The Enlightenment: Still Burning Bright
Summary
TLDRThis talk explores the enduring impact of the 18th-century Enlightenment on modern society. It discusses the origins of the Enlightenment in France, its spread to the Philippines, and its ongoing influence today. Key themes include the fight for freedom of thought, the pursuit of equality, and the use of reason to challenge ignorance and prejudice. Despite contemporary challenges to human rights and scientific truth, the speaker calls for continued enlightenment values, highlighting the importance of questioning authority and seeking the light of knowledge over the glitter of appearances.
Takeaways
- 🔥 The Enlightenment was a transformative period in 18th century Europe that championed reason, individual rights, and the questioning of traditional authority.
- 🌟 The term 'Enlightenment' signifies the use of reason to combat ignorance and the pursuit of knowledge to improve society.
- 📚 The Enlightenment was sparked by figures like Galileo, who advocated for scientific inquiry and the application of reason over blind acceptance of authority.
- 🗽 It led to significant societal changes, including the American and French Revolutions, which were influenced by Enlightenment ideals of liberty and equality.
- 🌐 The Enlightenment's influence extended beyond Europe, impacting colonies like the Philippines, where it inspired movements for representation and self-governance.
- 📖 Key Enlightenment figures, such as Voltaire and Rousseau, used their writings to fight for freedom of thought and to expose injustices, influencing legal and social reforms.
- 🌱 The concept of 'modernity' emerged from the Enlightenment, viewing the world and the self as improvable through the application of reason.
- 📜 The 'Encyclopedia' was a product of the Enlightenment, aiming to democratize knowledge and promote societal improvement through the dissemination of information.
- 🏛️ The Enlightenment's fight for equality and justice is still relevant today, as seen in ongoing struggles for human rights, religious tolerance, and democratic governance.
- 🌟 Despite challenges, the flame of the Enlightenment continues to inspire those who seek to uphold its values of reason, freedom, and the pursuit of knowledge in the face of opposition.
Q & A
What is the main theme of the talk titled 'The Enlightenment Still Burning Bright'?
-The main theme of the talk is the historical significance and ongoing relevance of the Enlightenment, a period of intellectual and philosophical development in 18th-century Europe that emphasized reason, individualism, and liberty, and its impact on modern society.
How did the Enlightenment begin in Europe?
-The Enlightenment began in Europe with the advent of Galileo's scientific approach, which emphasized controlled experimentation, observable data, and mathematical reasoning. This approach challenged traditional authority and led to a shift towards rational inquiry and questioning of established norms.
What was the role of the Encyclopedia in the Enlightenment movement?
-The Encyclopedia, published in the 1750s, played a significant role in the Enlightenment by bringing together knowledge from various fields such as sciences, arts, and crafts. It aimed to make knowledge accessible to the general public to promote improvement and innovation.
Who was Voltaire and what was his contribution to the Enlightenment?
-Voltaire was a prominent French writer, historian, and philosopher known for his wit, his criticism of Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state. He played a significant role in the Enlightenment by advocating for tolerance, freedom of thought, and fighting against injustice.
How did the Enlightenment's ideals spread to the Philippines?
-The Enlightenment's ideals spread to the Philippines through the works of Filipino intellectuals like José Rizal and Andrés Bonifacio, who were influenced by Enlightenment thinkers. They used literature and revolutionary movements to challenge colonial rule and advocate for representation and social change.
What was the significance of the capital mutiny of 1872 in the Philippines?
-The capital mutiny of 1872 in the Philippines was a significant event that led to the execution of three innocent priests, which in turn sparked a movement among educated Filipinos to demand representation and to challenge the colonial government's actions, reflecting the Enlightenment's ideals of liberty and equality.
How did the Enlightenment influence the American and French Revolutions?
-The Enlightenment influenced the American and French Revolutions by promoting the ideas of liberty, equality, and the right to self-governance. These ideals led to the establishment of new legal codes and the recognition of individual rights, as seen in documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
What challenges does the speaker mention that are faced by the Enlightenment's ideals today?
-The speaker mentions several challenges faced by Enlightenment ideals today, including attacks on science, such as climate change denial, religious intolerance, racism, discrimination against women, and threats to freedom of speech.
