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Enlightenment Writers in Europe. The era of Russian Enlightenment and literature of the XVIII century

Enlightenment Writers in Europe. The era of Russian Enlightenment and literature of the XVIII century

09.03.2019

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Introduction

Chapter I Literature of the Age of Enlightenment

1.1 Characteristics of the literature of the Enlightenment

1.2 Literature of England

Chapter II English Enlightenment Writers

2.1 Jonathan Swift

2.2 Daniel Defoe

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

In the history of European society, the 18th century is known as the Age of Enlightenment. Enlightenment figures were not only writers, but also philosophers, political thinkers. The literature of the Enlightenment grows out of the classicism of the 17th century, inheriting its rationalism, the idea of the educational function of literature, attention to the interaction of man and society. Compared with the literature of the previous century, a significant democratization of the hero takes place in enlightenment literature, which corresponds to the general direction of enlightenment thought. The direction of enlightenment realism was successfully developed in England. So, the "age of Reason" became the time of creation of outstanding English writers - D. Defoe and J. Swift.

Defoe - the most complete ideologist of the middle bourgeoisie, expresses its desires and the idea that it has about itself and about its place in the state. And Swift caustically ridicules modern English society.

The purpose of the study of this control course work is to reveal and show the features of the works of English writers of the 18th century on the example of the work of Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift.

Tasks - to assess the level of development of the literature of this period and trace its stages. Consider the most prominent representatives.

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1.1 Characteristicska literature of the Enlightenment

The ideological movement, called the Enlightenment, spread to European countries in the 18th century. It was imbued with the spirit of struggle against all generations and manifestations of feudalism. Enlighteners put forward and defended the ideas of social progress, equality, free development of the individual.

Enlighteners proceeded from the belief that a person is born kind, endowed with a sense of beauty, justice and equal to all other people. An imperfect society, its cruel laws are contrary to human, "natural" nature. Therefore, it is necessary for a person to remember about his high destiny on earth, to appeal to his mind - and then he himself will understand what is good and what is evil, he himself will be able to answer for his actions, for his life. It is only important to enlighten people, to influence their consciousness.

The Enlighteners believed in the omnipotence of the mind, but for them this category was filled with a deeper meaning. Reason was only to contribute to the reorganization of the whole society.

The future was presented to the Enlighteners as the "kingdom of the mind." That is why they attached great importance to science, establishing the "cult of knowledge", the "cult of the book". It is characteristic that it was in the 18th century that the famous French Encyclopedia was published in 28 volumes. It promoted new views on nature, man, society, art.

Writers, poets, playwrights of the 18th century sought to prove that not only science, but also art can contribute to the re-education of people worthy of living in a future harmonious society, which should again be built according to the laws of reason.

The enlightenment movement originated in England (Daniel Defoe "Robinson Crusoe", Jonathan Swift "Gulliver's Travels", the great Scottish poet Robert Burns). Then the ideas of the Enlightenment began to spread throughout Europe. In France, for example, Voltaire, Rousseau, Beaumarchais are among the enlighteners, in Germany - Lessing, Goethe, Schiller.

Enlightenment ideals also existed in Russian literature. They were reflected in the work of many authors of the 18th century, but most clearly in Fonvizin, Radishchev.

In the depths of the Enlightenment, new tendencies appeared, foreshadowing the emergence of sentimentalism. Attention to the feelings, experiences of a common person is increasing, moral values are being affirmed. So, above we mentioned Rousseau as one of the representatives of the Age of Enlightenment. But he was also the author of the novel New Eloise”, which is rightfully considered the pinnacle of European sentimentalism.

The humanistic ideas of the Enlightenment found a peculiar expression in German literature, where a literary movement arose, known as the Storm and Onslaught. Supporters of this movement resolutely rejected the classicist norms that fettered the creative individuality of the writer.

They championed ideas national identity literature, demanded the depiction of strong passions, heroic deeds, vivid characters, and at the same time developed new methods psychological analysis. Such, in particular, was the work of Goethe and Schiller.

The literature of the Enlightenment took a step forward both in the theoretical understanding of the goals and objectives of art, and in artistic practice. New genres appear: the novel of education, philosophical stories, family drama. More attention began to be paid to moral values, the assertion of the self-consciousness of the human person. All this became an important stage in the history of literature and art.

Enlightenment classicism was quite widespread in the literature of this era. Its largest representatives in poetry and drama, and especially in the tragic genre, was Voltaire. had a great

the meaning of "Weimar classicism" is its theoretical principles were vividly embodied in Schiller's poems and in Goethe's Iorigenia and Tauris. Enlightenment realism was also prevalent. Its representatives were Diderot, Lessing, Goethe, Defoe, Swift.

