Enlightenment Ideas

Enlightenment thinking posits:

• The existence of a stable, coherent, reasonable self
• Reason and philosophy can provide an objective, reliable, and universal foundation for knowledge
• The right use of reason produces knowledge that is True
• Reason should be emphasized over passion
• Reason itself has transcendental and universal qualities
• Reason, autonomy, and freedom are interconnected
• The right use of reason leads to freedom; uncontrolled passion leads to damnation
• Knowledge can be both neutral (i.e., grounded in universal reason, not particular “interest”) and also socially beneficial (by influencing power)
• Science is the paradigm for true knowledge: science is neutral in its methods and contents but socially beneficial in its results
• Language is in some sense transparent — a medium in and through which knowledge may be represented

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