Who are some modern-day advocates of Enlightenment values mentioned in the talk?
-The talk mentions the Ebon Foundation, academics like Dr. John Cruz, and writers and journalists who use scientific data and expose corruption as modern-day advocates of Enlightenment values.
What is the speaker's final message regarding the state of the Enlightenment today?
-The speaker's final message is one of hope and encouragement to continue seeking the light of knowledge and truth, as represented by the Enlightenment, and not be blinded by superficial glitter. They emphasize the importance of questioning, knowing, and challenging the status quo to promote social progress.
Outlines
🔍 The Enlightenment: A Catalyst for Change
The introduction highlights the importance of the Enlightenment, a movement that sparked significant changes in Europe during the 18th century. It emphasizes the newfound freedoms, such as the right to choose one’s career, religion, and express opinions without fear of persecution—freedoms that were nonexistent over three centuries ago. The speaker sets the stage for discussing how the Enlightenment ignited change in Europe, spread to the Philippines, and continues to influence the world today.
💡 The Birth of Enlightenment and Rational Thought
This section delves into the origins of Enlightenment thinking, tracing its roots back to Galileo Galilei's scientific methods. Galileo's approach to science—observation, experimentation, and reasoning—challenged established religious and philosophical beliefs, especially regarding the cosmos. Despite the Church's resistance, his ideas spread, leading intellectuals to apply scientific reasoning to improve society, marking the beginning of the Enlightenment, which emphasized reason over ignorance.
⚖️ Philosophers' Struggle for Freedom and Equality
The third paragraph discusses how Enlightenment philosophers, like Voltaire and Rousseau, challenged religious intolerance and social inequalities. Voltaire's defense of freedom of thought and his opposition to blasphemy laws are highlighted, alongside Rousseau's ideas on equality and the questioning of societal privileges. These thinkers faced persecution, but their ideas spread across Europe, influencing legal reforms and inspiring revolutions.
🌍 Enlightenment's Legacy in the Philippines
This section explores how Enlightenment ideas reached the Philippines, where colonial grievances led to a push for representation and reform. Figures like José Rizal and Emilio Jacinto used literature and activism to challenge Spanish rule, drawing inspiration from Enlightenment ideals. Their efforts, though met with resistance, laid the groundwork for the Philippine revolution and the nation’s eventual push for independence.
🔥 The Enduring Flame of Enlightenment
The final paragraph concludes by discussing how the Enlightenment’s influence persists today, despite challenges. It commends modern institutions, academics, and journalists in the Philippines who continue to advocate for social justice, government accountability, and scientific inquiry. Despite growing threats to freedom and reason, the Enlightenment's legacy remains strong, inspiring ongoing efforts to improve society.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Enlightenment
💡Reason
💡Galileo
💡Philosophes
💡Toleration
💡Equality
💡Social Contract
💡Propaganda Movement
💡Modernity
💡Human Rights
Highlights
The Enlightenment was a pivotal 18th-century European movement that championed reason, individual rights, and the questioning of traditional authority.
The movement advocated for the rights to choose one's career, religion, and the freedom of speech, which were revolutionary ideas at the time.
France, despite its prosperity, was marked by a stark contrast between the heavily taxed commoners and the lightly taxed clergy and nobility.
Galileo's scientific method, emphasizing experimentation and mathematical reasoning, laid the groundwork for the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason over authority.
The Enlightenment's radical thinkers, known as philosophes, used理性 inquiry to propose social and political reforms.
The Encyclopedia, a multi-volume work of the Enlightenment, aimed to democratize knowledge and improve society.
Voltaire, a leading figure of the Enlightenment, fought for freedom of thought and against religious intolerance.
Rousseau's concept of 'the social contract' challenged the divine right of kings and advocated for a state based on the will of the people.
The American and French Revolutions were direct outcomes of Enlightenment ideals, leading to the establishment of rights to liberty and equality.
The Enlightenment's influence reached the Philippines, inspiring a movement for representation and an end to colonial abuses.
Filipino reformers like Jose Rizal used literature to expose social injustices and advocate for change, echoing the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason and critique.
Emilio Jacinto, a Filipino revolutionary, emphasized the importance of education and the pursuit of truth over superficial appearances.
