Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Talk:Facebook

2011-06-16T03:36:32Z

Churchofthetrail: /* Liberal? */

Has anyone ever thought to create a Conservapedia Facebook account? [[User:JY23|JY23]] 20:57, 20 September 2008 (EDT)

== Concerns ==

Wouldn't it be appropriate to mention that the privacy controls on Facebook are much better than on other networking sites? The article as it stands makes it sound like anyone's personal information will be available for everyone on the internet to see (as with MySpace), but in truth under the default privacy settings it would only be viewable by people in the same university or network, and privacy levels for every item can be customized. The Bob Jones article about employers using Facebook to research applicants does not seem to take this into consideration either, which makes me question its reliability as a source. The article is completely devoid of details (which employers are doing it), and seems not to notice that it would be mostly impossible for an employer to do this on Facebook. 
I'm giving this one 48 hours for debate, and will trim the "concerns" section accordingly if no one objects. [[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 17:49, 17 May 2009 (EDT)
::Done. [[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 16:50, 20 May 2009 (EDT)

:::Okay, but that's like saying using a condom while being promiscuous is less risky than not using one. It's still risky (among other things).

:::If there's a social networking website with less risk (and higher morals), let's identify and promote it. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 15:20, 5 August 2009 (EDT)

See Main Page news item I just placed. The Marine Corps has identified all major social networking sites as too vulnerable to malware and other malicious problems, and blocked them from its entire network..... --[[User:TK|'''ṬK''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 15:25, 5 August 2009 (EDT)

===Privacy===
The Privacy Issues section only has ''one'' source, and that AllExperts page looks out of date... For example, it says only people with a valid school-email address (or from certain other organizations) may sign up, not true anymore... Also un-sourced: "Facebook refuses to admit that its privacy settings that apparently allow only "friends" to see certain information are completely bogus and can easily be cracked by people with little to no hacking experience. Instead, Facebook actually encourages young users to only allow "friends" to see certain information, rather than just warning them that what they post can be seen by the world and to not post what they wouldn't want people to see."

== Liberal? ==

This website seems to be vehemently opposed to facebook, claiming it is liberal. Is allowing people to have their relationship status with another of the same sex really enough to make the website "liberal"? Also the page mentions that the site leads to divorce. What does that have to do with liberalism? If the site really does lead to divorce it is only because people can see what their spouses are doing when they think no one is looking, something that has nothing to do with facebook's policies but rather infidelity in and of itself. This is probably the most bizzare article on conservapedia.--[[User:Jasonb242|Jasonb242]] 19:18, 15 June 2011 (EDT)

:By almost any measure, Facebook is a [[liberal]] company/project. Take your pick: whom Facebook hires (former Clinton Press Secretary Joe Lockhart), to whom Facebook caters (Obama), the impact of Facebook on relationships, to which candidates Facebook employees contribute, how Facebook is run, the effect of Facebook on productivity, etc.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 15:13, 15 June 2011 (EDT)
:: I was with you, Asch, until you got into things that can't be backed with fact. I see a lot of potential in Facebook. It can be used to bring people of similar thinking together, though not in the strictly political idea as with FreedomConnecter. I am part of a LOT of conservative groups in Facebook and my productivity is not suffering in the least by me being part of it. If someone suffers from the inability to pull themselves away from the program, that is the fault of the individual, not the whole.

:: blaming the whole for the fault of an individual is a very liberal way of thinking, Andy. Just an FYI. [[User:MHarris|MHarris]]

:::I don't doubt that some people can use facebook productively and not waste time on it, just as there are conservative people and groups. But on the whole, FB is exactly as it's described in the article. I realize this comparison is out of proportion, but it's analogous to drug use - some may be able to use drugs without ruining their lives, but that doesn't change the fact that drugs in general are very destructive. I suggest adding some information to the article about the more reasonable uses of FB, and perhaps examples of conservative political groups; then the article would show that, as you say, there's a minority on FB who aren't unproductive liberals, without denying the general nature of the site. [[User:Jcw|Jcw]] 18:21, 15 June 2011 (EDT)
:::: My point still remains, don't blame the group for the fault of the individual. [[User:MHarris|MHarris]]
:::::A.Sch, regardless of the views of their employees, facebook not a partisan group. Obama may take advantage of the site, but so do Sarah Palin and many other conservative groups. And what does facebook's "impact on relationships" or "effect on productivity" have to do with liberalism?--[[User:Jasonb242|Jasonb242]] 19:18, 15 June 2011 (EDT)

::::::The structure of a forum can have inherent political biases. That's already been seen on Wikipedia, for example. Facebook is another example. When something is inherently gossipy, self-centered and unproductive, it's going to be more [[liberal]] than [[conservative]] in result.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 21:59, 15 June 2011 (EDT)
::::::: Don't blame the whole for the faults of the individual. If people gossip, are self-centered or unproductive then it is their faults, not the fault of the tool that can be used to do so. All forms of communication can be used to exhibit those traits.
::::::::A.Sch, ignoring the fact that ''you'' run a website with an inherent political bias, your entire argument is based on a logical fallacy. "Begging the question" to be more specific. You are arguing on the ''assumption'' that A) Facebook is unproductive; and B) that unproductiveness leads to liberalism, neither of which do you provide proof. --[[User:Jasonb242|Jasonb242]] 23:03, 15 June 2011 (EDT)

:::::::: (edit conflict) "All men are created equal," but not all systems of government, not all constitutions, not all schools, not all websites and not all encyclopedias. Different rules have different biases. The National Enquirer is not equal to the Christian Science Monitor. Facebook is more like the National Enquirer.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 23:12, 15 June 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::"''The National Enquirer is not equal to the Christian Science Monitor. Facebook is more like the National Enquirer''" And why is that? (and what does that have to do with anything?) You have yet to provide any proof or evidence to any of your assertions, further suggesting that your argument is based on the logical fallacy "begging the question"--[[User:Jasonb242|Jasonb242]] 23:18, 15 June 2011 (EDT)

I too want to register a complaint about the nature of this article which lambasts a company for what it perceives as "liberal" and dangerous tendencies but fails to acknowledges that Facebook is a private company that generates revenue through legitimate and legal means like all other businesses which operate in the United States. An affront on Facebook is an affront on all websites who make their money through advertising which is just about all of them. Secondly, there are valid issues about privacy but this article never considers fact that users are not compelled by anyone to use Facebook and all information entered is voluntarily given up. What happened to "let the buyer beware"? Is that not a tenet of conservative thought? 
Facebook represents an online presence for individuals and I hardly believe that makes the company liberal by definition. It seems that the issues raised by the authors of this article are on the amount and types of expression that are capable on the site which can be defined as liberal. Don't forget that Facebook allows people to do what they have been doing for decades (sharing photographs, sending messages, inviting people to events and allowing for RSVPS, etc). My suggestion, rewrite the article to make the claim that Facebook is a privately owned company that allows users to voluntarily post their information for social networking purposes. In subsequent sections go crazy on the the liberal threats Facebook poses to society. --[[User:Churchofthetrail|Church of the Trail]] 23:36, 15 June 2011 (EDT)

Minimum wage

2011-06-16T03:15:29Z

Churchofthetrail:

The '''minimum wage''' is the lowest wage that an employer may legally pay their workers. It is a [[socialist]] policy meant at manipulating labor wages in the private sector economy. Minimum wage laws are generally presented as being in the best interest of workers, as with the argument that if they can't pay you any less than a certain amount then you are guaranteed to get that amount. In practice, what employers really do is often simply not to hire you at all:
*The Employment Policies Institute, a business-friendly non-profit based in Washington, D.C., argues that “economic research has shown time and again that increasing the minimum wage destroys jobs for low-skilled workers while doing little to address poverty.” [http://blogs.forbes.com/moneybuilder/2010/02/24/seniors-pushing-young-adults-out-of-the-workforce/]

More than 90% of countries in the world have minimum wage laws.
Most countries have a minimum wage. The minimum wage in the United states was most recently raised to $7.25/hr, on July 24, 2009. At this rate, a person working a 40-hour week for 52 weeks a year at minimum wage earns $15,080.00 for the year. The minimum wage is higher in many states, such as [[New Jersey]], due to state minimum wage laws. The national minimum wage laws are justified by the powers vested in Congress by the [[Commerce Clause]].

Increases in the minimum wage cause students to drop out of school in order to join the workforce, rather than continue their education for higher paying jobs in their future.<ref>http://www.house.gov/jec/cost-gov/regs/minimum/against/against.htm</ref>

Like all market forces, wages are payed based on interactions between the supply curve (how much workers are willing to supply a particular type of labor at a certain wage) and a demand curve (how many workers of a particular type a firm is willing to hire at a particular wage). Wages are typically set at [[equilibrium]]. If a minimum wage is imposed that is above this equilibrium, it leads to structural [[unemployment]]. If a minimum wage is set below the equilibrium point, it is unlikely to affect that job's wage unless a complement or substitute job's equilibrium wage is less than the minimum wage (causing ripple effects throughout the related markets).

Minimum wages also distort the equlilibrium for non-wage benefits, potentially causing employers to provide less training, uniforms, opportunity for promotion, and pleasant working conditions, both as a way of offsetting their losses from the wage increase and because the excess labor supply from unemployment lowers the disincentive for turnover.

==Political views==

The left wing in American politics tends to present a minimum wage as benefiting the lower class by helping to lift poor people out of poverty. Conservatives and libertarians generally counter this argument with statistics showing that every increase in the minimum wage has increased unemployment, especially among black inner city youth; see [[entry-level job]]s. It also obliges companies to outsource many jobs to China and the Third World.

Fiscal conservatives tend to oppose increases in the minimum wage because in a [[free market]], the price of labor, like any other commodity, should be set by negotiations between the buyer and seller without undue interference from the state. Conservatives oppose the distortion caused by a minimum wage in encouraging boys to drop out of school, or otherwise decline to go onto college, in order to make artificially inflated and short-lived income at an elevated minimum wage. The fact that some in the lowest income bracket will gain slightly from minimum wages (by having their wages raised) while others will lose significantly (from losing their jobs) means that minimum wages can be seen as increasing inequality.

[[Socialism|Socialists]], and many economic liberals, disagree with this view of labor as a commodity because they believe it dehumanizes laborers by permitting companies to pay employees less than necessary to live a decent life, support a family, etc; see [[living wage]]. Even without legislation, the minimum wage as of 2007 is far below the lowest wage paid by most large companies.<ref>Alan Renolds, [[Cato Institute]]. ''[http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5409 Below the Minimum Wage]''</ref>

==Empirical evidence from the 2009 recession==

The 2009 recession gave a compelling picture of how an excessive minimum wage can exacerbate the employment climate. None of the five states with the lowest unemployment rates in May 2009, all below 5.5%, had a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage of $6.55. Five of of the six states with the highest unemployment rates, all above 11.2%, had minimum wages above the federal minimum wage. [[Oregon]], with a minimum wage of $8.40, had an unemployment rate of 12.4%. Generally, states with a higher minimum wage than the federal minimum wage had unemployment rates that were higher than states that did not have a higher minimum wage.<ref>[http://www.bls.gov/lau/ Bureau of Labor Statistics]</ref><ref>[http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm Department of Labor]</ref>

{| width="60%" class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
![[State]]
|Minimum Wage prior to 7/24/2009 increase
!Unemployment Rate as of 5/2009
|Minimum Wage Rank
!Unemployment Rate Rank
|-
![[Nebraska]]
|$6.55
!4.4%
|1
!1
|-
![[North Dakota]]
|$6.55
!4.4%
|1
!1
|-
![[South Dakota]]
|$6.55
!5.0%
|1
!3
|-
![[Wyoming]]
|$6.55
!5.0%
|1
!3
|-
![[Utah]]
|$6.55
!5.4%
|1
!5
|-
![[Iowa]]
|$7.25
!5.8%
|31
!6
|-
![[Oklahoma]]
|$6.55
!6.3%
|1
!7
|-
![[Montana]]
|$6.90
!6.3%
|23
!7
|-
![[New Hampshire]]
|$7.25
!6.5%
|31
!9
|-
![[New Mexico]]
|$7.50
!6.5%
|42
!9
|-
![[Louisiana]]
|$6.55
!6.6%
|1
!11
|-
![[Arkansas]]
|$6.55
!7.0%
|1
!12
|-
![[Kansas]]
|$6.55
!7.0%
|1
!12
|-
![[Texas]]
|$6.55
!7.1%
|1
!14
|-
![[Virginia]]
|$6.55
!7.1%
|1
!14
|-
![[Maryland]]
|$6.55
!7.2%
|1
!16
|-
![[Vermont]]
|$8.06
!7.3%
|49
!17
|-
![[Hawaii]]
|$7.25
!7.4%
|31
!18
|-
![[Colorado]]
|$7.28
!7.6%
|38
!19
|-
![[Idaho]]
|$6.55
!7.8%
|1
!20
|-
![[Connecticut]]
|$8.00
!8.0%
|45
!21
|-
![[Delaware]]
|$7.15
!8.1%
|25
!22
|-
![[Minnesota]]
|$6.55
!8.2%
|1
!23
|-
![[New York]]
|$7.15
!8.2%
|25
!23
|-
![[Pennsylvania]]
|$7.15
!8.2%
|25
!23
|-
![[Arizona]]
|$7.25
!8.2%
|31
!23
|-
![[Massachusetts]]
|$8.00
!8.2%
|45
!23
|-
![[Maine]]
|$7.25
!8.3%
|31
!28
|-
![[Alaska]]
|$7.15
!8.4%
|25
!29
|-
![[West Virginia]]
|$7.25
!8.6%
|31
!30
|-
![[New Jersey]]
|$7.15
!8.8%
|25
!31
|-
![[Wisconsin]]
|$6.55
!8.9%
|1
!32
|-
![[Missouri]]
|$7.05
!9.0%
|24
!33
|-
![[Washington]]
|$8.55
!9.4%
|51
!34
|-
![[Mississippi]]
|$6.55
!9.6%
|1
!35
|-
![[Georgia]]
|$6.55
!9.7%
|1
!36
|-
![[Alabama]]
|$6.55
!9.8%
|1
!37
|-
![[Illinois]]
|$8.00
!10.1%
|45
!38
|-
![[Florida]]
|$7.21
!10.2%
|30
!39
|-
![[Indiana]]
|$6.55
!10.6%
|1
!40
|-
![[Kentucky]]
|$7.25
!10.6%
|31
!40
|-
![[Tennessee]]
|$6.55
!10.7%
|1
!42
|-
![[District of Columbia]]
|$7.55
!10.7%
|43
!42
|-
![[Ohio]]
|$7.30
!10.8%
|39
!44
|-
![[North Carolina]]
|$6.55
!11.1%
|1
!45
|-
![[Nevada]]
|$7.55
!11.3%
|43
!46
|-
![[California]]
|$8.00
!11.5%
|45
!47
|-
![[South Carolina]]
|$6.55
!12.1%
|1
!48
|-
![[Rhode Island]]
|$7.40
!12.1%
|40
!48
|-
![[Oregon]]
|$8.40
!12.4%
|50
!50
|-
![[Michigan]]
|$7.40
!14.1%
|40
!51
|}