1.2 Literature of England

By the beginning of the XVIII century. England came after the bourgeois revolution of the middle of the 17th century, the trial of King Charles I and his execution, the regime of the bourgeois military dictatorship of Cromwell, the restoration of the Stuart monarchy and the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688-1689, which placed William III of Orange and Queen Mary on the throne . Thus, due to historical reasons, having survived in the 17th century. two bourgeois revolutions, England found itself at the origins of the European Enlightenment. It is customary to date the beginning of the English Enlightenment as the year of the Glorious Revolution.

Enlightenment in England was of a moderate nature, because its task was not to prepare a new revolution, but to redistribute political power in favor of the bourgeoisie. The limited monarchy established after the Glorious Revolution was revered in the country as the most advanced state system, the private shortcomings of which supposedly could be eradicated with the help of reasonable reforms. The "Glorious Revolution" accelerated the development of capitalism, created the prerequisites for the great industrial revolution mid-eighteenth V.

The ideological currents of the English Enlightenment were heterogeneous. Some writers sharply criticized the remnants of feudalism and the vices of bourgeois reality (Swift, Fielding, Smollett, Sheridan), other authors adhered to an apologetic (Addison, Steele, Defoe) or moderate (Richardson) position, hoping with the help of good-natured satire and moral and religious instructions to instill in people civic feelings and thereby improve the moral climate in society. In the literature of the English Enlightenment, periods are distinguished: early (until the 1730s), mature, covering the 1740s - 1750s, and late, stretching from the 1760s to the 1790s. The leading genres of English early enlightenment literature were the poem, tragedy, comedy, and essay. The socio-political events of this period contributed to the expansion of the readership, the birth of new genres, for example, the “ballad opera” (“The Beggar’s Opera” by J. Gay), such genre varieties as the theoretical and aesthetic poem A, Pope’s “Experience on Criticism”, satirical moral essays by Addison and Steele.

National originality of English Enlightenment classicism in comparison with the "high" French classicism of the 17th century. was explained by its different ideological content and the mitigation of classicist normativity, which was due to the development of English philosophical and scientific thought, interest in national traditions, adherence to concepts that undermine the role of rationality in creative process. In the first third of the XVIII century. Enlightenment classicism occupied a dominant position in English literature. He actively opposed the Baroque, accumulated elements of Rococo at the genre level, and at the same time could enter into a synthesis with Enlightenment realism, which was gaining momentum. The division into elitist and democratic, characteristic of early enlightenment literature, was reflected in his work by J. Lillo, who stood at the origins of European petty-bourgeois drama. He made an attempt to democratize the genre of classic tragedy. In his dramas, the main characters were representatives of the bourgeois-commercial circles of society. Lillo instructively glorified the bourgeois virtues: work, moderation, frugality, self-control. Comedy in its various genre varieties was widely spread in the early enlightenment literature. In Steele's moralizing ("tearful") comedies, with their happy ending, one can see the desire to smooth out the internal contradictions of the system that was established after the "Glorious Revolution". It is no coincidence that in "Conscientious Lovers" (1722), the marriage of the aristocrat Beville to the daughter of the merchant Sealand symbolizes a compromise between two social groups. The Beggar's Opera by D. Gay (1728) was a satiric-political comedy in which street ballads were skillfully used for malicious criticism of the bourgeois order, and the corrupt mechanism of the state apparatus was reflected in the events that take place in the world of criminals. At the insistence of R. Walpole, who recognized himself in the image of one of the heroes, King George II forbade the staging of the continuation of the Beggar's Opera - Polly (1729). The satirical denunciation of the ruling regime in the farces of G. Fielding and the anonymous play "The Golden Tail" served as a direct reason for the adoption in 1737 of the Censorship Act, according to which theaters could exist only on the basis of a royal license, plays were to be subject to prior censorship by the Lord Chamberlain, they could not discuss political problems and do actors statesmen. All theaters in London were closed except Drury Lane and Covent Garden. Significant damage was done to the development of dramaturgy. The novel moved to the forefront of English literature.

In this period enlightenment realism reaches its peak, gradually displacing Enlightenment classicism from its leading positions. Mature enlightenment realism is represented by Richardson's epistolary novels, which laid the foundation for the genre of family psychological novel, Fielding's "comic epics", and Smollett's social novels. The philosophical basis for Enlightenment realism was empirical metaphysical materialism. None of the English novelists adhered to the framework of any one philosophical and ethical doctrine. Fielding's theory of Shaftesbury collided with the teachings of Mandeville, Richardson, in the polemic between Mandeville and Shaftesbury, took the side of the latter, while developing Locke's concepts. Smollett relied on Mandeville and Locke.

The general basis for the entire educational novel was Locke's thesis, according to which the fate of a person depends on himself ("Some Thoughts on Education"). At the same time, Richardson's preaching of the triumph of reason over passions, Fielding's rehabilitation of earthly sensual nature were connected with the preaching of bourgeois progress, with the desire to eliminate social vices. It turned out that new social conditions did not always coincide with the interests of the individual. All this led to the critical moderation of Richardson's novels, Fielding's gentle humor, Smollett's dark satire.