Despite facing persecution, Filipino reformers坚持了启蒙运动的理念,推动了社会的进步和现代化。
Today, many countries have constitutions with bills of rights, and international bodies like the United Nations have enacted declarations to uphold human rights.
However, the ideals of the Enlightenment are still under threat, with challenges to scientific consensus, religious intolerance, and human rights.
The speaker calls for continued vigilance and the pursuit of knowledge to ensure the Enlightenment's flame continues to burn bright.
Specific groups in the Philippines, such as the Ebon Foundation and academic researchers, are commended for carrying forward the Enlightenment's spirit of inquiry and social critique.
Transcripts
[Music]
hi
good day i'd like to talk about an event
that happened
18th century europe but is still very
current today
i'd like to talk about enlightenment
the title of my talk is the
enlightenment still burning bright
we assume that today we have the right
to choose
for our lives the right to choose our
career
the right to choose a religion
or not have a religion at all the right
to express our opinions and on
government
without fear of arrest but do you
realize that
over three centuries ago such rights did
not exist
in most parts of the world so what made
the
difference that was the enlightenment
this in fact is a topic of our talk
today
i want to talk about
three things how the flame of the
enlightenment was ignited in europe
how the flames spread to the philippines
and finally
how the flame continues to burn brightly
still
today all over the world let us go to
france
which at that time was the most
prosperous in the largest country in
europe in terms of population
such freedoms did not exist in france
then
what you had was a large
commoner mass of people peasants
working men and ambusho c
consisting of educated merchants
manufacturers and government officials
they were heavily taxed and yet
the clergy and the nobility who
constituted only two percent of the
population
and owned most of the land in france
were hardly taxed so there was
resentment
unfortunately the nobility were powerful
do you realize that the noble man could
have you
imprisoned if he is if you displease a
noble man
and he could have imprisoned on on
charges for the rest of your life
meanwhile uh clergy were not questioned
at all
um they were the man of god so how can
you question them
so um they they spoke as they pleased
and also crimes against religion were
considered crimes against the state
so if you were accused of blasphemy you
could be executed
so uh what gave the men of france the
courage to question all these things
and to raise their lives something that
happened earlier
before the enlightenment which was
the advent of galileo galileo
in italy had developed a new approach
called sienza the italian for knowledge
in english we simply use the word
science
he developed this at the start of the
17th century
now his approach to reality was quite
different
he said let us do controlled
experimentation
let us gather observable data and
finally let us apply
mathematical reasoning to make sense of
this data
so there was no need actually for
external authority
because it's observation plus reason
now what did he do he applied this
to trying to understand the cosmos
and he realized looking through his
telescope which is just invented
that actually the planets and the earth
revolved around the sun not the sun and
the planets revolving around the earth
this was contrary to what the ancient
greeks
and the bible said now the church of
course was horrified this was something
new they didn't know what to do with
this
so they asked galileo to recant
under pain of torture which it did
galileo was under house arrest but
it was too late because
his ideas had spread throughout europe
especially sienza
science and it was copied everywhere and
found to be very important so
um reason in the case of galileo
triumphed
against um prejudice
so um intellectuals therefore asked
why can we not use science to make this
world
a better place let us use rational
inquiry
thus was born enlightenment
enlightenment because it was seen as
reason
combating ignorance the radical thinkers
were called philosoph
the french word for philosopher they're
also called lumiere
the french word for light
the enlightenment from emanuel kant
was really a man realizing his potential
through the use of his
mind that was the aim of enlightenment
to improve the world
in fact modernity is the view that the
world and the self
can be improved through reason so
um enlightenment and modernity are
closely allied
okay we can see very clearly the inf um
the practicality the desire of the
enlightenment to improve the world
in the encyclopedia or encyclopedia
which
the figures of enlightenment came out in
the 1750s
um it's a multi-volume encyclopedia the
first of its kind
it brought together the sciences the
arts
and the crafts a book of several volumes
uh you can see how much they revered
even ordinary knowledge
this page illustrates for you how pins
are made
can you imagine that pins they
illustrated this
why because they wanted all this
knowledge they're available
ordinary people in the hope that they
could
improve on this current knowledge
unfortunately the church objected
why because some passages of
enlightenment
question religion it questioned
