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THE XVIIIth CENTURY (CULTURAL CONTEXT (AFFECTED BY: (Improving Education…
THE XVIIIth CENTURY
CULTURAL CONTEXT
AFFECTED BY:
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Reason, rather than religion, seen as a key to the understanding of man and the world that surround him
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Political, philosophical and cultural debate
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The modern novel
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DEFOE
Robinson Crusoe
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Robinson, the protagonist, can always smartly control the natural context thanks to well pondered and skillful inventions
Even if a sinner, he always keeps his faith in God and never despairs and surrenders, even in the most miserable conditions.
he well represent the British culture, being the new middle-class hero.
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SWIFT
Gulliver's Travels
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the main themes of the 4 books are the same of the moral satire:
1- man's concern with unimportant matters,
2- man's pride,
3-evils of the various professions and
4- the representation of pure reason.
Humans are compared, in three books, with animals, comparison that want to underline the opposition between rationality and animality
it's a fantastic satirical novel, the aim is to denounce negative aspects of human naturein order to set moral standards to reform social conduct
PHILOSOPHICAL CONTEXT
Enlightenment
Aim of freeing man's mind from ignorance, superstition and obscurantism through knowledge and science
faith in reason seen as a means to question traditional assumptions and doctrines in order for man to achieve happiness.
SAPERE AUDE become the main motto for this century, underlining the importance of using one's own brain, reason and experience as the base for individual beliefs
STATE OF NATURE
ROUSSEAU
The state of nature is a morally neutral and pacific status in which solitary individuals act according to their primary urges as well as their natural desire for self-preservation. Here people are good because made from God and because they are still near him.
people leave the state of nature by becoming increasingly civilized and farther they are from the natural context, the more they become beast, because they aren't anymore near their Creator.
Utilitarianism
According to the importance that economy had in the 18th century, we have this ethical theories that promotes actions that maximize happines and well-being for the affected individuals.
Bentham
an action is morally right if it has consequences that lead to material happiness, and wrong if it brings about the reverse. Also the institutions should be tested in the light of reason and common sense to determine if they're useful in this way
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