The literature of the late Enlightenment is characterized by the intensive development of the sentimental trend, the origins of which go back to the landscape lyrics of the 1730s (J. Thomson. "The Seasons", 1726 - 1730). The term "sentimental" in relation to literature appeared in 1749, but became widespread after the publication of "Sentimental Journey" by L. Stern (1768). By the beginning of the 1730s, many had dispelled the illusion of a happy life, which they dreamed of after the Glorious Revolution. Further fencing of land and the ruin of the peasantry, the destruction of protected natural areas for the construction of enterprises, the consequences of the industrial revolution, which aggravated social stratification society and led to the impoverishment of the peasantry and artisans - all this made one doubt the principles of rational behavior. Turn to the world of feelings specific person was accompanied by criticism of the bourgeois order and feudal remnants. The lyrical works of the early sentimentalist poets are characterized by heightened sensitivity, a tendency to contemplation, to reflections in the bosom of nature, and the poeticization of death. "Cemetery Poetry" by E. Jung, T. Gray, D. Harvey, R. Blair is filled with religious mysticism, melancholic moods, sorrow for the frailty of everything that exists, longing for loved ones who have gone to another world, the memory of them, confirming their immortality. In the works of late sentimentalists, social protest (O. Goldsmith, W. Cooper, D. Crabbe) and interest in ordinary people are intensified. In their novels, O. Goldsmith, L. Stern, G. Brook, G. Mackenzie and others relied on the ethical concepts of D. Hume, who proposed to subordinate morality not to reason, but to sensitivity. Late sentimentalists emphatically strive to show the complexity of the "human nature" of the individual, the versatility of his spiritual experiences, the origins of his eccentricities and oddities. Their ideal is a patriarchal life in the bosom of nature with its simplicity of manners.

In the 1960s and 1980s, educational tendencies were preserved most of all in poetry - by Robert Burns, as well as in the genre of realistic satirical comedy, the largest representative of which in the 70s was R. Sheridan. In the second half of the XVIII century. socio-economic shifts, social trends, the search for new aesthetic guidelines, opposite to the classic ones, contributed to the formation of pre-romanticism as a literary trend. In E. Burke's treatise "A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" (1757), in Pope's "Experience on Genius" and his Writings (1756-1782) by J. Wharton, in "Letters on Chivalry and Medieval Romances » (1762) R. Hurd drew attention to the aesthetic categories ("terrible", "original", "picturesque"), destroying the classicist concept of beauty, based on symmetry and harmony. Spencer, Shakespeare, Milton, as imaginative poets, pushed the classicists into the background with their reliance on reason. At this time, interest in the national past is actively reviving. In 1765, the well-known folklorist T. Percy published the collection “Monuments of Old English Poetry”, which included folk ballads (historical, from the Robin Hood cycle, etc.), drawing them from old manuscripts and his notes, as well as lyrics Elizabethans.

Ideas of the Great French Revolution 1789-1794 had a huge impact on English philosophical and social thought. Correspondent societies were created in the country, which published mass literature in the form of leaflets and brochures. However, they were soon dispersed, many of their members were arrested. William Godwin (1756 - 1836), who believed in reason and philanthropy, in the treatise "Discourse on Political Justice" (1793) called for the destruction of private property and at the same time separated a person from society. In Things as They Are, or The Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794), Godwin to a certain extent departed from his idea of human asociality, showing the tragic loneliness of his hero. The farmer's son Caleb, who served with a Falkland aristocrat, seeks his conviction for the murder of the landowner Tyrrel and for sending two innocent people to the gallows, attributing his crime to them. However, Falkland's death shook Caleb's conviction of the legitimacy of his decisive actions. The plot intrigue developed according to the laws of the "Gothic" novel, but the sharp denunciation of class inequality, feudal remnants saturated it with social content and made it one of the forerunners of the realistic novel of the 19th century.

ChapterII"English writers of the Enlightenment"

2.1 Jonathan Swift

Swift began his creative activity at the turn of the two centuries, when the extremely diverse experience of English literature of the 17th century. began to be rethought in the light of emerging enlightenment ideas. Swift was a contemporary and partly belonged to the great social movement called the Enlightenment.

Under the influence of the writer-essayist Temple, the foundations of Swift's worldview were formed. In philosophical and religious questions, he shared Montaigne's skepticism in the Anglican interpretation, emphasizing the weakness, limitations and deceptiveness of the human mind; his ethical doctrine was reduced to Anglican rationalism with the requirement of strict ordering of feelings, their subordination to common sense. At the heart of his historical ideas was the idea of historical variability.

Swift's journalistic activity in defense of Ireland was accompanied by a creative upsurge, which resulted in the creation of Gulliver's Travels (1721-1725). This work is the highest achievement of the author, prepared by all his previous activities. Gulliver's Travels is one of the most complex, cruel and torturous books of mankind. One might even say one of the most controversial books. In the fourth part of Gulliver's Travels, Swift seems to express his hatred of humanity. To agree that this is the only conclusion from his book is to put him in the camp of the enemies of humanism and progress.