==References==
<references/>

==See Also==

* [[Maximum wage]]

[[category:economics]][[category:political Terms]][[category:law]]

Minimum wage

2011-06-16T03:15:07Z

Churchofthetrail: socialist concept

The '''minimum wage''' is the lowest wage that an employer may legally pay their workers. It is a [[socialist]] policy meant at manipulating prices in the private sector economy. Minimum wage laws are generally presented as being in the best interest of workers, as with the argument that if they can't pay you any less than a certain amount then you are guaranteed to get that amount. In practice, what employers really do is often simply not to hire you at all:
*The Employment Policies Institute, a business-friendly non-profit based in Washington, D.C., argues that “economic research has shown time and again that increasing the minimum wage destroys jobs for low-skilled workers while doing little to address poverty.” [http://blogs.forbes.com/moneybuilder/2010/02/24/seniors-pushing-young-adults-out-of-the-workforce/]

More than 90% of countries in the world have minimum wage laws.
Most countries have a minimum wage. The minimum wage in the United states was most recently raised to $7.25/hr, on July 24, 2009. At this rate, a person working a 40-hour week for 52 weeks a year at minimum wage earns $15,080.00 for the year. The minimum wage is higher in many states, such as [[New Jersey]], due to state minimum wage laws. The national minimum wage laws are justified by the powers vested in Congress by the [[Commerce Clause]].

Increases in the minimum wage cause students to drop out of school in order to join the workforce, rather than continue their education for higher paying jobs in their future.<ref>http://www.house.gov/jec/cost-gov/regs/minimum/against/against.htm</ref>

Like all market forces, wages are payed based on interactions between the supply curve (how much workers are willing to supply a particular type of labor at a certain wage) and a demand curve (how many workers of a particular type a firm is willing to hire at a particular wage). Wages are typically set at [[equilibrium]]. If a minimum wage is imposed that is above this equilibrium, it leads to structural [[unemployment]]. If a minimum wage is set below the equilibrium point, it is unlikely to affect that job's wage unless a complement or substitute job's equilibrium wage is less than the minimum wage (causing ripple effects throughout the related markets).

Minimum wages also distort the equlilibrium for non-wage benefits, potentially causing employers to provide less training, uniforms, opportunity for promotion, and pleasant working conditions, both as a way of offsetting their losses from the wage increase and because the excess labor supply from unemployment lowers the disincentive for turnover.

==Political views==

The left wing in American politics tends to present a minimum wage as benefiting the lower class by helping to lift poor people out of poverty. Conservatives and libertarians generally counter this argument with statistics showing that every increase in the minimum wage has increased unemployment, especially among black inner city youth; see [[entry-level job]]s. It also obliges companies to outsource many jobs to China and the Third World.

Fiscal conservatives tend to oppose increases in the minimum wage because in a [[free market]], the price of labor, like any other commodity, should be set by negotiations between the buyer and seller without undue interference from the state. Conservatives oppose the distortion caused by a minimum wage in encouraging boys to drop out of school, or otherwise decline to go onto college, in order to make artificially inflated and short-lived income at an elevated minimum wage. The fact that some in the lowest income bracket will gain slightly from minimum wages (by having their wages raised) while others will lose significantly (from losing their jobs) means that minimum wages can be seen as increasing inequality.

[[Socialism|Socialists]], and many economic liberals, disagree with this view of labor as a commodity because they believe it dehumanizes laborers by permitting companies to pay employees less than necessary to live a decent life, support a family, etc; see [[living wage]]. Even without legislation, the minimum wage as of 2007 is far below the lowest wage paid by most large companies.<ref>Alan Renolds, [[Cato Institute]]. ''[http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5409 Below the Minimum Wage]''</ref>

==Empirical evidence from the 2009 recession==

The 2009 recession gave a compelling picture of how an excessive minimum wage can exacerbate the employment climate. None of the five states with the lowest unemployment rates in May 2009, all below 5.5%, had a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage of $6.55. Five of of the six states with the highest unemployment rates, all above 11.2%, had minimum wages above the federal minimum wage. [[Oregon]], with a minimum wage of $8.40, had an unemployment rate of 12.4%. Generally, states with a higher minimum wage than the federal minimum wage had unemployment rates that were higher than states that did not have a higher minimum wage.<ref>[http://www.bls.gov/lau/ Bureau of Labor Statistics]</ref><ref>[http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm Department of Labor]</ref>

{| width="60%" class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
![[State]]
|Minimum Wage prior to 7/24/2009 increase
!Unemployment Rate as of 5/2009
|Minimum Wage Rank
!Unemployment Rate Rank
|-
![[Nebraska]]
|$6.55
!4.4%
|1
!1
|-
![[North Dakota]]
|$6.55
!4.4%
|1
!1
|-
![[South Dakota]]
|$6.55
!5.0%
|1
!3
|-
![[Wyoming]]
|$6.55
!5.0%
|1
!3
|-
![[Utah]]
|$6.55
!5.4%
|1
!5
|-
![[Iowa]]
|$7.25
!5.8%
|31
!6
|-
![[Oklahoma]]
|$6.55
!6.3%
|1
!7
|-
![[Montana]]
|$6.90
!6.3%
|23
!7
|-
![[New Hampshire]]
|$7.25
!6.5%
|31
!9
|-
![[New Mexico]]
|$7.50
!6.5%
|42
!9
|-
![[Louisiana]]
|$6.55
!6.6%
|1
!11
|-
![[Arkansas]]
|$6.55
!7.0%
|1
!12
|-
![[Kansas]]
|$6.55
!7.0%
|1
!12
|-
![[Texas]]
|$6.55
!7.1%
|1
!14
|-
![[Virginia]]
|$6.55
!7.1%
|1
!14
|-
![[Maryland]]
|$6.55
!7.2%
|1
!16
|-
![[Vermont]]
|$8.06
!7.3%
|49
!17
|-
![[Hawaii]]
|$7.25
!7.4%
|31
!18
|-
![[Colorado]]
|$7.28
!7.6%
|38
!19
|-
![[Idaho]]
|$6.55
!7.8%
|1
!20
|-
![[Connecticut]]
|$8.00
!8.0%
|45
!21
|-
![[Delaware]]
|$7.15
!8.1%
|25
!22
|-
![[Minnesota]]
|$6.55
!8.2%
|1
!23
|-
![[New York]]
|$7.15
!8.2%
|25
!23
|-
![[Pennsylvania]]
|$7.15
!8.2%
|25
!23
|-
![[Arizona]]
|$7.25
!8.2%
|31
!23
|-
![[Massachusetts]]
|$8.00
!8.2%
|45
!23
|-
![[Maine]]
|$7.25
!8.3%
|31
!28
|-
![[Alaska]]
|$7.15
!8.4%
|25
!29
|-
![[West Virginia]]
|$7.25
!8.6%
|31
!30
|-
![[New Jersey]]
|$7.15
!8.8%
|25
!31
|-
![[Wisconsin]]
|$6.55
!8.9%
|1
!32
|-
![[Missouri]]
|$7.05
!9.0%
|24
!33
|-
![[Washington]]
|$8.55
!9.4%
|51
!34
|-
![[Mississippi]]
|$6.55
!9.6%
|1
!35
|-
![[Georgia]]
|$6.55
!9.7%
|1
!36
|-
![[Alabama]]
|$6.55
!9.8%
|1
!37
|-
![[Illinois]]
|$8.00
!10.1%
|45
!38
|-
![[Florida]]
|$7.21
!10.2%
|30
!39
|-
![[Indiana]]
|$6.55
!10.6%
|1
!40
|-
![[Kentucky]]
|$7.25
!10.6%
|31
!40
|-
![[Tennessee]]
|$6.55
!10.7%
|1
!42
|-
![[District of Columbia]]
|$7.55
!10.7%
|43
!42
|-
![[Ohio]]
|$7.30
!10.8%
|39
!44
|-
![[North Carolina]]
|$6.55
!11.1%
|1
!45
|-
![[Nevada]]
|$7.55
!11.3%
|43
!46
|-
![[California]]
|$8.00
!11.5%
|45
!47
|-
![[South Carolina]]
|$6.55
!12.1%
|1
!48
|-
![[Rhode Island]]
|$7.40
!12.1%
|40
!48
|-
![[Oregon]]
|$8.40
!12.4%
|50
!50
|-
![[Michigan]]
|$7.40
!14.1%
|40
!51
|}

==References==
<references/>

==See Also==

* [[Maximum wage]]

[[category:economics]][[category:political Terms]][[category:law]]

Incorporation doctrine

2011-06-16T03:09:42Z

Churchofthetrail:

'''Incorporation''' is a legal doctrine applied by the U.S. judicial system which applies the liberties and protections of [[Bill of Rights]] in the jurisdiction of the state and local governments. This means the same limitations which apply to laws written and executed at the federal level must also be observed by lower level governments. For the first 150 years of constitutional interpretation, the Bill of Rights applied against only the federal government. Incorporation is only an interpretation of the [[U.S. Constitution]] and is not institutionalized, meaning incorporation is not written into the legal framework of the government rather it has been interpreted into the framework by justices on the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]. This means that rights could be unincorporated though this is unlikely due to the tradition of [[stare decisis|legal precedent]].

Rights and privileges of the citizens are currently incorporated by means of the [[Fourteenth Amendment]]. The Due Process Clause read “substantively” allows justices to apply a more modern meaning to the Fourteenth Amendment that incorporates “fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty.”<ref>''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), Samuel Alito's majority opinion</ref> The first piece of the Bill of Rights to be incorporated was just compensation of the [[Fifth Amendment]] in 1897 in the case ''Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. v. City of Chicago''. The writer of the majority opinion in that case was [[John Marshall Harlan|Justice John Marshall Harlan]] joined by 6 other justices. The last amendment to be incorporated was the [[Second Amendment]] in the 2010 case ''McDonald v. Chicago''.

Another theory to incorporation is use of the Privileges and Immunities Clause also embedded in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment. This was used by lawyers during the [[Slaughterhouse Cases]] in the 1870s but without success because the Court choose to read this provision with the legislative intent as applying only to freed slaves. In his concurring opinion in the 2010 case ''McDonald v. Chicago'', [[Clarence Thomas|Justice Clarence Thomas]] argues that the Privilege and Immunities Clause should be revisited as the proper vehicle through which the Bill of Rights is incorporated.<ref>''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), Clarence Thomas concurring opinion with the majority</ref>

Historically the doctrine has been interpreted as selective incorporation. Not every right in the Constitution applies to the state and local governments. The Supreme Court has evaluated arguments on a case-by-case basis to determine the necessity of incorporating the right in question. [[Hugo Black|Justice Hugo Black]] was a leading proponent of total incorporation: the idea that the entire Bill of Rights should be incorporated en bloc through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

==References==
<references />
[[Category:law]]
[[Category:Legal_terms]]
[[Category:United States Constitution]]

Talk:Keynesian economics

2011-06-15T02:21:49Z

Churchofthetrail: phillips curve controversy

I am no economist, but my undergraduate classes in it lead me to believe that it was *not* Keynes that asserted that unemployment and inflation were "opposites", The relationship between them was first discovered by an economist named Phillips (hence it was called the "Phillips Curve") in the 1950s, after Keynes' death, though based on Keynes' model of the economy. Milton Friedman then (correctly, as I understand it) theorized that the real relationship between the two was that set forth in the "expectations augmented" Phillips Curve. That refinement is not at odds with Keynesianism, and is generally accepted by Keynesians.

