THE MIND OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT BY CASSIRER
shivani sanghai
THE MIND OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT
IN THIS ESSAY THE AUTHOR MAKES US REALISE THAT THERE HAS COME ABOUT A REMARKABLE CHANGE IN OUR IDEAS OVER A PERIOD OF CENTURIES, AND IT IS TIME, WHICH CAN DEFINE THE GOAL, THE NATURE, MERITS AND SHORTCOMINGS OF THIS TRANSFORMATION. THIS CENTURY WITH NEW PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS CAN BE CALLED THE " CENTURY OF PHILOSOPHY PAR EXCELLENCE". THUS WE CAN SAY THAT THE PHILOSOPHY AMONG US ALL HAS BEEN PROGRESSING OVER A PERIOD OF TIME AND HAS GOT REVOLUTIONISED IN SOME MANNER.
IN THE 18TH CENTURY THERE HAS BEEN A DISCOVERY OF A NEW METHOD OF PHILOSOPHIZING, WHICH HAS LEAD TO A FERMENTATION OF THE MINDS OF THE PEOPLE. THERE WERE THOUGHTS ON VARIOUS ISSUES, TOO MANY POINTS WERE DISCUSSED AND ANALYSED. ALL THIS HENCE LED TO AN EXPRESSION OF NATURE AND A TREND OF CONTEMPORARY INTELLECTUAL LIFE.
THE WHOLE NOTION OF KNOWLEDGE CHANGED BY THE 18TH CENTURY, KNOWLEDGE ITS OWN ACTIVITY, INTELLECTUAL SELF- EXAMINATION, IT FORESIGHT WERE THE PROPER FUNCTION AND ESENTIAL TASK OF THOUGHT. THOUGHT WAS NOT ONLY FOR NEW OR UNKNOWN GOALS BUT IT WAS ALL ABOUT KNOWING WHERE THE GOALS ARE HEADING FOR AND DETERMINING FOR ITSELF THE DIRECTION OF ITS JOURNEY.
THERE WERE VARIOUS ASPECTS WHICH BROADENED THE HORIZON OF OBJECTIVE REALITY SUCH AS KNOWLEDGE, SELF- EXAMINATION, FORESIGHT, COURAGE OF DISCOVERY, JOURNEYS OF EXPLORATION OF THOUGHT, POTENTIALITY OF THIS THOUGHT, VARIOUS QUESTIONS ON NATURE.
THIS AGE WAS MORE FASCINATED BY THE ACTIVITY OF THE NEW FORCE, WHICH WAS PREVALENT THAN THE CREATIONS BROUGHT FORTH, BY THE ACTIVITY. THE PROCESS WAS GIVEN MORE EMPHASIS AND IMPORTANCE THAN JUST THE FINAL RESULTS.
ALL ENERGIES OF THE MIND WAS BELIEVED TO HAVE A CENTRAL FOCUS , A SINGLE POINT OF ATTRACTION – REASON.
THE 18TH CENTURY WAS AN INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS- A BELIEF IN THE UNITY AND IMMUTABILITY OF REASON. REASON WAS THE SAME FOR ALL THINKING OBJECTS, CULTURES, ALL NATIONS, ETC.
THE CONCEPT OF TRUTH AND PHILOSOPHY FROM THE 17TH CENTURY AND ITS IDEAS OF THINKING WERE NOT TAKEN AS MERE DOCTRINES FROM THE PAST. HOWEVER IT CONSTRUCTS ITS IDEALS ACCORDING TO THE MODEL AND PATTERN OF CONTEMPORARY NATURAL SCIENCE.
NEWTON'S METHOD WAS BASED ON ANALYSIS. HIS PHENOMENA WAS THE DATA OF EXPERIENCE AND THE PRINCIPLES WERE FROM GOAL OF HIS INVESTIGATION. THERE WAS NO HYPOTHESIS IN DEVELOPING LOGICAL CONCLUSIONS AS THESE HYPOTHESIS CAN BE INVENTED AND MODIFIED ACCORDINGLY AS DESIRED. AN ABSTRACTION CAN ONLY BE OBTAINED FROM EXPERIENCE AND OBSERVATION. FACTS APPEAR IN THE FORM OF MATHEMATICAL DETERMINATIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS ACCORDING TO MEASURE AND NUMBER.