Swift's book is connected by many threads with his modernity. It is teeming with allusions to the topic of the day. In each of the parts of Gulliver's Travels, no matter how far the action takes place, England is directly or indirectly reflected in front of us, English affairs are resolved by analogy or contrast. But the power of Swift's satire lies in the fact that specific facts, characters and situations acquire a universal meaning, turn out to be valid for all times and peoples.

To understand this, we must consider Swift's book in the atmosphere of the time that gave birth to it. 17th century writers could not show humanity the path it was to follow. They did not know such a path and did not believe in its existence, therefore they are only capable of fantastic constructions. This direction and the pessimistic spirit of Swift's satire were a direct legacy of the 17th century.

The main theme of "Gulliver's Travels" is the variability of the external appearance of the world of nature and man, represented by the fantastic and fabulous environment that Gulliver finds himself in during his wanderings. The changing face of fantastic countries emphasizes, in accordance with Swift's intention, the immutability of the inner essence of mores and customs, which is expressed by the same circle of ridiculed vices. Introducing fabulous motifs narrative in their own artistic function, Swift does not limit himself to it, but expands its significance through parody, on the basis of which the satirical grotesque is built. Parody always presupposes the moment of imitation of a previously known model and thereby draws its source into the sphere of action. Double artistic function fiction - entertaining and grotesque parody - is developed by Swift in line with ancient and humanistic tradition through plot parallels, which constitute a special layer of sources of Gulliver's Travels. In accordance with this tradition, the plot is grouped around the scheme of a fictional journey. As for Gulliver, his image is based on the English prose of the 17th century, in which the narratives of travelers of the era of great geographical discoveries are widely represented. From the descriptions of sea voyages, Swift borrowed an adventure flavor that gave the work the illusion of visible reality. This illusion is also increased because in appearance between the midgets and giants, on the one hand, and Gulliver himself and his world, on the other hand, there is an exact ratio of greatness. Quantitative relationships are supported by the qualitative differences that Swift establishes between the mental and moral level of Gulliver, his consciousness and, accordingly, the consciousness of Lilliputians, Brobdingnezhians, Yahoo and Houyhnhnms. The angle of view from which Gulliver sees the next country of his wanderings is precisely established in advance: it is determined by how much its inhabitants are higher or lower than Gulliver in mental or moral attitude. The illusion of credibility serves as a camouflage for the irony of the author, who imperceptibly puts masks on Gulliver, depending on the tasks of satire. The fairy-tale plot, combined with the believable adventure flavor of the sea voyage, form the constructive basis of Gulliver's Travels. This includes an autobiographical moment - family stories and Swift's own impressions of an unusual adventure in his early childhood(At the age of one, he was secretly taken from Ireland to England by his nanny and lived there for almost three years). This is the superficial layer of the narrative that allowed Gulliver's Travels to become a reference book for children's reading. However storylines plots, being an allegory of generalized satire, combine many semantic elements designed exclusively for an adult reader - hints, puns, parodies - into a single composition representing Swift's laughter in the widest range - from a joke to "severe indignation".

The disclosure of the most important social contradictions in the novel is carried out in a generalized image of the state, penetrating all four parts of the work. England and - wider Europe appears before us in several dimensions, in different plans. So, the tiny inhabitants of Lilliputia, the ugly inhabitants of Laputa and the disgusting Yahoos from the country of the Houyhnhnms are fantastically and satirically transformed Europeans, the embodiment of the incurable vices of society. Comparing and playing with creatures of different sizes gives the author the opportunity to show a person from an unusual point of view and reveal new aspects of his nature. If you look at a person through the eyes of midgets, he will seem huge, if through the eyes of giants, he will seem small. Everything depends on the point of view. Everything that claims to be absolute is compared with the insignificant and small. However, despite the small size of the Lilliputians, they have their own cities, customs, state, emperor, court, ministers. And, what is especially important, they had ancient wise establishments, which are gradually supplanted modern mores. Swift uses a materialized metaphor to show the servility and dexterity required to make a career in the Lilliputian court. It is necessary to train from childhood to dance on a tightrope. You must also show your dexterity in jumping over the stick held by the emperor, or crawling under it. The statement of power and greatness sounds comically from the lips of the Lilliputians and suggests the relativity of any power. The struggle between the two parties that exist at court - the party of high and low heels - serves to divert people's attention from the pressing issues of life. The party struggle is complemented by the depiction of religious strife. They are shown in the form of a struggle between blunt-pointed and pointed-pointed. Because of which end to break the egg, fanatics go to their deaths. Swift speaks here against religious bigotry and religious prejudice.