the truth of miracles because if
everything
is subjected to reason even miracles
have to be proven
but the philosophers fought back they
were fighting for the right
to think freely the champion was
voltaire
was a popular figure all over europe
because of his writings tolerance has
never provoked a civil war
but intolerance has covered the world in
carnage
so um it took up cases
of people who were victimized even
though they were innocent
the celebrated case was that of a young
french nobleman jean-francois de la barr
who was accused of blasphemy blasphemy
in what way
because jean-francois did not take off
his hat
when a procession passed by at the same
time he was accused of vandalizing a
public crucifix
so what was his punishment they tore off
his tongue
and then cut off his head now voltaire
of course was outraged
he publicized the case all throughout
europe
with his writings authorities in france
were forced
to listen now voltaire did not succeed
in having the case reviewed but he
succeeded
in having this as the last blasphemy
execution
ever the favorite um expression of
altair was
he classed you have to crush the horror
and this is still very true today we
have to crush the horror
the second fight of the enlightenment
was for equality
resource said man is born
free but is everywhere in chains
he says yes we europeans
have conquered the world but does that
make us
necessarily superior to those we have
conquered necessarily
because um you have um
people who are illiterate half naked
you call them savages but they're
they're capable of many things we're not
capable of
if we were in the wilderness without our
technology
without our ladders we would never be
able to climb a tree
but look at these um savages they're
quite able to climb a tree with such
agility
it only shows that the savages are as
intelligent
as the colonizer okay the other thing he
was concerned about
was that private property in land is not
present in all societies
so um turning to france
turning to europe he said he was hinting
the nobility should not imagine
that their privileges have been around
for centuries
in fact such privileges do not exist
in some other societies especially in
simple societies
so such privileges are the product of
convention
and if they're the product of convention
they can be modified
he was not calling for the elimination
of private property
rather he was saying that the laws of
the state can mitigate
social inequality why because the state
itself
is not divinely ordained the state
is really a social contract between the
citizens
and those who govern them the citizens
can demand
[Music]
benefits from the state in exchange for
giving up
some of the rights now
voltaire and russo were exiled they were
punished
in fact some of the writers encyclopedia
were also jailed
nonetheless their works spread
all over europe so too late
they already had a following all over
all over in fact
open-minded members of the bourgeoisie
the nobility and even the clergy were
listening to them
in fact some of the kings were
sympathetic so what happened was that
very slowly some of the legal codes were
re-examined
attitudes changed however
unfortunately taxation without
representation
still prevailed hence the american and
the french revolutions
exploded in 1776 and 1789
the result was those
who came to power tried to
uh enact laws that finally
um acknowledged the right to liberty the
right equality
so um the french revolution published
this wonderful document the declaration
of
the rights of man and the citizen it's
said that social
distinctions can only be founded on the
common good
so the article uh two in fact points out
the right of
political association is inherent so
there is no reason to prevent people
from
forming organizations the state should
not be suspicious
the enlightenment spread to the
philippines because here there are
plenty of grievances
against the government it was a colonial
government
after the capital mutiny exploded in
1872
the government overreacted because it
was afraid of a revolution
so what it did was it arrested
three innocent priests and had them
strangled publicly
to quell dissent these were fathers
gomez
burgos and zamora so educated filipinos
were horrified
they decided it was time to organize a
movement
to call attention to what was happening
in the colony
as well as they wanted to to demand
representation in the spanish parliament
so they could have a voice unfortunately
um the government did not listen still
members of the propaganda persisted like
jose rizal he decided to write
novels uh dramatizing what was happening
so in olympia it points out how the
maneuverings of two friars
destroy two innocent lives christos
ibarra is forced to feed the country
because it's
accused of rebellion and his fiancee
maria clara
enters the nunnery and ends up crazy
um in his second novel oserisal says
there are no tyrants where there are no
slaves this is the novel alfie busterism
because result was convinced that
yes we need radical change
but radical change has to come from
within
okay otherwise you exchange one tyrant
for another
no unfortunately the spaniards didn't
still didn't listen so what happened
andres bonifacio decided it's time to
form a revolutionary government
it's time to separate from spain the
ideologue
of the catepunan was emilio jacinto