That said, I'm no expert so hesitate to change the article to delete the reference, without at least giving someone the chance to put me in my place. Besides, my undergraduate classed were Keynes-heavy and therefore possibly biased. Jesus Saves 19:40, 12 March 2010 (EST)

:From what I understand, the Phillips Curve was originally derived from observation, plotting unemployment rates versus inflation. I believe that monetarists and the Federal Reserve use this relationship more than Keynesians and were the first to explain the relationship. The idea is that increased money supply will encourage lending by creditors, depress interest rates and increase employment because borrowing is so cheap. The increase in the money supply and increased velocity causes inflation to rise at the same time. Unemployment rises in recessions because credit is tight and interest rates rise because firms are less willing to lend in periods of economic uncertainty. Correspondingly with rising interest rates, inflation is low. I believe this clause should be deleted too and I will probably make some edits in the next few days unless there are any who really like this page as is.

Enlightenment

2011-06-15T02:07:12Z

Churchofthetrail: /* The Enlightened revolutions */

The '''Enlightenment''' was an 18th-century movement in European and American thought that emphasized the power of reason and science, rather than traditional doctrine, to understand and reform the world. Some historians also include 17th-century philosophy, usually called the [[Age of Reason]].

The Enlightenment artistic style is called "classical" (as opposed to the earlier [[Baroque]] and the later [[Romantic]] styles). The Enlightenment marked advances in philosophy, the sciences (especially physics, chemistry and mathematics), economics, political theory, geography (especially exploration), and technology (especially the origins of the [[Industrial Revolution]]), though in fact the greatest achievements in those fields were typically inspired by Christianity.

Out of the Enlightenment emerged the new philosophy of liberalism. Thinkers like [[Adam Smith]] had a major impact on creating [[classical liberalism]] and the ideals of the free market. [[John Locke]] is often considered the father of the Enlightenment and wrote several works on social contract theory and religious toleration. Several of America's Founding Fathers were actively engaged in the Enlightenment, including [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexander Hamilton]] and [[James Madison]], and their political thinking influenced American political ideas of [[republicanism]].

Developed by the [[philosophes]] in [[France]], England, Scotland, and the German states, the Enlightenment influenced the whole of Europe including [[Russia]] and Scandinavia, as well as the American colonies in the era of the [[American Revolution]].
==Political impact==
Liberalism ([[Classical liberalism]]) was one the dominant political thoughts to emerge from the European Enlightenment. Writers like John Locke imagined the foundations of classical liberal thought in government and society. In his ''Second Treatise of Civil Government'', Locke expounds on the basic tenets of liberalism such as individual freedom<ref>Locke, John. ''A Second Treaties of Civil Government'', Chapter VII, Sec. 87</ref>, legal equality under the law, and private property<ref>Ibid., Chapter V</ref>. His concept of civil society was one of a contractual agreement between the citizens and a government formed to protect the fundamental rights of all persons<ref>Ibid., Chapter II, Sec. 13</ref>.

These ideas provided a foundation for constitutional government and the creation of rights in the private and public sphere. Discussions between philosophes in French salons and in British coffeehouses created a community now regarded to as the "[[marketplace of ideas|public sphere]]." This sharing of ideas between individuals without the overview of authority allowed for the creation and critique of ideas without fear of traditional authority figures. This tradition of the public sphere, or the "[[marketplace of ideas]]" is an underlying institution in Western democratic theory.

Constitutionalism competed with absolutism as a source of central, government power beginning the 17th century. In 1688, constitutionalism was codified in England during the ascension of William and Mary to the throne. An English Bill of Rights was also adopted. The French Revolution of 1789 replaced the absolutist tradition of the French Monarchy. American independence established a constitution (originally the Articles of Confederation and later the Constitution of 1787) and articles like the [[Declaration of Independence]] echoed themes of social contract theory.

===The Enlightened revolutions===
The Enlightenment, its writers, and its ideas are considered to have had influenced both the American and French revolutions in the late 18th century. These revolutions were unlike their predecessors. Both countries shed their ruling monarchies in favor of republican system. Both were also revolutions by and for the people, not a military coup d’etat, invasion, or reformist movement. Both countries established Constitutions, recognized equality under the law, and recognized a number of liberties afforded to all individuals. These Enlightened revolutions are thought to have changed the definition of revolution because of means and goals of both the American and French peoples.

[[The American Revolution]] began over general discontent of British economic and military policy in the new world. In 1776, Jefferson’s [[Declaration of Independence]] stated the rights of the people to “throw off such Government,” the British government, in the event that their laws overstepped the natural rights and liberties of its subjects. This rhetoric stems directly from John Locke’s treatise on social contracts and the role of government in the lives of its subjects.

[[The French Revolution]] began as a movement of the [[Third Estate]] for representation by numbers of individuals rather than a single vote per Estate (Of the three Estates-General, the Third Estate, French commoners, represented over 90% of the population). The 1789 meeting of the Estates-General deteriorated when the demands for democratic representation were not met. The Third Estate quickly formed itself into the [[French General Assembly|General Assembly]] and established the French Republic. The French adopted a vision more closely associated with Rousseau’s work ''[[The Social Contract]]''. This vision of French republicanism dictated that the participation of all citizens in the government would create a “general will” which would dictate policy and law.

Unfortunately, the French Revolution deteriorated after 1793 with the execution of [[King Louis XVI]] and the emergence of [[Maximilien Robespierre]] and other hardliners in the French Assembly. Rousseau’s famous lines in his work state that “whoever refuses to obey the general will shall be compelled to do so by the whole body. This means nothing less than that he will be forced to be free.”<ref>''Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract'' </ref> Robespierre took this quite literally to build a homogenous state and restore order to the nation. There were many dissenters who only joined the revolutionary cause to lower taxes and were unhappy with radical social reform. Thus the [[Reign of Terror]] began and the French Republic deteriorated into arguably the world’s first [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] regime. The ascension of [[Napoleon]] to power marked a restoration of order and a more conservative movement.

==Leaders==
Intellectually the Enlightenment was identified with the French "[[philosophes]]" who aggressively spread the new gospel of reason. They were a brilliant collection of scientists, philosophers and writers including [[Voltaire]], [[Montesquieu]], [[Holbach]], [[Condorcet]], [[Denis Diderot]], [[Buffon]], [[Turgot]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] in France. Other major leaders included [[David Hume]], [[Adam Smith]] and several others in Scotland; [[John Locke]], [[Edward Gibbon]], [[Samuel Johnson]] and [[Jeremy Bentham]] in England; and [[Johann Herder]], [[Gotthold Lessing]] and [[Immanuel Kant]] in Prussia.

===Enlightened despots===
Philosophers were endorsed by "enlightened despots"—rulers who tried to impose reform by authoritarian means, including [[Joseph II]] of the Holy Roman Empire (Austria), [[Frederick II]] of Prussia, [[Catherine II]] of Russia, and [[Charles III]] of Spain. Despite heading absolutist rather than constitutional governments, these rulers are considered enlightened because of policies and laws enacted during their rule. For example, during his rule Joseph II abolished hereditary servitude ([[serfdom]]) and enacted the [[Edict of Toleration]] that extended civil rights to non-Catholics and Jews.

===America===
In America the leading Enlightenment thinkers were [[Benjamin Franklin]] (who later rejected [[deism]]), [[Thomas Jefferson]] (along with [[James Monroe]] the least Christian of the [[Founding Fathers]]) and [[James Madison]] (who cited Enlightenment thinkers in his ''[[Federalist Papers]]''). Others, such as the Rev. [[Jonathan Edwards]] and Rev. [[John Witherspoon]], were devout and brilliant Christians who were original in their sermons and writings.

American thinkers read deeply in European thought but did not share the anti-religious views typical of European intellectuals. Because the established churches in the colonies were relatively weak and not politically powerful, American thinkers seldom attacked them<ref> Jefferson and Madison led the fight to disestablish the Anglican Church in Virginia, which was tied to Britain.</ref> and were able to incorporate and build on Christian faith more easily than their European counterparts.

==Science==
Advances in science had led to principles and laws that were knowable and unchanging as described within a naturalistic framework. The advances in mathematics and chemistry were especially strong. This idea of knowledge that could be observed apart from a direct explanation dealing with God led to a change in philosophical ideals, where man could shape and determine his own destiny including areas outside of science such as social and political realities. In a sense mans' view of his own ability to bring about change and a trust in himself to determine what that change needed to be crystallized in the thought process of the times among the philosophical elite.

Writers during the Enlightenment assumed that all branches of science could emulate the achievements in physics of [[Isaac Newton]], through a systematic and logical approach.

==Deism==
Some of the Enlightenment leaders of the period challenged traditional Christianity as they adopted God in a [[deist]] form that saw his role as the clockmaker, not the personal guide. While much of the population of the times remained Christian in terms of performing traditional rituals, deism took root in England, France, and the American colonies. Historians have pointed out that argues that belief in Christianity continued to flourish at the grass roots level.<ref> S. J. Barnett, ''The Enlightenment and Religion. The Myths of Modernity'' (2003) </ref>

==Pietism==
[[Pietism]] was a new and powerful religious movement that emerged among Lutheran and Reformed circles, especially in Germany. It stressed a vision of individual rebirth as opposed to ritual and theology, with stress on individual moral behavior. Pietism promoted revivals and missionary activism to convert the world to Christ. American versions of pietism include the revivals of the [[First Great Awakening]] and was especially manifest in the rapid growth of [[Baptist]] and [[Methodist]] churches. The First Great Awakening launched [[evangelicalism]] in America.<ref> Thomas S. Kidd, ''The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Great-Awakening-Evangelical-Christianity-Colonial/dp/0300118872/ref=ed_oe_h excerpt and text search]; William G. McLaughlin, ''Isaac Backus and the American Pietistic Tradition'' (1967)</ref>

==Ending==
Politically the [[French Revolution]] of the 1790s ended the movement. Culturally, the rise of [[Romanticism]], with its quest for the unknown future, displaced classical Enlightenment forms, especially in music, painting, literature and philosophy, after 1810.

In a deeper sense, the ideas and ways of thought of the Enlightenment, especially regarding the value of science and systematic inquiry, have become a permanent part of the modern world. Many ideas and methods of the Enlightenment are still with us, and conservatives especially admire the work of Montesquieu and Smith, as well as the Americans Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison.
==Counter-Enlightenment==
Opposition to the spirit of the Enlightenment was led by intellectuals such as [[Edmund Burke]] in Britain, who opposed the French Revolution and exalted the bonds of tradition. Opposition escalated in the [[Romantic]] era after 1810. In Germany, Herder rejected the French love of abstract ideas in favor of the genius of the German people for instinct and poetry. Important counter-Enlightenment historians included Scottish conservative [[Thomas Carlyle]], and French scholars Ernest Renan and Hippolyte Taine. In the 20th century Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce and German historian [[Oswald Spengler]] were notable opponents of the French Revolution, and the idea of universal reason.

==See also==
* [[Philosophes]]
* [[Declaration of the Rights of Man]]
* [[Natural born citizen]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Becker, Carl L. ''The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers.'' (932)
* Buchan, James. ''Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Crowded-Genius-Scottish-Enlightenment-Edinburghs/dp/006055889X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230458920&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
*Buck-Morss, Susan. ''Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History.'' Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009.
* Burns, William. ''Science in the Enlightenment: An Encyclopedia'' (2003) 353pp
* Cassirer, Ernst. ''The Philosophy of the Enlightenment.'' 1955. a highly influential study by a neoKantian philosopher [http://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Enlightenment-Ernst-Cassirer/dp/0691019630/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1 excerpt and text search]
* Chisick, Harvey. ''Historical Dictionary of the Enlightenment.'' 2005. 512 pp
* Delon, Michel. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (2001) 1480pp
* Fitzpatrick, Martin et al., eds. ''The Enlightenment World.'' (2004). 714pp; 39 essays by scholars [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107997736# online edition]
* Gay, Peter. ''The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism'' (1966, 2nd ed. 1995), 952 pp; [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Rise-Modern-Paganism/dp/0393313026/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198758253&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search vol 1]; ''The Enlightenment: The Science of Freedom,'' (1969 2nd ed. 1995), a highly influential study [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Science-Freedom-Peter-Gay/dp/0393313662/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198758253&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search vol 2];
* Goodman, Dena. ''The Republic of Letters: A Cultural History of the French Enlightenment'' (1994) 338 pp [http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-republic-of-letters-a-cultural-history-of-the-french-enlightenment-by-dena-goodman.jsp online edition]
* Hazard, Paul. ''European thought in the eighteenth century: From Montesquieu to Lessing'' (1965)
* Himmelfarb, Gertrude. ''The Roads to Modernity: The British, French, and American Enlightenments.'' 2004. 272 pp. by a leading conservative scholar
* Imhof, Ulrich. ''The Enlightenment.'' 1994. 310 pp.
* Israel, Jonathan, ''Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750.'' Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2001.
* Kors, Alan Charles. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (4 vol. 1990; 2nd ed. 2003), 1984pp [http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Enlightenment-4-vol-set/dp/0195104307/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; also [http://www.oxfordreference.com/pub/views/home.html complete text online at www.oxfordreference.com] by a leading conservative scholar
* May, Henry F. ''The Enlightenment in America.'' 1976. 419 pp.
*Nesbitt, Nick. ''Universal Emancipation: The Haitian Revolution and the Radical Enlightenment.'' Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008.
* Outram, Dorinda. ''The Enlightenment''(1995) 157pp [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-New-Approaches-European-History/dp/0521425344/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753098&sr=1-27 excerpt and text search]
* Porter, Roy. ''The Enlightenment'' (2nd ed. 2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Second-Studies-European-History/dp/0333945050/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753098&sr=1-30 excerpt and text search]
* Porter, Roy. ''The Creation of the Modern World: The Untold Story of the British Enlightenment.'' 2000. 608 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Creation-Modern-World-British-Enlightenment/dp/0393322688/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753023&sr=1-13 excerpt and text search]
* Reid-Maroney, Nina. ''Philadelphia's Enlightenment, 1740-1800: Kingdom of Christ, Empire of Reason.'' 2001. 199 pp.
* Reill, Peter Hanns, and Wilson, Ellen Judy. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment.'' (2nd ed. 2004). 670 pp.
* Staloff, Darren. ''Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment and the American Founding.'' 2005. 419 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Adams-Jefferson-Politics-Enlightenment/dp/080905356X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198752935&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Till, Nicholas. ''Mozart and the Enlightenment: Truth, Virtue, and Beauty in Mozart's Operas.'' 1993. 384 pp.
* Yolton, John W. et al. ''The Blackwell Companion to the Enlightenment.'' 1992. 581 pp.

===Primary sources===
* Broadie, Alexander, ed. ''The Scottish Enlightenment: An Anthology'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Scottish-Enlightenment-Anthology-Canongate-Classics/dp/0862417384/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230458920&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]
* Jacob, Margaret C. ''The Enlightenment: Brief History with Documents'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-History-Documents-Bedford-Culture/dp/0312237014/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-16 excerpt and text search]
* Williams, David, ed. ''The Enlightenment'' (Cambridge Readings in the History of Political Thought) (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Cambridge-Readings-History-Political/dp/0521564905/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]

[[category:Enlightenment]]
[[category:Philosophy]]
[[category:European History]]

User:Churchofthetrail

2011-06-15T02:03:13Z

Churchofthetrail: userpage edit

stay in line. stay in step. people 
are afraid of someone who is not 
in step with them. it makes them 
look foolish t' themselves for 
being in step. it might even 
cross their minds that they themselves 
are in the wrong step. do not run 
nor cross the red line. if you go 
too far out in any direction, they 
will lose sight of you. they'll feel 
threatened. thinking that they are 
not a part of something that they 
saw go past them, they'll feel 
something's going on up there that 
they don't know about. revenge 
will set in. they will start thinking 
of how t' get rid of you. act 
mannerly towards them. if you don't, 
they will take it personal. as you 
come directly in contact face t' face 
do not make it a secret of how 
much you need them. if they sense 
that you have no need for them, 
the first thing they will do is 
try t' make you need them. if 
this doesn't work, they will tell 
you of how much they don't need 
you. if you do not show any sadness 
at a remark such as this, they 
will immediately tell other people 
of how much they don't need you. 
your name will begin t' come up 
in circles where people gather 
to tell about all the people they 
don't need. you will begin t' get 
famous this way. this, though, will 
only get the people who you don't need 
in the first place 
all the more madder. 
you will become 
a whole topic of conversation. 
needless t' say, these people 
who don't need you will start 
hating themselves for needing t' talk 
about you. then you yourself will 
start hating yourself for causing so 
much hate. as you can see, it will 
all end in one great gunburst. 
never trust a cop in a raincoat. 
when asked t' define yourself exactly, 
say you are an exact mathematician. 
do not say or do anything that 
he who standing in front of you 
watching cannot understand, he will 
feel you know something he 
doesn't. he will react with blinding 
speed and write your name down. 
talk on his terms. if his terms 
are old-fashioned an' you've 
passed that stage all the more easier 
t' get back there. say what he 
can understand clearly. say it simple 
t' keep your tongue out of your 
cheek. after he hears you, he can 
label you good or bad. anyone will 
do. t' some people, there is only 
good an' bad. in any case, it will 
make him feel somewhat important. 
it is better t' stay away from 
these people. be careful of 
enthusiasm...it is all temporary 
an' don't let it sway you. when asked 
if you go t' church, always answer 
yes, never look at your shoes. when 
asked you you think of gene autrey 
singing of hard rains gonna fall say 
that nobody can sing it as good as 
peter, paul and mary. at the mention 
of the president's name, eat a pint of 
yogurt an' go t' sleep early...when 
asked if you're a communist, sing 
america the beautiful in an 
italian accent. beat up nearest 
street cleaner. if by any 
chance you're caught naked in a 
parked car, quick turn the radio on 
full blast an' pretend 
that you're driving. never leave 
the house without a jar of peanut 
butter. do not wear 
matched socks. when asked to do 100 
pushups always smoke a pound 
of deodorant beforehand. 
when asked if you're a capitalist, rip 
open your shirt, sing buddy can 
you spare a dime with your 
right foot forward an' proceed t' 
chew up a dollar bill. 
do not sign any dotted line. do not 
fall in trap of criticizing people 
who do nothing else but criticize. 
do Not create anything. it will be 
misinterpreted. it will not change. 
it will follow you the 
rest of your life. when asked what you 
do for a living say you laugh for 
a living. be suspicious of people 
who say that if you are not nice 
t' them, they will commit suicide. 
when asked if you care about 
the world's problems, look deeply 
into the eyes of he that asks 
you, he will not ask you again. when 
asked if you've spent time in jail, 
announce proudly that some of your 
best friends've asked you that. 
beware of bathroom walls that've not 
been written on. when told t' look at 
yourself...never look. when asked 
t' give your real name...never give it.

Talk:Enlightenment

2011-06-15T01:54:47Z

Churchofthetrail: /* Burning churches was a crowning political effect? */

==American Revolution==

What makes you think that the Enlightenment led to the American Revolution? I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but there are other viewpoints at hand. America was destined to leave Great Britain; they were forced into the Revolution by the oppression of Great Britain. Tyranny led to the questioning of the British government, and perhaps the Enlightenment is wrongly accredited with this particular moment in U.S. history. [[User:LautRN|Jeffrey W. Lauttamus]][[User_talk:LautRN|Discussion]] 11:24, 22 May 2008 (EDT)
::{{template|Part of this article was copied from [[Citizendium]] and [[Wikipedia]] but the copied text was originally written by me, RJJensen (under the name Richard Jensen and rjensen) and does not include alterations made by others on that site.||category=Copied Articles}} [[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 05:16, 28 December 2008 (EST)

==Burning churches was a crowning political effect?==
Someone want to look at this? [[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]]
: Definitely not. Although there may have been Churches burned I think without further background information that claim makes no sense in the context of Enlightenment thought. I think the original contributor wanted to highlight that the Enlightenment had negative effects on the French Revolution, which it did but there are more tactful ways of writing that. I will work on it. [[User:Churchofthetrail|Church of the Trail]] 09:54, 14 June 2011 (EDT)
::It sounds like cleaned up langauge to begin with. "The crowning achievement was the burning of churches" is what the author probably intended to say. The whole sentence needs to go, unless it can be replaced with something <ehem> more NPOV. [[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 21:40, 14 June 2011 (EDT)
:::Updated. Check it. --[[User:Churchofthetrail|Church of the Trail]] 21:54, 14 June 2011 (EDT)

Enlightenment

2011-06-15T01:53:55Z

Churchofthetrail: /* Political impact */

The '''Enlightenment''' was an 18th-century movement in European and American thought that emphasized the power of reason and science, rather than traditional doctrine, to understand and reform the world. Some historians also include 17th-century philosophy, usually called the [[Age of Reason]].

The Enlightenment artistic style is called "classical" (as opposed to the earlier [[Baroque]] and the later [[Romantic]] styles). The Enlightenment marked advances in philosophy, the sciences (especially physics, chemistry and mathematics), economics, political theory, geography (especially exploration), and technology (especially the origins of the [[Industrial Revolution]]), though in fact the greatest achievements in those fields were typically inspired by Christianity.

Out of the Enlightenment emerged the new philosophy of liberalism. Thinkers like [[Adam Smith]] had a major impact on creating [[classical liberalism]] and the ideals of the free market. [[John Locke]] is often considered the father of the Enlightenment and wrote several works on social contract theory and religious toleration. Several of America's Founding Fathers were actively engaged in the Enlightenment, including [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexander Hamilton]] and [[James Madison]], and their political thinking influenced American political ideas of [[republicanism]].

Developed by the [[philosophes]] in [[France]], England, Scotland, and the German states, the Enlightenment influenced the whole of Europe including [[Russia]] and Scandinavia, as well as the American colonies in the era of the [[American Revolution]].
==Political impact==
Liberalism ([[Classical liberalism]]) was one the dominant political thoughts to emerge from the European Enlightenment. Writers like John Locke imagined the foundations of classical liberal thought in government and society. In his ''Second Treatise of Civil Government'', Locke expounds on the basic tenets of liberalism such as individual freedom<ref>Locke, John. ''A Second Treaties of Civil Government'', Chapter VII, Sec. 87</ref>, legal equality under the law, and private property<ref>Ibid., Chapter V</ref>. His concept of civil society was one of a contractual agreement between the citizens and a government formed to protect the fundamental rights of all persons<ref>Ibid., Chapter II, Sec. 13</ref>.

These ideas provided a foundation for constitutional government and the creation of rights in the private and public sphere. Discussions between philosophes in French salons and in British coffeehouses created a community now regarded to as the "[[marketplace of ideas|public sphere]]." This sharing of ideas between individuals without the overview of authority allowed for the creation and critique of ideas without fear of traditional authority figures. This tradition of the public sphere, or the "[[marketplace of ideas]]" is an underlying institution in Western democratic theory.

Constitutionalism competed with absolutism as a source of central, government power beginning the 17th century. In 1688, constitutionalism was codified in England during the ascension of William and Mary to the throne. An English Bill of Rights was also adopted. The French Revolution of 1789 replaced the absolutist tradition of the French Monarchy. American independence established a constitution (originally the Articles of Confederation and later the Constitution of 1787) and articles like the [[Declaration of Independence]] echoed themes of social contract theory.

===The Enlightened revolutions===
The Enlightenment, its writers, and its ideas are considered to have had influenced both the American and French revolutions in the late 18th century. These revolutions were unlike their predecessors. Both countries shed their ruling monarchies in favor of republican system. Both were also revolutions by and for the people, not a military coup d’etat, invasion, or reformist movement. Both countries established Constitutions, recognized equality under the law, and recognized a number of liberties afforded to all individuals. These Enlightened revolutions are thought to have changed the definition of revolution because of means and goals of both the American and French peoples.

[[The American Revolution]] began over general discontent of British economic and military policy in the new world. In 1776, Jefferson’s [[Declaration of Independence]] stated the rights of the people to “throw off such Government,” the British government, in the event that their laws overstepped the natural rights and liberties of its subjects. This rhetoric stems directly from John Locke’s treatise on social contracts and the role of government in the lives of its subjects.

[[The French Revolution]] began as a movement of the [[Third Estate]] for representation by numbers of individuals rather than a single vote per Estate (Of the three Estates-General, the Third Estate, French commoners, represented over 90% of the population). The 1789 meeting of the Estates-General deteriorated when the demands for democratic representation were not met. The Third Estate quickly formed itself into the [[French General Assembly|General Assembly]] and established the French Republic. The French adopted a vision more closely associated with Rousseau’s work [[The Social Contract]]. This vision of French republicanism dictated that the participation of all citizens in the government would create a “general will” which would dictate policy and law.

Unfortunately, the French Revolution deteriorated after 1793 with the execution of [[King Louis XVI]] and the emergence of [[Maximilien Robespierre]] and other hardliners in the French Assembly. Rousseau’s famous lines in his work state that “whoever refuses to obey the general will shall be compelled to do so by the whole body. This means nothing less than that he will be forced to be free.” Robespierre took this quite literally to build a homogenous state and restore order to the nation. There were many dissenters who only joined the revolutionary cause to lower taxes and were unhappy with radical social reform. Thus the [[Reign of Terror]] began and the French Republic deteriorated into arguably the world’s first [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] regime. The ascension of [[Napoleon]] to power marked a restoration of order and a more conservative movement.

==Leaders==
Intellectually the Enlightenment was identified with the French "[[philosophes]]" who aggressively spread the new gospel of reason. They were a brilliant collection of scientists, philosophers and writers including [[Voltaire]], [[Montesquieu]], [[Holbach]], [[Condorcet]], [[Denis Diderot]], [[Buffon]], [[Turgot]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] in France. Other major leaders included [[David Hume]], [[Adam Smith]] and several others in Scotland; [[John Locke]], [[Edward Gibbon]], [[Samuel Johnson]] and [[Jeremy Bentham]] in England; and [[Johann Herder]], [[Gotthold Lessing]] and [[Immanuel Kant]] in Prussia.

===Enlightened despots===
Philosophers were endorsed by "enlightened despots"—rulers who tried to impose reform by authoritarian means, including [[Joseph II]] of the Holy Roman Empire (Austria), [[Frederick II]] of Prussia, [[Catherine II]] of Russia, and [[Charles III]] of Spain. Despite heading absolutist rather than constitutional governments, these rulers are considered enlightened because of policies and laws enacted during their rule. For example, during his rule Joseph II abolished hereditary servitude ([[serfdom]]) and enacted the [[Edict of Toleration]] that extended civil rights to non-Catholics and Jews.

===America===
In America the leading Enlightenment thinkers were [[Benjamin Franklin]] (who later rejected [[deism]]), [[Thomas Jefferson]] (along with [[James Monroe]] the least Christian of the [[Founding Fathers]]) and [[James Madison]] (who cited Enlightenment thinkers in his ''[[Federalist Papers]]''). Others, such as the Rev. [[Jonathan Edwards]] and Rev. [[John Witherspoon]], were devout and brilliant Christians who were original in their sermons and writings.

American thinkers read deeply in European thought but did not share the anti-religious views typical of European intellectuals. Because the established churches in the colonies were relatively weak and not politically powerful, American thinkers seldom attacked them<ref> Jefferson and Madison led the fight to disestablish the Anglican Church in Virginia, which was tied to Britain.</ref> and were able to incorporate and build on Christian faith more easily than their European counterparts.

==Science==
Advances in science had led to principles and laws that were knowable and unchanging as described within a naturalistic framework. The advances in mathematics and chemistry were especially strong. This idea of knowledge that could be observed apart from a direct explanation dealing with God led to a change in philosophical ideals, where man could shape and determine his own destiny including areas outside of science such as social and political realities. In a sense mans' view of his own ability to bring about change and a trust in himself to determine what that change needed to be crystallized in the thought process of the times among the philosophical elite.

Writers during the Enlightenment assumed that all branches of science could emulate the achievements in physics of [[Isaac Newton]], through a systematic and logical approach.

==Deism==
Some of the Enlightenment leaders of the period challenged traditional Christianity as they adopted God in a [[deist]] form that saw his role as the clockmaker, not the personal guide. While much of the population of the times remained Christian in terms of performing traditional rituals, deism took root in England, France, and the American colonies. Historians have pointed out that argues that belief in Christianity continued to flourish at the grass roots level.<ref> S. J. Barnett, ''The Enlightenment and Religion. The Myths of Modernity'' (2003) </ref>

==Pietism==
[[Pietism]] was a new and powerful religious movement that emerged among Lutheran and Reformed circles, especially in Germany. It stressed a vision of individual rebirth as opposed to ritual and theology, with stress on individual moral behavior. Pietism promoted revivals and missionary activism to convert the world to Christ. American versions of pietism include the revivals of the [[First Great Awakening]] and was especially manifest in the rapid growth of [[Baptist]] and [[Methodist]] churches. The First Great Awakening launched [[evangelicalism]] in America.<ref> Thomas S. Kidd, ''The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Great-Awakening-Evangelical-Christianity-Colonial/dp/0300118872/ref=ed_oe_h excerpt and text search]; William G. McLaughlin, ''Isaac Backus and the American Pietistic Tradition'' (1967)</ref>

==Ending==
Politically the [[French Revolution]] of the 1790s ended the movement. Culturally, the rise of [[Romanticism]], with its quest for the unknown future, displaced classical Enlightenment forms, especially in music, painting, literature and philosophy, after 1810.

In a deeper sense, the ideas and ways of thought of the Enlightenment, especially regarding the value of science and systematic inquiry, have become a permanent part of the modern world. Many ideas and methods of the Enlightenment are still with us, and conservatives especially admire the work of Montesquieu and Smith, as well as the Americans Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison.
==Counter-Enlightenment==
Opposition to the spirit of the Enlightenment was led by intellectuals such as [[Edmund Burke]] in Britain, who opposed the French Revolution and exalted the bonds of tradition. Opposition escalated in the [[Romantic]] era after 1810. In Germany, Herder rejected the French love of abstract ideas in favor of the genius of the German people for instinct and poetry. Important counter-Enlightenment historians included Scottish conservative [[Thomas Carlyle]], and French scholars Ernest Renan and Hippolyte Taine. In the 20th century Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce and German historian [[Oswald Spengler]] were notable opponents of the French Revolution, and the idea of universal reason.

==See also==
* [[Philosophes]]
* [[Declaration of the Rights of Man]]
* [[Natural born citizen]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Becker, Carl L. ''The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers.'' (932)
* Buchan, James. ''Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Crowded-Genius-Scottish-Enlightenment-Edinburghs/dp/006055889X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230458920&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
*Buck-Morss, Susan. ''Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History.'' Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009.
* Burns, William. ''Science in the Enlightenment: An Encyclopedia'' (2003) 353pp
* Cassirer, Ernst. ''The Philosophy of the Enlightenment.'' 1955. a highly influential study by a neoKantian philosopher [http://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Enlightenment-Ernst-Cassirer/dp/0691019630/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1 excerpt and text search]
* Chisick, Harvey. ''Historical Dictionary of the Enlightenment.'' 2005. 512 pp
* Delon, Michel. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (2001) 1480pp
* Fitzpatrick, Martin et al., eds. ''The Enlightenment World.'' (2004). 714pp; 39 essays by scholars [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107997736# online edition]
* Gay, Peter. ''The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism'' (1966, 2nd ed. 1995), 952 pp; [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Rise-Modern-Paganism/dp/0393313026/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198758253&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search vol 1]; ''The Enlightenment: The Science of Freedom,'' (1969 2nd ed. 1995), a highly influential study [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Science-Freedom-Peter-Gay/dp/0393313662/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198758253&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search vol 2];
* Goodman, Dena. ''The Republic of Letters: A Cultural History of the French Enlightenment'' (1994) 338 pp [http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-republic-of-letters-a-cultural-history-of-the-french-enlightenment-by-dena-goodman.jsp online edition]
* Hazard, Paul. ''European thought in the eighteenth century: From Montesquieu to Lessing'' (1965)
* Himmelfarb, Gertrude. ''The Roads to Modernity: The British, French, and American Enlightenments.'' 2004. 272 pp. by a leading conservative scholar
* Imhof, Ulrich. ''The Enlightenment.'' 1994. 310 pp.
* Israel, Jonathan, ''Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750.'' Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2001.
* Kors, Alan Charles. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (4 vol. 1990; 2nd ed. 2003), 1984pp [http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Enlightenment-4-vol-set/dp/0195104307/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; also [http://www.oxfordreference.com/pub/views/home.html complete text online at www.oxfordreference.com] by a leading conservative scholar
* May, Henry F. ''The Enlightenment in America.'' 1976. 419 pp.
*Nesbitt, Nick. ''Universal Emancipation: The Haitian Revolution and the Radical Enlightenment.'' Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008.
* Outram, Dorinda. ''The Enlightenment''(1995) 157pp [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-New-Approaches-European-History/dp/0521425344/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753098&sr=1-27 excerpt and text search]
* Porter, Roy. ''The Enlightenment'' (2nd ed. 2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Second-Studies-European-History/dp/0333945050/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753098&sr=1-30 excerpt and text search]
* Porter, Roy. ''The Creation of the Modern World: The Untold Story of the British Enlightenment.'' 2000. 608 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Creation-Modern-World-British-Enlightenment/dp/0393322688/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753023&sr=1-13 excerpt and text search]
* Reid-Maroney, Nina. ''Philadelphia's Enlightenment, 1740-1800: Kingdom of Christ, Empire of Reason.'' 2001. 199 pp.
* Reill, Peter Hanns, and Wilson, Ellen Judy. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment.'' (2nd ed. 2004). 670 pp.
* Staloff, Darren. ''Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment and the American Founding.'' 2005. 419 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Adams-Jefferson-Politics-Enlightenment/dp/080905356X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198752935&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Till, Nicholas. ''Mozart and the Enlightenment: Truth, Virtue, and Beauty in Mozart's Operas.'' 1993. 384 pp.
* Yolton, John W. et al. ''The Blackwell Companion to the Enlightenment.'' 1992. 581 pp.

===Primary sources===
* Broadie, Alexander, ed. ''The Scottish Enlightenment: An Anthology'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Scottish-Enlightenment-Anthology-Canongate-Classics/dp/0862417384/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230458920&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]
* Jacob, Margaret C. ''The Enlightenment: Brief History with Documents'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-History-Documents-Bedford-Culture/dp/0312237014/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-16 excerpt and text search]
* Williams, David, ed. ''The Enlightenment'' (Cambridge Readings in the History of Political Thought) (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Cambridge-Readings-History-Political/dp/0521564905/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]

[[category:Enlightenment]]
[[category:Philosophy]]
[[category:European History]]

Enlightenment

2011-06-15T01:53:19Z

Churchofthetrail: enlightened revolutions

The '''Enlightenment''' was an 18th-century movement in European and American thought that emphasized the power of reason and science, rather than traditional doctrine, to understand and reform the world. Some historians also include 17th-century philosophy, usually called the [[Age of Reason]].

The Enlightenment artistic style is called "classical" (as opposed to the earlier [[Baroque]] and the later [[Romantic]] styles). The Enlightenment marked advances in philosophy, the sciences (especially physics, chemistry and mathematics), economics, political theory, geography (especially exploration), and technology (especially the origins of the [[Industrial Revolution]]), though in fact the greatest achievements in those fields were typically inspired by Christianity.

Out of the Enlightenment emerged the new philosophy of liberalism. Thinkers like [[Adam Smith]] had a major impact on creating [[classical liberalism]] and the ideals of the free market. [[John Locke]] is often considered the father of the Enlightenment and wrote several works on social contract theory and religious toleration. Several of America's Founding Fathers were actively engaged in the Enlightenment, including [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexander Hamilton]] and [[James Madison]], and their political thinking influenced American political ideas of [[republicanism]].

Developed by the [[philosophes]] in [[France]], England, Scotland, and the German states, the Enlightenment influenced the whole of Europe including [[Russia]] and Scandinavia, as well as the American colonies in the era of the [[American Revolution]].
==Political impact==
The crowning political effect of the Enlightenment was the [[French Revolution]], which culminated in the burning of churches and the beheading of accomplished Frenchmen. Culturally, the rise of [[Romanticism]], with its quest for the unknown future, displaced classical Enlightenment forms, especially in music, painting, literature and philosophy, after 1810.

Liberalism ([[Classical liberalism]]) was one the dominant political thoughts to emerge from the European Enlightenment. Writers like John Locke imagined the foundations of classical liberal thought in government and society. In his ''Second Treatise of Civil Government'', Locke expounds on the basic tenets of liberalism such as individual freedom<ref>Locke, John. ''A Second Treaties of Civil Government'', Chapter VII, Sec. 87</ref>, legal equality under the law, and private property<ref>Ibid., Chapter V</ref>. His concept of civil society was one of a contractual agreement between the citizens and a government formed to protect the fundamental rights of all persons<ref>Ibid., Chapter II, Sec. 13</ref>.

These ideas provided a foundation for constitutional government and the creation of rights in the private and public sphere. Discussions between philosophes in French salons and in British coffeehouses created a community now regarded to as the "[[marketplace of ideas|public sphere]]." This sharing of ideas between individuals without the overview of authority allowed for the creation and critique of ideas without fear of traditional authority figures. This tradition of the public sphere, or the "[[marketplace of ideas]]" is an underlying institution in Western democratic theory.

Constitutionalism competed with absolutism as a source of central, government power beginning the 17th century. In 1688, constitutionalism was codified in England during the ascension of William and Mary to the throne. An English Bill of Rights was also adopted. The French Revolution of 1789 replaced the absolutist tradition of the French Monarchy. American independence established a constitution (originally the Articles of Confederation and later the Constitution of 1787) and articles like the [[Declaration of Independence]] echoed themes of social contract theory.

===The Enlightened revolutions===
The Enlightenment, its writers, and its ideas are considered to have had influenced both the American and French revolutions in the late 18th century. These revolutions were unlike their predecessors. Both countries shed their ruling monarchies in favor of republican system. Both were also revolutions by and for the people, not a military coup d’etat, invasion, or reformist movement. Both countries established Constitutions, recognized equality under the law, and recognized a number of liberties afforded to all individuals. These Enlightened revolutions are thought to have changed the definition of revolution because of means and goals of both the American and French peoples.

[[The American Revolution]] began over general discontent of British economic and military policy in the new world. In 1776, Jefferson’s [[Declaration of Independence]] stated the rights of the people to “throw off such Government,” the British government, in the event that their laws overstepped the natural rights and liberties of its subjects. This rhetoric stems directly from John Locke’s treatise on social contracts and the role of government in the lives of its subjects.

[[The French Revolution]] began as a movement of the [[Third Estate]] for representation by numbers of individuals rather than a single vote per Estate (Of the three Estates-General, the Third Estate, French commoners, represented over 90% of the population). The 1789 meeting of the Estates-General deteriorated when the demands for democratic representation were not met. The Third Estate quickly formed itself into the [[French General Assembly|General Assembly]] and established the French Republic. The French adopted a vision more closely associated with Rousseau’s work [[The Social Contract]]. This vision of French republicanism dictated that the participation of all citizens in the government would create a “general will” which would dictate policy and law.

Unfortunately, the French Revolution deteriorated after 1793 with the execution of [[King Louis XVI]] and the emergence of [[Maximilien Robespierre]] and other hardliners in the French Assembly. Rousseau’s famous lines in his work state that “whoever refuses to obey the general will shall be compelled to do so by the whole body. This means nothing less than that he will be forced to be free.” Robespierre took this quite literally to build a homogenous state and restore order to the nation. There were many dissenters who only joined the revolutionary cause to lower taxes and were unhappy with radical social reform. Thus the [[Reign of Terror]] began and the French Republic deteriorated into arguably the world’s first [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] regime. The ascension of [[Napoleon]] to power marked a restoration of order and a more conservative movement.

==Leaders==
Intellectually the Enlightenment was identified with the French "[[philosophes]]" who aggressively spread the new gospel of reason. They were a brilliant collection of scientists, philosophers and writers including [[Voltaire]], [[Montesquieu]], [[Holbach]], [[Condorcet]], [[Denis Diderot]], [[Buffon]], [[Turgot]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] in France. Other major leaders included [[David Hume]], [[Adam Smith]] and several others in Scotland; [[John Locke]], [[Edward Gibbon]], [[Samuel Johnson]] and [[Jeremy Bentham]] in England; and [[Johann Herder]], [[Gotthold Lessing]] and [[Immanuel Kant]] in Prussia.

===Enlightened despots===
Philosophers were endorsed by "enlightened despots"—rulers who tried to impose reform by authoritarian means, including [[Joseph II]] of the Holy Roman Empire (Austria), [[Frederick II]] of Prussia, [[Catherine II]] of Russia, and [[Charles III]] of Spain. Despite heading absolutist rather than constitutional governments, these rulers are considered enlightened because of policies and laws enacted during their rule. For example, during his rule Joseph II abolished hereditary servitude ([[serfdom]]) and enacted the [[Edict of Toleration]] that extended civil rights to non-Catholics and Jews.

===America===
In America the leading Enlightenment thinkers were [[Benjamin Franklin]] (who later rejected [[deism]]), [[Thomas Jefferson]] (along with [[James Monroe]] the least Christian of the [[Founding Fathers]]) and [[James Madison]] (who cited Enlightenment thinkers in his ''[[Federalist Papers]]''). Others, such as the Rev. [[Jonathan Edwards]] and Rev. [[John Witherspoon]], were devout and brilliant Christians who were original in their sermons and writings.

American thinkers read deeply in European thought but did not share the anti-religious views typical of European intellectuals. Because the established churches in the colonies were relatively weak and not politically powerful, American thinkers seldom attacked them<ref> Jefferson and Madison led the fight to disestablish the Anglican Church in Virginia, which was tied to Britain.</ref> and were able to incorporate and build on Christian faith more easily than their European counterparts.

==Science==
Advances in science had led to principles and laws that were knowable and unchanging as described within a naturalistic framework. The advances in mathematics and chemistry were especially strong. This idea of knowledge that could be observed apart from a direct explanation dealing with God led to a change in philosophical ideals, where man could shape and determine his own destiny including areas outside of science such as social and political realities. In a sense mans' view of his own ability to bring about change and a trust in himself to determine what that change needed to be crystallized in the thought process of the times among the philosophical elite.

Writers during the Enlightenment assumed that all branches of science could emulate the achievements in physics of [[Isaac Newton]], through a systematic and logical approach.

==Deism==
Some of the Enlightenment leaders of the period challenged traditional Christianity as they adopted God in a [[deist]] form that saw his role as the clockmaker, not the personal guide. While much of the population of the times remained Christian in terms of performing traditional rituals, deism took root in England, France, and the American colonies. Historians have pointed out that argues that belief in Christianity continued to flourish at the grass roots level.<ref> S. J. Barnett, ''The Enlightenment and Religion. The Myths of Modernity'' (2003) </ref>

==Pietism==
[[Pietism]] was a new and powerful religious movement that emerged among Lutheran and Reformed circles, especially in Germany. It stressed a vision of individual rebirth as opposed to ritual and theology, with stress on individual moral behavior. Pietism promoted revivals and missionary activism to convert the world to Christ. American versions of pietism include the revivals of the [[First Great Awakening]] and was especially manifest in the rapid growth of [[Baptist]] and [[Methodist]] churches. The First Great Awakening launched [[evangelicalism]] in America.<ref> Thomas S. Kidd, ''The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Great-Awakening-Evangelical-Christianity-Colonial/dp/0300118872/ref=ed_oe_h excerpt and text search]; William G. McLaughlin, ''Isaac Backus and the American Pietistic Tradition'' (1967)</ref>

==Ending==
Politically the [[French Revolution]] of the 1790s ended the movement. Culturally, the rise of [[Romanticism]], with its quest for the unknown future, displaced classical Enlightenment forms, especially in music, painting, literature and philosophy, after 1810.

In a deeper sense, the ideas and ways of thought of the Enlightenment, especially regarding the value of science and systematic inquiry, have become a permanent part of the modern world. Many ideas and methods of the Enlightenment are still with us, and conservatives especially admire the work of Montesquieu and Smith, as well as the Americans Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison.
==Counter-Enlightenment==
Opposition to the spirit of the Enlightenment was led by intellectuals such as [[Edmund Burke]] in Britain, who opposed the French Revolution and exalted the bonds of tradition. Opposition escalated in the [[Romantic]] era after 1810. In Germany, Herder rejected the French love of abstract ideas in favor of the genius of the German people for instinct and poetry. Important counter-Enlightenment historians included Scottish conservative [[Thomas Carlyle]], and French scholars Ernest Renan and Hippolyte Taine. In the 20th century Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce and German historian [[Oswald Spengler]] were notable opponents of the French Revolution, and the idea of universal reason.

==See also==
* [[Philosophes]]
* [[Declaration of the Rights of Man]]
* [[Natural born citizen]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Becker, Carl L. ''The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers.'' (932)
* Buchan, James. ''Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Crowded-Genius-Scottish-Enlightenment-Edinburghs/dp/006055889X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230458920&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
*Buck-Morss, Susan. ''Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History.'' Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009.
* Burns, William. ''Science in the Enlightenment: An Encyclopedia'' (2003) 353pp
* Cassirer, Ernst. ''The Philosophy of the Enlightenment.'' 1955. a highly influential study by a neoKantian philosopher [http://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Enlightenment-Ernst-Cassirer/dp/0691019630/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1 excerpt and text search]
* Chisick, Harvey. ''Historical Dictionary of the Enlightenment.'' 2005. 512 pp
* Delon, Michel. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (2001) 1480pp
* Fitzpatrick, Martin et al., eds. ''The Enlightenment World.'' (2004). 714pp; 39 essays by scholars [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107997736# online edition]
* Gay, Peter. ''The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism'' (1966, 2nd ed. 1995), 952 pp; [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Rise-Modern-Paganism/dp/0393313026/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198758253&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search vol 1]; ''The Enlightenment: The Science of Freedom,'' (1969 2nd ed. 1995), a highly influential study [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Science-Freedom-Peter-Gay/dp/0393313662/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198758253&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search vol 2];
* Goodman, Dena. ''The Republic of Letters: A Cultural History of the French Enlightenment'' (1994) 338 pp [http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-republic-of-letters-a-cultural-history-of-the-french-enlightenment-by-dena-goodman.jsp online edition]
* Hazard, Paul. ''European thought in the eighteenth century: From Montesquieu to Lessing'' (1965)
* Himmelfarb, Gertrude. ''The Roads to Modernity: The British, French, and American Enlightenments.'' 2004. 272 pp. by a leading conservative scholar
* Imhof, Ulrich. ''The Enlightenment.'' 1994. 310 pp.
* Israel, Jonathan, ''Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750.'' Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2001.
* Kors, Alan Charles. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (4 vol. 1990; 2nd ed. 2003), 1984pp [http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Enlightenment-4-vol-set/dp/0195104307/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; also [http://www.oxfordreference.com/pub/views/home.html complete text online at www.oxfordreference.com] by a leading conservative scholar
* May, Henry F. ''The Enlightenment in America.'' 1976. 419 pp.
*Nesbitt, Nick. ''Universal Emancipation: The Haitian Revolution and the Radical Enlightenment.'' Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008.
* Outram, Dorinda. ''The Enlightenment''(1995) 157pp [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-New-Approaches-European-History/dp/0521425344/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753098&sr=1-27 excerpt and text search]
* Porter, Roy. ''The Enlightenment'' (2nd ed. 2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Second-Studies-European-History/dp/0333945050/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753098&sr=1-30 excerpt and text search]
* Porter, Roy. ''The Creation of the Modern World: The Untold Story of the British Enlightenment.'' 2000. 608 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Creation-Modern-World-British-Enlightenment/dp/0393322688/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753023&sr=1-13 excerpt and text search]
* Reid-Maroney, Nina. ''Philadelphia's Enlightenment, 1740-1800: Kingdom of Christ, Empire of Reason.'' 2001. 199 pp.
* Reill, Peter Hanns, and Wilson, Ellen Judy. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment.'' (2nd ed. 2004). 670 pp.
* Staloff, Darren. ''Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment and the American Founding.'' 2005. 419 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Adams-Jefferson-Politics-Enlightenment/dp/080905356X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198752935&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Till, Nicholas. ''Mozart and the Enlightenment: Truth, Virtue, and Beauty in Mozart's Operas.'' 1993. 384 pp.
* Yolton, John W. et al. ''The Blackwell Companion to the Enlightenment.'' 1992. 581 pp.

===Primary sources===
* Broadie, Alexander, ed. ''The Scottish Enlightenment: An Anthology'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Scottish-Enlightenment-Anthology-Canongate-Classics/dp/0862417384/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230458920&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]
* Jacob, Margaret C. ''The Enlightenment: Brief History with Documents'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-History-Documents-Bedford-Culture/dp/0312237014/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-16 excerpt and text search]
* Williams, David, ed. ''The Enlightenment'' (Cambridge Readings in the History of Political Thought) (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Cambridge-Readings-History-Political/dp/0521564905/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]

[[category:Enlightenment]]
[[category:Philosophy]]
[[category:European History]]

Incorporation doctrine

2011-06-14T22:02:09Z

Churchofthetrail: refs

'''Incorporation''' is a legal doctrine applied by the U.S. judicial system which applies the liberties and protections of [[Bill of Rights]] in the jurisdiction of the state and local governments. This means the same limitations which apply to laws written and executed at the federal level must also be observed by lower level governments. For the first 150 years of constitutional interpretation, the Bill of Rights applied against only the federal government. Incorporation is an interpretation of the [[U.S. Constitution]] and is not institutionalized meaning incorporation is not written into the legal framework of the U.S., rather it has been interpreted into the framework by justices on the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]. This means that rights could be unincorporated though this is unlikely due to the tradition of legal precedent.

Rights and privileges of the citizens are currently incorporated by means of the [[Fourteenth Amendment]]. The Due Process Clause read “substantively” allows justices to apply a more modern meaning to the Fourteenth Amendment that incorporates “fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty.”<ref>''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), Samuel Alito's majority opinion</ref> The first piece of the Bill of Rights to be incorporated was just compensation of the [[Fifth Amendment]] in 1897 in the case ''Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. v. City of Chicago''. The writer of the majority opinion in that case was [[John Marshall Harlan|Justice John Marshall Harlan]] joined by 6 other justices. The last amendment to be incorporated was the [[Second Amendment]] in the 2010 case ''McDonald v. Chicago''.

Another theory to incorporation is use of the Privileges and Immunities Clause also embedded in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment. This was used by lawyers during the [[Slaughterhouse Cases]] in the 1870s but without success because the Court choose to read this provision with the legislative intent as applying only to freed slaves. In his concurring opinion in the 2010 case ''McDonald v. Chicago'', [[Clarence Thomas|Justice Clarence Thomas]] argues that the Privilege and Immunities Clause should be revisited as the proper vehicle through which the Bill of Rights is incorporated.<ref>''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), Clarence Thomas concurring opinion with the majority</ref>

Historically the doctrine has been interpreted as selective incorporation. Not every right in the Constitution applies to the state and local governments. The Supreme Court has evaluated arguments on a case-by-case basis to determine the necessity of incorporating the right in question. [[Hugo Black|Justice Hugo Black]] was a leading proponent of total incorporation: the idea that the entire Bill of Rights should be incorporated en bloc through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

==References==
<references />
[[Category:law]]

Incorporation doctrine

2011-06-14T21:57:59Z

Churchofthetrail: re-written, expounded

'''Incorporation''' is a legal doctrine applied by the U.S. judicial system which applies the liberties and protections of [[Bill of Rights]] in the jurisdiction of the state and local governments. This means the same limitations which apply to laws written and executed at the federal level must also be observed by lower level governments. For the first 150 years of constitutional interpretation, the Bill of Rights applied against only the federal government. Incorporation is an interpretation of the [[U.S. Constitution]] and is not institutionalized meaning incorporation is not written into the legal framework of the U.S., rather it has been interpreted into the framework by justices on the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]. This means that rights could be unincorporated though this is unlikely due to the tradition of legal precedent.

Rights and privileges of the citizens are currently incorporated by means of the [[Fourteenth Amendment]]. The Due Process Clause read “substantively” allows justices to apply a more modern meaning to the Fourteenth Amendment that incorporates “fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty.”<ref>''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), Samuel Alito's majority opinion</ref> The first piece of the Bill of Rights to be incorporated was just compensation of the [[Fifth Amendment]] in 1897 in the case ''Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. v. City of Chicago''. The writer of the majority opinion in that case was [[John Marshall Harlan|Justice John Marshall Harlan]] joined by 6 other justices. The last amendment to be incorporated was the [[Second Amendment]] in the 2010 case ''McDonald v. Chicago''.

Another theory to incorporation is use of the Privileges and Immunities Clause also embedded in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment. This was used by lawyers during the [[Slaughterhouse Cases]] in the 1870s but without success because the Court choose to read this provision with the legislative intent as applying only to freed slaves. In his concurring opinion in the 2010 case ''McDonald v. Chicago'', [[Clarence Thomas|Justice Clarence Thomas]] argues that the Privilege and Immunities Clause should be revisited as the proper vehicle through which the Bill of Rights is incorporated.<ref>''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), Clarence Thomas concurring opinion with the majority</ref>

Historically the doctrine has been interpreted as selective incorporation. Not every right in the Constitution applies to the state and local governments. The Supreme Court has evaluated arguments on a case-by-case basis to determine the necessity of incorporating the right in question. [[Hugo Black|Justice Hugo Black]] was a leading proponent of total incorporation: the idea that the entire Bill of Rights should be incorporated en bloc through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
[[Category:law]]

Talk:Enlightenment

2011-06-14T13:54:08Z

Churchofthetrail: /* Burning churches was a crowning political effect? */

Marketplace of ideas

2011-06-14T02:37:28Z

Churchofthetrail: origins of marketplace and JSM

The '''marketplace of ideas''' is the theory that, in a [[free market]] of ideas, bad ideas will be subordinated to good ideas in the long run, as good ideas will win more adherents in the absence of governmental pressure to adopt one idea. The modern concept of the marketplace in democracy and civil society was developed by British philosopher [[John Stuart Mill]] in his famous essay ''[[On Liberty]]''.

==American Free Speech==
This theory has become an underpinning of American [[free speech]] law, and the interpretation of the clause of the [[First Amendment]]: as Justice Holmes wrote in ''Abrams v. United States'', mere disagreement with speech is never enough to condemn it: political majorities should be content to put their faith in the marketplace of ideas, that their ideas will win out in the end, and if they don't, that they didn't deserve to in the first place.<ref>Holmes' argument was all the more stunning in its implications because, in ''Abrams'' he used it to refer to the struggle against ''communism!'' He argued that communism was clearly inferior, and therefore there was no need to fear its participation in the marketplace of ideas. And if it won out in the end, it probably deserved to.</ref> Thus, the marketplace of ideas confronts "bad speech" by offering the remedy of "good speech" and competition to cure it.<ref>250 U.S. 616.</ref>
{{cquote|The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. That at any rate is the theory of our Constitution. It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment. Every year if not every day we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge. While that experiment is part of our system I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country.<ref>''Id.'' at 630 (Holmes, J., dissenting). While a dissenter here, Holmes' argument later became accepted as settled law, in an odd turn of events. Geoffrey Stone, ''The First Amendment,'' Aspen Publishing 2005.</ref>}}

Of course, the marketplace cannot be expected to cure all bad speech. Where speech constitutes an incitement to a breach of the peace, for example, the government should feel free to step in.<ref>[[Brandenburg v. Ohio]], 395 U.S. 444.</ref>

==Rejection of the Free Marketplace of Ideas==
It is a hallmark of [[Dictatorship|dictatorships]] that they tend to suppress free speech, as they fear that their ideas ''will not'' stand up in the marketplace of ideas, and can only survive with an administrative crutch, or by the forceful suppression of dissent. Dictatorships tend to fall.<ref>See the article on the [[USSR]].</ref>

==References==
<references/>
[[category:law]]
[[category:political Terms]]

User:Churchofthetrail

2011-06-14T02:25:15Z

Churchofthetrail: user page edit

Please unlock IP address originally associated with this user. No association with the user known as [[Alky]]...just an unfortunate victim of circumstance and his vandalism. thanks

Enlightenment

2011-06-14T02:22:42Z

Churchofthetrail: combined politics sections, editted enlightened despots --~~~~

The '''Enlightenment''' was an 18th-century movement in European and American thought that emphasized the power of reason and science, rather than traditional doctrine, to understand and reform the world. Some historians also include 17th-century philosophy, usually called the [[Age of Reason]].

The Enlightenment artistic style is called "classical" (as opposed to the earlier [[Baroque]] and the later [[Romantic]] styles). The Enlightenment marked advances in philosophy, the sciences (especially physics, chemistry and mathematics), economics, political theory, geography (especially exploration), and technology (especially the origins of the [[Industrial Revolution]]), though in fact the greatest achievements in those fields were typically inspired by Christianity.

Out of the Enlightenment emerged the new philosophy of liberalism. Thinkers like [[Adam Smith]] had a major impact on creating [[classical liberalism]] and the ideals of the free market. [[John Locke]] is often considered the father of the Enlightenment and wrote several works on social contract theory and religious toleration. Several of America's Founding Fathers were actively engaged in the Enlightenment, including [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexander Hamilton]] and [[James Madison]], and their political thinking influenced American political ideas of [[republicanism]].

Developed by the [[philosophes]] in [[France]], England, Scotland, and the German states, the Enlightenment influenced the whole of Europe including [[Russia]] and Scandinavia, as well as the American colonies in the era of the [[American Revolution]].
==Political impact==
The crowning political effect of the Enlightenment was the [[French Revolution]], which culminated in the burning of churches and the beheading of accomplished Frenchmen. Culturally, the rise of [[Romanticism]], with its quest for the unknown future, displaced classical Enlightenment forms, especially in music, painting, literature and philosophy, after 1810.

Liberalism ([[Classical liberalism]]) was one the dominant political thoughts to emerge from the European Enlightenment. Writers like John Locke imagined the foundations of classical liberal thought in government and society. In his ''Second Treatise of Civil Government'', Locke expounds on the basic tenets of liberalism such as individual freedom<ref>Locke, John. ''A Second Treaties of Civil Government'', Chapter VII, Sec. 87</ref>, legal equality under the law, and private property<ref>Ibid., Chapter V</ref>. His concept of civil society was one of a contractual agreement between the citizens and a government formed to protect the fundamental rights of all persons<ref>Ibid., Chapter II, Sec. 13</ref>.

These ideas provided a foundation for constitutional government and the creation of rights in the private and public sphere. Discussions between philosophes in French salons and in British coffeehouses created a community now regarded to as the "[[marketplace of ideas|public sphere]]." This sharing of ideas between individuals without the overview of authority allowed for the creation and critique of ideas without fear of traditional authority figures. This tradition of the public sphere, or the "[[marketplace of ideas]]" is an underlying institution in Western democratic theory.

Constitutionalism competed with absolutism as a source of central, government power beginning the 17th century. In 1688, constitutionalism was codified in England during the ascension of William and Mary to the throne. An English Bill of Rights was also adopted. The French Revolution of 1789 replaced the absolutist tradition of the French Monarchy. American independence established a constitution (originally the Articles of Confederation and later the Constitution of 1787) and articles like the [[Declaration of Independence]] echoed themes of social contract theory.

==Leaders==
Intellectually the Enlightenment was identified with the French "[[philosophes]]" who aggressively spread the new gospel of reason. They were a brilliant collection of scientists, philosophers and writers including [[Voltaire]], [[Montesquieu]], [[Holbach]], [[Condorcet]], [[Denis Diderot]], [[Buffon]], [[Turgot]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] in France. Other major leaders included [[David Hume]], [[Adam Smith]] and several others in Scotland; [[John Locke]], [[Edward Gibbon]], [[Samuel Johnson]] and [[Jeremy Bentham]] in England; and [[Johann Herder]], [[Gotthold Lessing]] and [[Immanuel Kant]] in Prussia.

===Enlightened despots===
Philosophers were endorsed by "enlightened despots"—rulers who tried to impose reform by authoritarian means, including [[Joseph II]] of the Holy Roman Empire (Austria), [[Frederick II]] of Prussia, [[Catherine II]] of Russia, and [[Charles III]] of Spain. Despite heading absolutist rather than constitutional governments, these rulers are considered enlightened because of policies and laws enacted during their rule. For example, during his rule Joseph II abolished hereditary servitude ([[serfdom]]) and enacted the [[Edict of Toleration]] that extended civil rights to non-Catholics and Jews.

===America===
In America the leading Enlightenment thinkers were [[Benjamin Franklin]] (who later rejected [[deism]]), [[Thomas Jefferson]] (along with [[James Monroe]] the least Christian of the [[Founding Fathers]]) and [[James Madison]] (who cited Enlightenment thinkers in his ''[[Federalist Papers]]''). Others, such as the Rev. [[Jonathan Edwards]] and Rev. [[John Witherspoon]], were devout and brilliant Christians who were original in their sermons and writings.

American thinkers read deeply in European thought but did not share the anti-religious views typical of European intellectuals. Because the established churches in the colonies were relatively weak and not politically powerful, American thinkers seldom attacked them<ref> Jefferson and Madison led the fight to disestablish the Anglican Church in Virginia, which was tied to Britain.</ref> and were able to incorporate and build on Christian faith more easily than their European counterparts.

==Science==
Advances in science had led to principles and laws that were knowable and unchanging as described within a naturalistic framework. The advances in mathematics and chemistry were especially strong. This idea of knowledge that could be observed apart from a direct explanation dealing with God led to a change in philosophical ideals, where man could shape and determine his own destiny including areas outside of science such as social and political realities. In a sense mans' view of his own ability to bring about change and a trust in himself to determine what that change needed to be crystallized in the thought process of the times among the philosophical elite.

Writers during the Enlightenment assumed that all branches of science could emulate the achievements in physics of [[Isaac Newton]], through a systematic and logical approach.

==Deism==
Some of the Enlightenment leaders of the period challenged traditional Christianity as they adopted God in a [[deist]] form that saw his role as the clockmaker, not the personal guide. While much of the population of the times remained Christian in terms of performing traditional rituals, deism took root in England, France, and the American colonies. Historians have pointed out that argues that belief in Christianity continued to flourish at the grass roots level.<ref> S. J. Barnett, ''The Enlightenment and Religion. The Myths of Modernity'' (2003) </ref>

==Pietism==
[[Pietism]] was a new and powerful religious movement that emerged among Lutheran and Reformed circles, especially in Germany. It stressed a vision of individual rebirth as opposed to ritual and theology, with stress on individual moral behavior. Pietism promoted revivals and missionary activism to convert the world to Christ. American versions of pietism include the revivals of the [[First Great Awakening]] and was especially manifest in the rapid growth of [[Baptist]] and [[Methodist]] churches. The First Great Awakening launched [[evangelicalism]] in America.<ref> Thomas S. Kidd, ''The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Great-Awakening-Evangelical-Christianity-Colonial/dp/0300118872/ref=ed_oe_h excerpt and text search]; William G. McLaughlin, ''Isaac Backus and the American Pietistic Tradition'' (1967)</ref>

==Ending==
Politically the [[French Revolution]] of the 1790s ended the movement. Culturally, the rise of [[Romanticism]], with its quest for the unknown future, displaced classical Enlightenment forms, especially in music, painting, literature and philosophy, after 1810.

In a deeper sense, the ideas and ways of thought of the Enlightenment, especially regarding the value of science and systematic inquiry, have become a permanent part of the modern world. Many ideas and methods of the Enlightenment are still with us, and conservatives especially admire the work of Montesquieu and Smith, as well as the Americans Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison.
==Counter-Enlightenment==
Opposition to the spirit of the Enlightenment was led by intellectuals such as [[Edmund Burke]] in Britain, who opposed the French Revolution and exalted the bonds of tradition. Opposition escalated in the [[Romantic]] era after 1810. In Germany, Herder rejected the French love of abstract ideas in favor of the genius of the German people for instinct and poetry. Important counter-Enlightenment historians included Scottish conservative [[Thomas Carlyle]], and French scholars Ernest Renan and Hippolyte Taine. In the 20th century Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce and German historian [[Oswald Spengler]] were notable opponents of the French Revolution, and the idea of universal reason.

==See also==
* [[Philosophes]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Becker, Carl L. ''The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers.'' (932)
* Buchan, James. ''Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Crowded-Genius-Scottish-Enlightenment-Edinburghs/dp/006055889X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230458920&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
*Buck-Morss, Susan. ''Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History.'' Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009.
* Burns, William. ''Science in the Enlightenment: An Encyclopedia'' (2003) 353pp
* Cassirer, Ernst. ''The Philosophy of the Enlightenment.'' 1955. a highly influential study by a neoKantian philosopher [http://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Enlightenment-Ernst-Cassirer/dp/0691019630/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1 excerpt and text search]
* Chisick, Harvey. ''Historical Dictionary of the Enlightenment.'' 2005. 512 pp
* Delon, Michel. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (2001) 1480pp
* Fitzpatrick, Martin et al., eds. ''The Enlightenment World.'' (2004). 714pp; 39 essays by scholars [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107997736# online edition]
* Gay, Peter. ''The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism'' (1966, 2nd ed. 1995), 952 pp; [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Rise-Modern-Paganism/dp/0393313026/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198758253&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search vol 1]; ''The Enlightenment: The Science of Freedom,'' (1969 2nd ed. 1995), a highly influential study [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Science-Freedom-Peter-Gay/dp/0393313662/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198758253&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search vol 2];
* Goodman, Dena. ''The Republic of Letters: A Cultural History of the French Enlightenment'' (1994) 338 pp [http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-republic-of-letters-a-cultural-history-of-the-french-enlightenment-by-dena-goodman.jsp online edition]
* Hazard, Paul. ''European thought in the eighteenth century: From Montesquieu to Lessing'' (1965)
* Himmelfarb, Gertrude. ''The Roads to Modernity: The British, French, and American Enlightenments.'' 2004. 272 pp. by a leading conservative scholar
* Imhof, Ulrich. ''The Enlightenment.'' 1994. 310 pp.
* Israel, Jonathan, ''Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750.'' Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2001.
* Kors, Alan Charles. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (4 vol. 1990; 2nd ed. 2003), 1984pp [http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Enlightenment-4-vol-set/dp/0195104307/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; also [http://www.oxfordreference.com/pub/views/home.html complete text online at www.oxfordreference.com] by a leading conservative scholar
* May, Henry F. ''The Enlightenment in America.'' 1976. 419 pp.
*Nesbitt, Nick. ''Universal Emancipation: The Haitian Revolution and the Radical Enlightenment.'' Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008.
* Outram, Dorinda. ''The Enlightenment''(1995) 157pp [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-New-Approaches-European-History/dp/0521425344/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753098&sr=1-27 excerpt and text search]
* Porter, Roy. ''The Enlightenment'' (2nd ed. 2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Second-Studies-European-History/dp/0333945050/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753098&sr=1-30 excerpt and text search]
* Porter, Roy. ''The Creation of the Modern World: The Untold Story of the British Enlightenment.'' 2000. 608 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Creation-Modern-World-British-Enlightenment/dp/0393322688/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753023&sr=1-13 excerpt and text search]
* Reid-Maroney, Nina. ''Philadelphia's Enlightenment, 1740-1800: Kingdom of Christ, Empire of Reason.'' 2001. 199 pp.
* Reill, Peter Hanns, and Wilson, Ellen Judy. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment.'' (2nd ed. 2004). 670 pp.
* Staloff, Darren. ''Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment and the American Founding.'' 2005. 419 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Adams-Jefferson-Politics-Enlightenment/dp/080905356X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198752935&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Till, Nicholas. ''Mozart and the Enlightenment: Truth, Virtue, and Beauty in Mozart's Operas.'' 1993. 384 pp.
* Yolton, John W. et al. ''The Blackwell Companion to the Enlightenment.'' 1992. 581 pp.

===Primary sources===
* Broadie, Alexander, ed. ''The Scottish Enlightenment: An Anthology'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Scottish-Enlightenment-Anthology-Canongate-Classics/dp/0862417384/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230458920&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]
* Jacob, Margaret C. ''The Enlightenment: Brief History with Documents'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-History-Documents-Bedford-Culture/dp/0312237014/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-16 excerpt and text search]
* Williams, David, ed. ''The Enlightenment'' (Cambridge Readings in the History of Political Thought) (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Cambridge-Readings-History-Political/dp/0521564905/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]

[[category:Enlightenment]]
[[category:Philosophy]]
[[category:European History]]

Enlightenment

2011-06-13T20:48:37Z

Churchofthetrail: Locke and political elements of the Enlightenment, this article needs more work. --~~~~

The '''Enlightenment''' was an 18th-century movement in European and American thought that emphasized the power or reason and science, rather than traditional doctrine, to understand and reform the world. Some historians also include 17th-century philosophy, usually called the [[Age of Reason]].

The Enlightenment artistic style is called "classical" (as opposed to the earlier [[Baroque]] and the later [[Romantic]] styles). The Enlightenment marked advances in philosophy, the sciences (especially physics, chemistry and mathematics), economics, political theory, geography (especially exploration), and technology (especially the origins of the [[Industrial Revolution]]), though in fact the greatest achievements in those fields were typically inspired by Christianity.

Out of the Enlightenment emerged the new philosophy of liberalism. Thinkers like [[Adam Smith]] had a major impact on creating [[classical liberalism]] and the ideals of the free market. [[John Locke]] is often considered the father of the Enlightenment and wrote several works on social contract theory and religious toleration. Several of America's Founding Fathers were actively engaged in the Enlightenment, including [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexander Hamilton]] and [[James Madison]], and their political thinking influenced American political ideas of [[republicanism]].

Developed by the [[philosophes]] in [[France]], England, Scotland, and the German states, the Enlightenment influenced the whole of Europe including [[Russia]] and Scandinavia, as well as the American colonies in the era of the [[American Revolution]].
==Political impact==
The crowning political effect of the Enlightenment was the [[French Revolution]], which culminated in the burning of churches and the beheading of accomplished Frenchmen.. Culturally, the rise of [[Romanticism]], with its quest for the unknown future, displaced classical Enlightenment forms, especially in music, painting, literature and philosophy, after 1810.

==Leaders==
Intellectually the Enlightenment was identified with the French "[[philosophes]]" who aggressively spread the new gospel of reason. They were a brilliant collection of scientists, philosophers and writers including [[Voltaire]], [[Montesquieu]], [[Holbach]], [[Condorcet]], [[Denis Diderot]], [[Buffon]], [[Turgot]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] in France. Other major leaders included [[David Hume]], [[Adam Smith]] and several others in Scotland; [[John Locke]], [[Edward Gibbon]], [[Samuel Johnson]] and [[Jeremy Bentham]] in England; and [[Johann Herder]], [[Gotthold Lessing]] and [[Immanuel Kant]] in Prussia.

===Enlightened despots===
Philosophers were endorsed by "enlightened despots"—rulers who tried to impose reform by authoritarian means, including [[Joseph II]] of the Holy Roman Empire (Austria), [[Frederick II]] of Prussia, [[Catherine II]] of Russia, and [[Charles III]] of Spain.

===America===
In America the leading Enlightenment thinkers were [[Benjamin Franklin]] (who later rejected [[deism]]), [[Thomas Jefferson]] (along with [[James Monroe]] the least Christian of the [[Founding Fathers]]) and [[James Madison]] (who cited Enlightenment thinkers in his ''[[Federalist Papers]]''). Others, such as the Rev. [[Jonathan Edwards]] and Rev. [[John Witherspoon]], were devout and brilliant Christians who were original in their sermons and writings.

American thinkers read deeply in European thought but did not share the anti-religious views typical of European intellectuals. Because the established churches in the colonies were relatively weak and not politically powerful, American thinkers seldom attacked them<ref> Jefferson and Madison led the fight to disestablish the Anglican Church in Virginia, which was tied to Britain.</ref> and were able to incorporate and build on Christian faith more easily than their European counterparts.

==Science==
Advances in science had led to principles and laws that were knowable and unchanging as described within a naturalistic framework. The advances in mathematics and chemistry were especially strong. This idea of knowledge that could be observed apart from a direct explanation dealing with God led to a change in philosophical ideals, where man could shape and determine his own destiny including areas outside of science such as social and political realities. In a sense mans' view of his own ability to bring about change and a trust in himself to determine what that change needed to be crystallized in the thought process of the times among the philosophical elite.

Writers during the Enlightenment assumed that all branches of science could emulate the achievements in physics of [[Isaac Newton]], through a systematic and logical approach.
==Deism==
Some of the Enlightenment leaders of the period challenged traditional Christianity as they adopted God in a [[deist]] form that saw his role as the clockmaker, not the personal guide. While much of the population of the times remained Christian in terms of performing traditional rituals, deism took root in England, France, and the American colonies. Historians have pointed out that argues that belief in Christianity continued to flourish at the grass roots level.<ref> S. J. Barnett, ''The Enlightenment and Religion. The Myths of Modernity'' (2003) </ref>
==Pietism==
[[Pietism]] was a new and powerful religious movement that emerged among Lutheran and Reformed circles, especially in Germany. It stressed a vision of individual rebirth as opposed to ritual and theology, with stress on individual moral behavior. Pietism promoted revivals and missionary activism to convert the world to Christ. American versions of pietism include the revivals of the [[First Great Awakening]] and was especially manifest in the rapid growth of [[Baptist]] and [[Methodist]] churches. The First Great Awakening launched [[evangelicalism]] in America.<ref> Thomas S. Kidd, ''The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Great-Awakening-Evangelical-Christianity-Colonial/dp/0300118872/ref=ed_oe_h excerpt and text search]; William G. McLaughlin, ''Isaac Backus and the American Pietistic Tradition'' (1967)</ref>

==Politics==
Liberalism ([[Classical liberalism]]) was one the dominate political thoughts to emerge from the European Enlightenment. Writers like John Locke imagined the foundations of classical liberal thought in government and society. In his ''Second Treatise of Civil Government'', Locke expounds on the basic tenets of liberalism such as individual freedom<ref>Locke, John. ''A Second Treaties of Civil Government'', Chapter VII, Sec. 87</ref>, legal equality under the law, and private property<ref>Ibid., Chapter V</ref>. His concept of civil society was one of a contractual agreement between the citizens and a government formed to protect the fundamental rights of all persons<ref>Ibid., Chapter II, Chapter II, Sec. 13</ref>. These ideas provided a foundation for constitutional government and the creation of rights in the private and public sphere.

Constitutionalism competed with absolutism as a source of central, government power beginning the 17th century. In 1688, constitutionalism was codified in England during the ascension of William and Mary to the throne. An English Bill of Rights was also adopted. The French Revolution of 1789 replaced the absolutist tradition of the French Monarchy. American independence established a constitution (originally the Articles of Confederation and later the Constitution of 1787) and articles like the [[Declaration of Independence]] echoed themes of social contract theory.
==Ending==
Politically the [[French Revolution]] of the 1790s ended the movement. Culturally, the rise of [[Romanticism]], with its quest for the unknown future, displaced classical Enlightenment forms, especially in music, painting, literature and philosophy, after 1810.

In a deeper sense, the ideas and ways of thought of the Enlightenment, especially regarding the value of science and systematic inquiry, have become a permanent part of the modern world. Many ideas and methods of the Enlightenment are still with us, and conservatives especially admire the work of Montesquieu and Smith, as well as the Americans Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison.
==Counter-Enlightenment==
Opposition to the spirit of the Enlightenment was led by intellectuals such as [[Edmund Burke]] in Britain, who opposed the French Revolution and exalted the bonds of tradition. Opposition escalated in the [[Romantic]] era after 1810. In Germany, Herder rejected the French love of abstract ideas in favor of the genius of the German people for instinct and poetry. Important counter-Enlightenment historians included Scottish conservative [[Thomas Carlyle]], and French scholars Ernest Renan and Hippolyte Taine. In the 20th century Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce and German historian [[Oswald Spengler]] were notable opponents of the French Revolution, and the idea of universal reason.

==See also==
* [[Philosophes]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Becker, Carl L. ''The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers.'' (932)
* Buchan, James. ''Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Crowded-Genius-Scottish-Enlightenment-Edinburghs/dp/006055889X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230458920&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
*Buck-Morss, Susan. ''Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History.'' Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009.
* Burns, William. ''Science in the Enlightenment: An Encyclopedia'' (2003) 353pp
* Cassirer, Ernst. ''The Philosophy of the Enlightenment.'' 1955. a highly influential study by a neoKantian philosopher [http://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Enlightenment-Ernst-Cassirer/dp/0691019630/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1 excerpt and text search]
* Chisick, Harvey. ''Historical Dictionary of the Enlightenment.'' 2005. 512 pp
* Delon, Michel. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (2001) 1480pp
* Fitzpatrick, Martin et al., eds. ''The Enlightenment World.'' (2004). 714pp; 39 essays by scholars [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107997736# online edition]
* Gay, Peter. ''The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism'' (1966, 2nd ed. 1995), 952 pp; [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Rise-Modern-Paganism/dp/0393313026/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198758253&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search vol 1]; ''The Enlightenment: The Science of Freedom,'' (1969 2nd ed. 1995), a highly influential study [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Science-Freedom-Peter-Gay/dp/0393313662/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198758253&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search vol 2];
* Goodman, Dena. ''The Republic of Letters: A Cultural History of the French Enlightenment'' (1994) 338 pp [http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-republic-of-letters-a-cultural-history-of-the-french-enlightenment-by-dena-goodman.jsp online edition]
* Hazard, Paul. ''European thought in the eighteenth century: From Montesquieu to Lessing'' (1965)
* Himmelfarb, Gertrude. ''The Roads to Modernity: The British, French, and American Enlightenments.'' 2004. 272 pp. by a leading conservative scholar
* Imhof, Ulrich. ''The Enlightenment.'' 1994. 310 pp.
* Israel, Jonathan, ''Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750.'' Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2001.
* Kors, Alan Charles. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (4 vol. 1990; 2nd ed. 2003), 1984pp [http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Enlightenment-4-vol-set/dp/0195104307/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; also [http://www.oxfordreference.com/pub/views/home.html complete text online at www.oxfordreference.com] by a leading conservative scholar
* May, Henry F. ''The Enlightenment in America.'' 1976. 419 pp.
*Nesbitt, Nick. ''Universal Emancipation: The Haitian Revolution and the Radical Enlightenment.'' Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008.
* Outram, Dorinda. ''The Enlightenment''(1995) 157pp [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-New-Approaches-European-History/dp/0521425344/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753098&sr=1-27 excerpt and text search]
* Porter, Roy. ''The Enlightenment'' (2nd ed. 2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Second-Studies-European-History/dp/0333945050/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753098&sr=1-30 excerpt and text search]
* Porter, Roy. ''The Creation of the Modern World: The Untold Story of the British Enlightenment.'' 2000. 608 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Creation-Modern-World-British-Enlightenment/dp/0393322688/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198753023&sr=1-13 excerpt and text search]
* Reid-Maroney, Nina. ''Philadelphia's Enlightenment, 1740-1800: Kingdom of Christ, Empire of Reason.'' 2001. 199 pp.
* Reill, Peter Hanns, and Wilson, Ellen Judy. ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment.'' (2nd ed. 2004). 670 pp.
* Staloff, Darren. ''Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment and the American Founding.'' 2005. 419 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Adams-Jefferson-Politics-Enlightenment/dp/080905356X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198752935&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Till, Nicholas. ''Mozart and the Enlightenment: Truth, Virtue, and Beauty in Mozart's Operas.'' 1993. 384 pp.
* Yolton, John W. et al. ''The Blackwell Companion to the Enlightenment.'' 1992. 581 pp.

===Primary sources===
* Broadie, Alexander, ed. ''The Scottish Enlightenment: An Anthology'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Scottish-Enlightenment-Anthology-Canongate-Classics/dp/0862417384/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230458920&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]
* Jacob, Margaret C. ''The Enlightenment: Brief History with Documents'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-History-Documents-Bedford-Culture/dp/0312237014/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-16 excerpt and text search]
* Williams, David, ed. ''The Enlightenment'' (Cambridge Readings in the History of Political Thought) (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Cambridge-Readings-History-Political/dp/0521564905/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198743087&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]

[[category:Enlightenment]]
[[category:Philosophy]]
[[category:European History]]