The intrigue that began against Gulliver is the first digression into the field of human nature, as it manifests itself in the field of politics. Gulliver not only protected the state from enemy invasion, but also saved the palace from fire, which the Lilliputians could not understand and appreciate. For inexplicable reasons, hatred for Gulliver is growing and something terrible is brewing behind his back. But if Gulliver's enemies offer to kill him, then a friend offers a humane measure - gouge out his eyes. He believes that this will satisfy justice and delight the whole world with his gentleness.

Swift's irony here reveals the squalor of good deeds that a friend is capable of, who does not break with the vile logic of the ruling order. The troublesome vanity of intrigue acquires the character of an empty and insignificant game among the Lilliputians. Lilliputians are vile, but their short stature symbolizes the pettiness and insignificance of their deeds - human deeds in general.

In the second part of the novel - the journey to Brobdingnag - everything turns upside down. The inhabitants of the country are giants. Swift continues to play with the size difference. Gulliver falls into the position of a midget. He himself looks like an insignificant creature, an animal, an insect. On the other hand, Gulliver's small stature and the correspondingly different aim of his eyes give him the opportunity to see what big people do not see, for example, unattractive sides. human body close.

The giants are shown in two ways. These are creatures of mighty dimensions, gross material beings, not ennobled by spirituality. Their great growth is combined with mental limitations, unpretentiousness and rudeness. But this does not exhaust the characteristics of the giants. The king and queen are big people, big not only physically, but also morally and intellectually.

The theme of England is introduced here differently than in the first part. The central place is occupied by Gulliver's conversations with the king. Gulliver acts like an average Englishman, with all his prejudices and unconscious cruelty. He wants to elevate his fatherland, portrays the political system as ideal, highlights everything that, in his opinion, can decorate this state. In response to this, the king is a man endowed with natural common sense noticed how insignificant human greatness is if such tiny insects can aspire to it. Swift expressed this idea by comparing the Lilliputians with Gulliver, and he repeats it by comparing Gulliver with the giants. The sober, sensible character of the king of giants seems very attractive to Swift. Swift appreciates and social system giants. Politics is not raised to the level of science. The king of giants is an opponent of state secrets, intrigues and sophistication. He believes that a man who has grown one grain is worth more than all politicians.

The third part of the book philosophically interprets the question of the relationship between science and life. Swift's art lies in the fact that he is able to express the most abstract and abstract things concretely and visually. Laputa Island soars in the sky. It is inhabited by noble people, representatives of the aristocracy. These people are deep in thought. Everything here is subordinated to science, abstract and speculative. The island is not just inhabited by scientists. He is a miracle of science, which is cut off from the people. Science is the property of the upper classes. The capital of the state itself and most of the villages are located on the land where the subjects live. When the inhabitants of one city rebelled, the flying island crushed the rebellion. The miracle of science is used against the people. All this is not just Swift's invention. He expressed in a witty and visual form the real contradiction of the old society - the separation of the people from culture and science. The inhabitants of the island of Laputa went into abstract spheres and were indifferent to real life, where ignorance and poverty flourished. On the ground, the Academy of searchlights was created, which is a society of half-knowers who are trying to make humanity happy with their naive discoveries. They demonstrate an inexhaustible supply of stupidity. Searchlights want to change everything just to change. None of their projects have been completed. They destroyed the old but did not create the new. Therefore, the country is in desolation and ruins. Swift develops a very deep thought here. He ridicules people who are obsessed with the mania to change everything, blind commitment to the new and the desire to destroy the old at any cost, people who stop halfway and do not complete their undertakings, who are busy with meaningless projects that do not follow from the requirements of life and to that is absolutely unfeasible. It is necessary to remake what is really bad, what life requires, and remake based on real grounds and real possibilities. Among the projectors there are people striving to improve society and correct its vices, for example, to find smart ministers, to stop the dissension of parties. Swift speaks of this with undisguised irony, viewing these attempts as equally hopeless and unfeasible projects.

The third part also deals with the question of the development of mankind - its historical and biological development, the movement of history, life and death. Getting to the island of Globdobdrib - the island of sorcerers and wizards, the whole history of mankind passes before Gulliver. Here he performs historical concept Swift. He has a deep respect for antiquity and its heroes. This respect develops into a kind of classicism. Comparison of ancient and modern history is necessary for Swift in order to show the degradation and decline of mankind. Oppression, bribery, perfidy, betrayal - that's what accompanied the birth of a new civilized society. The concept of human development, which Swift expounds, emphasizes, first of all, the contradictions of this development, the final decline of the human race. It opposes the optimistic concept of the Enlightenment, which portrays the historical process as the victory of light over darkness.

The third part of the novel ends with a visit to the eastern countries. The absurdity and cruelty of court life appears in it in especially frank forms. A special group of people in this country are the struldbrugs, or immortals. The description of these people, as it were, echoes resurrection of the dead, which took place on the island of sorcerers and wizards. Longevity is the dream of every person. Gulliver was delighted with this idea. He believes that eternal life can give a person experience and wisdom, that the wealth of life experience that the immortal accumulates will prevent the decline and degeneration of mankind. But everything happens the other way around.

