual culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, marked by moods of hopelessness, pessimism, and decadence.

Transformation of the main ideological attitudes in the 19th century:

The understanding of mother nature, nature as the first creator gives way to a purely utilitarian understanding of it as a universal pantry, an inexhaustible source of materials and energies, a universal workshop.

The development of science deprives a person of the status of "the crown of the universe", "the measure of all things", the image and likeness of God. A person appears as a carrier of subconscious libido, a kind of relationship of the type "stimulus-reaction", "an animal that is closely related to a monkey", etc.

Leading the pace of technical development of the world pace of humanistic awareness of the consequences of decisions.

In this way, the culture of the 19th century inherited all the problems of the past: the desire to transform society, the development of the capitalist economy; developed under the influence of various political, social, religious, national factors. The new ideas of the Great French Revolution (freedom, equality, fraternity) differed significantly from the practice of their implementation. A feature of the development of culture is criticism and the search for new artistic trends and styles.