"Those who espoused the cause of the ancients feared- understandably - that the new commitment to individualism promoted by the moderns might lead to social alienation, unscrupulous self-seeking, and lack of moral responsibility." (91)
Self and global awareness and impact were a topic of interest during this time (Dr. Johnson and his dictionary definition of "Reason") and the modernists were making a point to become more aware in many aspects. "By this definition, illumination occurs not by divine inspiration or by order of kings but by the reasoning powers of the ordinary human mind." (92). But this reasoning could give way to passion, and thus opening up another argument (93).
The philosophical debate of what is communication was most interesting to me, as it is very true. The argument made is that ones mind communicates with itself and therefore is isolated and cannot communicate to another consciousness (92). That isn't to say that one cannot communicate with another, but it is quite interesting to think about how we communicate. With language it is often very hard to interpret what you feel or think into words that the other person could understand as you understand them. So much goes into communication with another person. There are differences in the culture, the use of words, the meaning behind some groups of words or phrases, the list can continue on forever. And this is why it is so fascinating for the ideas of Rene Descartes ("I think, therefore I am,") and David Hume (What is real? What is memory?) were so groundbreaking.
The ruling or governing of kings and queens on the grounds that they were more than mortal were beginning to be questioned and fought against due to the increasing reasoning skills of the population of the sixteenth - eighteenth centuries (94). Religion as a basis of living began to lesson in comparison the the previous generations (though still prominent) and the notion of divine right was becoming less acceptable. Another topic that was disputed by reason was the restriction to a woman's life options and education (95). And though civil rights were still a long way from this, at the very least reason was the key to unlocking a woman's right to an education.
Society as a whole was also scrutinized, some had suggested "... if people examined not only their behavior but also their tendency to hide behind them." (96). These behaviors offered wonderful literature. Drama, comedy, poetry, forbidden romance, all of these hidden worlds at our finger tips to devour and offered a glimmer into the lives of those hiding behind a mask of what was socially acceptable for the time.
Many modernists utilized satire as a form of expressing ones reasoned belief over those of the ancients (99). It is worth noting that this was to some extent extreme and slightly inappropriate at times. The style of satire was a method meant to get a point across and to make noise. One had to get attention how they could in order to be heard. This method is still used today and is a great way to get apposing sides of an issue to communicate.
"Critical Thinking is a legacy of the Enlightenment." (101) . We see in this section that technology and advancement are speeding up and progress is on the move. The new discoveries that were improving living for citizens were breeding an air of optimism, and progress was seen to coincide with enlightenment (102).
Descartes:The Discourse on Method (110-113)
Descartes writes in a frank manner and makes sure his stance is known. He says "And as a multitude of laws often furnish excuses for vice..." (111). I take this statement to be a direct statement to those in power, abusing it for their own means. in his four pillars of method, he speaks about being aware of your bias and prejudice, share in decision making, work through what you know starting with the smallest and up to the most difficult (continuing to learn and expand your mind), and finally admitting all knowledge one by one while being sure not to leave anything out (111). Descartes debates the idea of consciousness and reality and weather or not every thought is wrong or weather or not he his thinking or not. What is reality after all (112,113)? He summarizes to say that his thoughts make him real and make the reality he knows real to him, and that in his universe, he is God (113).
Hume: Of National Characters (129-130)
Hume claimed that no Negro has ever shown ingenuity and likes them to a pet bird (129). He claims this to be fact based on seeing this and it being of common knowledge, though this has been found false. Thus illustrating that Enlightenment still has a long way to go at this point in time. However, Hume is personally against slavery which would seem to conflict with his undermining of the negro's capability for intelligence. He states "... domestic slavery more cruel and oppressive than any civil rank," (130).
Behn (198-224)
The tale of Oroonoko was a beautiful tragedy. Many questions arise as to the authors purpose for telling such a tale. Behn herself seems to be very hard to track historically as her bio in the literature is filled with "Probably" statements (198-199). But I would venture as to say that she was attempting to paint a life of someone that you could forget was different than you. In the way she wrote Oroonoko and his world, it is so passionate that you forget the color of his skin up to the point he is made a slave. She made clear that the narration included the strategic aspect of the era (Making friends with the natives who out numbered them rather than making them slaves) (203). This shows that they could be decent to another race of people only choosing what ones to treat as such. She also paints Oroonoko "as capable of Love, as 'twas possible for a brave and gallant Man to be;" (205). Even going as far as to capitalize the words "Man" almost as an emphasis to the point that he was not just a slave. The control over the slaves extended to the names of the slaves, Oroonoko's name was taken from him, the very first thing we are given in life at our birth, he was given a slave name of Caesar which is supposedly easier to say, but may hold other literary meaning. (224). I believe that this tale was meant to shed light on the notions that slaves were from a savage nation and that they had no humanity as they were differentiated by the color of their skin.
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