Man cannot hope for eternal youth. And the strulbrugs turn out to be eternal old men. They are deprived of natural feelings and hardly understand the language of the new generation. Greedy and greedy, they want to seize power, and since they are not capable of governing, they can only lead the state to death. This chapter tells about the biological and social degradation of man and the impotence of science to find recipes for his salvation.

"Gulliver's Travels" captured the period when bourgeois relations were thoroughly strengthened in all spheres of public life, and Swift's novel, by its construction, conveys their relative immobility. The circumstances in this satirical work have only one direction of development, which is expressed in the expansion and deepening of the sphere of evil. Life, all living things seem to be devoid of movement: under the deep cover of this inviolability, the tragedy of the lonely Gulliver is growing. But the social relations themselves, the structure of society, have frozen dead. It is no coincidence that Gulliver over the years of his wanderings did not notice any changes for the better in home country. Time stopped. Or, to be more precise: time moves in a direction hostile to man. A tragic time that did not portend genuine and tangible progress. Therefore, Swift's satire is tragic in its vital basis and in its artistic essence.

Swift's novel "Gulliver's Travels" is on the main thoroughfare literary development. Its outstanding significance is determined primarily by the formulation and solution of the most complex and important socio-philosophical problems that worried European society in the 18th century, as well as in later times. The role of Swift's satire is so great that not only Swift's contemporaries W. Gay, J. Arbuthnot, but also the largest English writers other generations somehow accepted the lessons of the author of "Gulliver's Travels" and were under his influence.

2.2 Daniel Defoe

The harsh school of life that Defoe went through, his vigorous versatile activity, and the richest journalistic experience prepared the birth of Defoe the novelist. The writer was 59 years old when he published his first and most remarkable novel, which glorified his name for centuries. It was The Life and Strange, Wonderful Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Sailor of York, as Described by Himself (1719).

Defoe's book appeared on the crest of a powerful wave of travel literature that swept England at that time - authentic and fictional reports of circumnavigations, memoirs, diaries, travel notes of successful merchants and famous sailors. However, no matter how diverse and numerous the sources of "Robinson Crusoe" were, both in form and in content, the novel was a deeply innovative phenomenon. Having creatively assimilated the experience of his predecessors, relying on his own journalistic experience, Defoe created an original work of art that organically combined an adventurous beginning with an imaginary documentary, the traditions of the memoir genre with the features of a philosophical parable.

The idea of "Robinson Crusoe" was prompted by Defoe by a real incident: in 1704, the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, having quarreled with the captain of the ship, landed on an unfamiliar shore with a small supply of provisions and weapons, and for more than four years led a hermit life on the island of Juan Fernandez in pacific ocean until he was picked up by a passing ship under the command of Woodes Rogers. Defoe could get acquainted with the history of Selkirk from the book by Rogers "Sailing around the world" (1712) and from Steele's essay in the magazine "The Englishman" (1713).

This story served the writer as a starting point for a detailed artistic narrative, imbued with the poetry of travel and adventure, and at the same time containing a deep socio-philosophical meaning. Having forced his hero to live twenty-eight years away from civilization, Defoe carried out an enlightening experiment on "human nature", subjected it to a kind of test, sought to clarify for himself and his readers the decisive factors for human survival in this emergency.

In the island episode of the novel, this heroic chronicle of Robinson's "works and days", the author poeticized the history of man's centuries-old struggle for existence, glorified the indestructible power of his thought, knowing and conquering nature, glorified the element of free creative labor. Labor and hard work of thought help the hero not only to survive, but also not to run wild, not to fall into madness, to preserve his human appearance. It is the work and creative activity of the mind that, according to the writer, form the basis for the transformation of the world and the spiritual elevation of man.

Defoe embodied in the novel a typical enlightenment concept of the history of human society. The life of his hero on the island in a generalized, schematic form repeats the path of mankind from barbarism to civilization: first, Robinson is a hunter and fisherman, then a cattle breeder, farmer, artisan, slave owner. Later, with the advent of other people on the island, he becomes the founder of a colony arranged in the spirit of Locke's "social contract".

At the same time, it is important to emphasize that Defoe's hero, from the very beginning of his stay on the island, is not a "natural", but a civilized person, not the starting point of history, but the product of a long historical development, an individual, only temporarily placed in a "natural state": he armed with the labor skills and experience of his people and successfully uses the equipment, tools and other material values found on the wrecked ship. Cut off from society by the will of circumstances, does Robinson never for a moment cease to feel like a particle of it, remains a social being and considers his loneliness as the gravest? from the trials that fell to his lot. Unlike Rousseau and the Rousseauists (who built their ideal of "natural man" not without looking at the "island robinsonade") Defoe never doubted the advantages of civilization over the primitive state and was a staunch supporter of material and technical progress.