.......TO BE CONTINUED
SHIVANI
Payal Kapoor
THE MIND OF ENLIGHTENMENT
In the essay 'the mind of enlightenment', author Cassirer.E what was the specific difference in the 18th century that it is known as the age of reason or age of enlightenment. He tries to show if there exist a direction and general tendency in the 18th century. During the 17th and the 18th century people started thinking showing intellectual progress of the society. The theory of reason as the characterize power became the unifying and the central point of the century.
During the 17th century, main task was of putting the philosophical systems in place. Factor of certainty was there as knowledge was derived from method of proof and rigorous inference, but 18 th century abandons this kind of systematic deduction and proof. Age of enlightenment did not take its ideal from the philosophical doctrine of the past. It constructed its ideal based on the form and pattern of contemporary natural science.
The response to the central problem of this century began with the Newton's "Rules of Philosophising" which was based on analysis. If we consider method of physics, then it can never start from a point we know logically as hypothesis because it can be changed or modified as desired. So the starting point of anything should be obtained from experience and observation. So according to Newtonian thinkers facts are very important and involve mathematical calculation in relation to measure and number. Scientific thinking saw its revival in modern times where the analytical spirit was at its epoch. The philosophical systems failed in 17 th century as is shown by condillac because instead of sticking to the facts and developing the concepts from them, they raised some individual concept to a level of being true without any proof. Principles like order, law and reason shouldn't be applied first to the phenomena, but one should find such principles in the phenomena itself ad allow reason to unfold gradually as the knowledge of facts progresses.
The discovery of "reasoning" was due to rigorous application of the scientific method. The discoveries made by Kepler, Galileo, Huygens has shown everything is not as simple as it seems to be in the direct observation of nature. It has principle of functioning and law behind it .the simplicity of observations is related to the complexity of actual facts. Author says that phenomenon of nature present themselves to perception as uniform events, as undivided wholes.
For getting exact knowledge of nature the act of reasoning is formulated in two steps:
1) Dissolution – where the data is broken down into simple components and this step is also called as analytic dissection.
2) Reconstruction – where parts are constructed again to create a new structure called as true whole. This step is also called as synthetic reconstruction.
By this method we know the ordered sequence of the individual elements. The method also makes clear how we are getting to the parts and forming the whole. So, we understand the situation in totality. Behind proving anything reason is required. The concept of reasoning was an important factor, which guided thinking in the 18 th century.
Real power of reason lies not in the possession of but in the acquisition of the truth i.e. how are we analysing the whole thing. It was proved during this century that we should not rely on the factual info, simple data of experience. One should go on analysing data till we get to the simplest components and have a reason behind every opinion and belief. This is a law in physics known as ' law of sufficient reason'.
Till now, we have seen pure analysis as the basis of mathematical thinking but because of its universal function author argues it can be applies to the realm of quantities as well qualities. So during this era concept of analysis was also applied to the psychological and sociological problems. At first observation according to the author psychological realities might evade the possibilities of any dissection and reconstruction but a further analysis would reveal solid ground and permanent elements underlying because mind neither creates nor invents; it repeats and constructs. Condillac said that all psychological reality is a transformation, a metamorphosis, of simple sense perception.
Rule of reason can also be applied to the structure of state and society. Society can be treated as physical reality and general will of state is treated as if it were composed of the will of the individual and had come into being as a result of the union of these wills. So again the steps of dissection and reconstruction can be applied.
The method of reason is thus exactly the same in the branch of knowledge as it is in natural science and psychology. The 18th century accomplished great individual tasks in its theory of knowledge, philosophy of nature, theory of state and society, in its philosophy of religion and in its aesthetics.
Thus the 18th century came to be known as the age of enlightenment that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions.