I found this book by Anthony Pagden to be disappointing.  From the title, “The Enlightenment, And Why it Still Matters”, I expected Pagden would include discussions of the modern world.  For example, I have read that the Enlightenment, with its emphasis on the individuals breaking free of past dogma, has led to women’s rights; but also to the rise of single-mother families as the old reasons for marriage fade.  But Pagden’s book has no discussion of modern society.  The book is a scholarly work about Enlightenment philosophers and their opponents.  There is a lot of “this philosopher said this, but that philosopher said that” sort of detail.  If you know that going in, you may be happier with the book than I was.

The Enlightenment was a European movement during the “long eighteenth century” from the late 1600s to the early 1800s.  Pagden explains that there were many variations among individual philosophers and countries, and philosophers argued at the time over what the Enlightenment really proposed.  Generally, the Enlightenment emphasized individual, universal human rights and freedom over autocratic rule; and rational, inquiring thought over dogma and tradition.  Although Pagden doubts any of the Enlightenment philosophers were atheists, they set God to one side.  They commonly lumped kings and priests together as enemies of individual freedom.

There are many criticisms of the Enlightenment, which some writers found to be cold , soulless, and bleak.  Enlightenment writers encouraged the French Revolution:  The subsequent Terror and Napoleon era which followed the revolution were viewed by many as proof the Enlightenment was unattainable or misguided.  European imperialism during the colonial era was also blamed on Enlightenment thinking that led Europeans to believe that they alone in the world knew the proper way for people to live even if Europeans had to “force them to be free.”

But the America Revolution was also an outgrowth of the Enlightenment and the ‘truths we hold to be self-evident’ came from Enlightenment thinking.  One reason I think the Enlightenment still matters is that human rights continue to spread through our own country and the world.

As another book reviewed on this site concludes, the need for individual freedom and for authority are both part of human nature.  The Enlightenment arose at a time when people were emerging from an ancient autocratic tradition in Europe, so I am not surprised it emphasized individual freedom.  It is so deeply woven into our society today that I doubt its influence will ever be lost.