Robinson is a hard worker, but at the same time he is "an exemplary English merchant." His entire mindset is characteristic of the British bourgeois of the early 18th century. He does not disdain either plantation or the slave trade and is ready to go to the ends of the world, driven not so much by the restless spirit of quest as by the thirst for enrichment. He is frugal and practical, diligently accumulating material values. The possessive streak is also manifested in the hero's attitude to nature: he describes the exotically beautiful corner of the earth, into which fate has thrown him, as a zealous owner, compiling a register of his property.

Robinson even builds his relationship with God on the principle of a business contract, in which "good" and "evil", like profit and loss items, balance each other with accounting accuracy. As befits a bourgeois puritan, Defoe's hero willingly turns to the Bible, and in difficult times appeals to God. However, in general, his religiosity is very moderate. The sensualist-practitioner of the Locke school, accustomed to relying in everything on experience and common sense, constantly triumphs in him over the puritan-mystic, who hopes for the goodness of providence.

Interesting in the novel are Robinson's conversations with Friday about religion: the "natural man" Friday, anticipating Voltaire's "Innocent", with his naive questions, easily confounds Robinson, who intended to convert him to Christianity.

Revealing in detail in the novel the relationship between Robinson and Friday saved by him from cannibals, Defoe seeks to emphasize the noble civilizing mission of the English bourgeoisie. In his depiction, Robinson, although he turns the young savage into a humble servant, nevertheless treats him gently and humanely, introduces him to the blessings of spiritual and material culture and finds in him a grateful and capable student. Clearly idealizing the image of Robinson, the author, as it were, teaches a lesson to the European colonizers and slave traders, teaches them humane treatment of the natives, condemns the barbaric methods of conquering wild tribes.

Defoe's hero unexpectedly turns out to be a student of the enlightening philosophy of the 18th century: he is a cosmopolitan and grants the Spaniards equal rights with the British in his colony, he professes religious tolerance, respects human dignity even in "savages" and is himself filled with a proud consciousness of personal superiority over all the autocrats of the earth. "Robinson Crusoe" is connected by many threads with the philosophical ideas of John Locke: in essence, the entire "island robinsonade" and the history of the robinson colony in the novel sound like a fictional transcription of Locke's treatises on government. The very theme of the island, which is out of contact with society, was already used by Locke in his philosophical writings two decades before Defoe.

Defoe is also close to Locke's educational ideas about the role of labor in the history of the human race and the formation of an individual. It was not for nothing that Rousseau called Defoe's novel "the most successful treatise on natural education" and gave him the most honorable place in the library of his young hero ("Emile, or On Education", 1762). The ingenuous story of how Robinson built his hut, how he burned the first jug, how he grew bread and tamed goats, how he built and launched a boat, continues to excite the imagination of readers of all ages for almost three centuries. It has not lost its enormous educational value for children and youth to this day.

The exclusivity of the situation in which Defoe put his hero, removing him from the world of money and placing him in the world of work, allowed the author to most clearly highlight in the character of Robinson those qualities that are manifested in free from commercial calculations, universal in its essence, creative, creative activities. The pathos of knowledge and conquest of nature, the triumph of free human labor, reason, energy and the will to live give Defoe's book an extraordinary freshness, poetry and persuasiveness, constitute the secret of its charm and the guarantee of its immortality.

The extraordinary success of the novel prompted the author to immediately take up its continuation. Thus appeared The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719), and then Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe, with his Vision of the Angelic World (1720). And by ideological content, and in terms of artistic performance, both parts are noticeably inferior to the first. The second book describes the hero's journey to India, China and Siberia. He visits his island, where he completes the establishment of an "ideal" colony. Robinson appears in this part as "an exemplary English merchant". Didactic "Serious Reflections" - typical for literature of the 17th - 18th centuries. an attempt to explain the deep, allegorical content of the previous parts. Robinson sets out in detail here his ethical, religious-philosophical and literary views.

The works of Defoe that followed Robinson Crusoe are exceptionally diverse in their genre nature: here are adventure novels that continue the traditions of the picaresque genre - Moll Flanders (1722), Colonel Jack (1722), Roxanne (1724), and the marine adventure novel "Captain Singleton" (1720), and the diary novel "The Diary of a Plague Year" (1722), and, finally, memoir novels, which are a distant prototype of the historical novel - "Memoirs of a Cavalier" (1720), " Memoirs of an English Officer, Captain George Carlton" (1728).

All Defoe's novels are written in the form of memoirs, diaries or autobiographies. The unusual gift of reincarnation allows the writer to act on behalf of a thief, a prostitute, a pirate. Almost all of his heroes are criminals, almost all of them are orphans and foundlings with no memory of kinship. Captain Singleton, the head of a pirate gang, was stolen as a child, Moll Flanders was born in Newgate Prison and roams all the dens and slums of England, "Colonel" Jack spends the night in glass-blowing ovens as a homeless boy, begins to steal for a piece of bread, and at the end of the novel becomes a planter -slave owner. Heroes lead a desperate struggle for existence, not shunning any means. Defoe traces them life path from infancy to old age, shows them in clashes with the cruel world, reveals the influence of the environment on their characters and destinies, and comes to the conclusion that society is the true culprit of their crimes.