who wrote articles for the underground
paper
he said that it's important to
distinguish
between glitter and light
we worship glitter but reject light
so a magnificent courage courage passes
by according to hacinto
we are enthralled we are impressed but
the owner may actually be a thief
and it's important for us to realize
that this may be why the colonial
government is able to
take take such hold on us
because we're impressed by the glitter
so um pacinto was
emphatic about the importance of light
it's unfortunate that we don't
generally connect result a sinto
and others to the enlightenment but in
fact
there's such a close connection um if
only we could use
the word illustrato in the original
spanish sense
original spanish chance of israel has
nothing to do with being wealthy
illustrado has me two meanings in
spanish to be
first to be educated whether you're rich
or poor that is illustrato
secondly to believe in enlightenment
again whether you're rich or poor
because enlightenment in spanish is
illustration
so definitely a poor fellow like
haciento
was an illustrator twice because he was
educated
and because he believed in enlightenment
he was
after or a light better
so what happened to rizal and asinto
they too suffered
result as we know was executed while
pujacinto
took up arms outsmarted the spaniards
but
found himself fighting the americans he
died from
wounds sustained in battle their ideals
however
inspired the philosophy of our republic
in fact the ideals also imparted
modernity
to the philippines because many
filipinos assume today
that they have a right to question the
status quo
in order to improve their lives so
um is the flame still burning brightly
today yes
definitely many countries have
constitutions with the bill of rights
the united nations enacted the
declaration of
human rights in 1948 because
it wanted its charter countries to
follow suit
meanwhile churches like the catholic now
advocate religious tolerance
and democracy and policymakers
now consult science experts regularly
science-based evidence is very important
today
unfortunately it is not just utopia
because
science itself is under attack when it
challenges power for interest
for instance in the question of climate
change
the logical thing to do since carbon
dioxide is trapped in our
atmosphere by our emissions is to
conserve the forests expand the forests
as well as to reduce our
dependence on fossil fuels but this is
not happening
because powerful commercial interests
are denouncing
climate change as a hoax this is despite
what the scientists are doing
the other thing is there's actually been
a counter-attack against human rights
religious intolerance
is once more rearing its ugly head
in fact there are victims of
religious intolerance all over the world
when um
extreme extremist christians or hindus
or muslims or buddhists assume control
they persecute people from other faiths
moreover racism is once again rampant
so if you're out of a different caller
if you're darker and you get arrested
you stand a higher chance
of getting killed by the police there's
also
um discrimination against women women
constitute one half of the population
but they still receive lower paid than
men
in many places and finally um
many governments may have constitutions
that declare themselves
democratic but try criticizing some
governments today
and they hit back at you for upsetting
the social order
so definitely freedom's speech is
endangered
however i'd like to remind us not to
lose hope
sapere aude dare to know was what
emmanuel kant said dare to know
dare to ask dare to question
at the same time let us consider what
emilia hasinta said
i think hanapin and luana wactio becomes
an ending
let us look for the light and not be
dazzled by glitter
i would like to conclude by commanding
three sectors in the philippines that to
my mind
still carried enlightenment forward one
is the ebon foundation
a research foundation that since the
1960s
specialized in
doing solid research on
social economic issues and as an
alternative view of poverty
unfortunately um conservative powers
look at ebon
as troublemakers so they have been
persecuted for
for harboring descent's dissidents the
second group
i'd like to commend are academics who
use scientific data
to advocate for more effective
government policies
for instance in ateneo you have dr john
cruz
who has studied um
the infection rate during this pandemic
covet 19 he thinks that the infection
rate in the philippines is really much
higher than government figures
it could probably be running to 2
million to 3 million
this is based on statistical probability
because
other countries in southeast asia the
five biggest countries
um actually um
seem to have higher rates than would be
otherwise
indicated unfortunately um
the government does not seem to want to
take the next logical step
which is uh have
mass testing and finally i would like to
commend writers and journalists who
expose what really is being
done by the state on particular issues
for example the corruption in government
for their efforts um like voltaire
like rousseau they have been jailed
worse like missile they sometimes get
killed
so it's a problem indeed
despite the growing shadows
the enlightenment flame continues to
burn bright
thank you
[Music]
[Laughter]
[Music]
you
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