Of particular interest among Defoe's crime stories is The Joys and Sorrows of the famous Moll Flenders, who was born in Newgate Prison and during her six decades of varied life (not counting childhood) was a kept woman for twelve years, married five times (of which once to her brother), a thief for twelve years, an exile in Virginia for eight years; but in the end she got rich, began to live honestly and died in repentance. Written from her own notes. Before the reader passes a life full of ups and downs, successes and failures. The daughter of a thief, who grew up among criminals, brought up at the expense of the parish, Moll suffered many sorrows and humiliations from an early age. Beautiful, smart, energetic, she stubbornly strives to "break out into the people." The poverty and heartlessness of those around her become the main reason for her moral decline and in the end turn her into a predator who enthusiastically enters into the struggle of all against all. Gorky gave a remarkable description of the realistic image of Moll in his lectures on the history of Russian literature: “Moll Flanders is depicted as a drunken, angry, rude person who does not believe in anything, deceitful, cunning, but at the same time you clearly see in her all the feelings of a citizen free country ... you see that before you is a person who knows his own worth, a person who perfectly understands the degree of his personal guilt and the guilt of society, which forced her to live by selling her body - in a word, the author does not forget for a moment that before him is the victim of an ugly social order, he condemns her because Moll did not resist stubbornly enough, but he condemns society even more sharply for this victory over a woman.

The fate of a lonely woman, making her way upstairs, is also dedicated to Defoe's novel "Roxanne". The heroine of Defoe is an adventurer and courtesan, she rotates in various social circles, wanders around Europe, shines in Paris under Louis XIV and in London salons during the Restoration. At a time when Roxanne, having destroyed, as it seems to her, all traces of her dark past, is preparing to retire and live the rest of her days in contentment, she unexpectedly meets her own daughter, once abandoned by her. An enmity flares up between them, and for the sake of profit, the mother becomes an unspoken accomplice in the murder of her daughter. In terms of drama and psychological persuasiveness, "Roxanne" significantly surpasses the previous works of the writer.

Defoe entered the history of literature as the creator of the first remarkable examples of the epic of private life, as the initiator of the educational realistic novel. He was the first to be able to see the hero of his time in the merchant and vagabond, the glorious "sailor from York", to reveal within the framework of a separate destiny the richness and diversity of real life, to give a deeply faithful and impressive portrait of an age possessed by the spirit of entrepreneurship and practical life activity. Defoe wrote for the widest audience and was truly folk writer not only in content but also in form. The lively and direct manner of narration, the simple and artless language of Defoe's novels were close and understandable to millions of readers. Defoe's masterpiece "Robinson Crusoe" to late XVIII centuries in England alone withstood about 700 editions and was translated into almost all European languages. Defoe's name has become an integral part of the history of world democratic culture.

Conclusion

The main artistic language of the Enlightenment was classicism, inherited from the 17th century. This style corresponded to the rationalistic nature of enlightenment thinking and its high moral principles. Defending the democratic direction of art, the enlighteners introduced a new hero, the commoner, into literature as a positive image, they sang and glorified his work, his morality, they portrayed his suffering sympathetically and penetratingly. They glorified the power of the human mind, called to the judgment of reason the ideology and state institutions of feudalism. Everything that did not meet the principle of rationality, that did not contribute to the well-being of the people, was condemned by them for destruction. In the course of the study, the goal set at the beginning of the work was achieved. The biographies of the authors, their creative path and features of their most famous novels - "Gulliver's Travels" and "Robinson Crusoe" were studied. As it turned out, Robinson's success exceeded Defoe's expectations. He turned out to be the creator of the English realistic novel, the creator of a new literary genre that flourished so magnificently during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Gulliver's Travels is a satirical philosophical and political novel at an early stage in the development of educational literature in England, when the genre of the novel is in the process of becoming.

Swift had a huge influence on the later English Enlightenment realists. Swiftian motifs run through all the work of Fielding, Smollett. Subsequently, Swift's genre of generalizing satire, based on the realistic use of science fiction, found brilliant successors in the person Saltykov-Shchedrin and Anatoly France.

Bibliography

1. Alenko E.M., Vasil'eva T.N. History of foreign literature of the XVIII century, M., "Higher School, Academy", 2001.

2. Artamanov S.D. History of foreign literature of the 17th - 18th centuries, M., Enlightenment, 1978.

3. Swift J. Gulliver's Travels. M., 1972.

4. Urnov D.M. Robinson and Gulliver. The fate of two literary heroes. M., 1973.

5. http://www.peoples.ru/

6. http://studentguide.ru/

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"English writers of the Enlightenment"

Jonathan Swift

Under the influence of the writer-essayist Temple, the foundations of Swift's worldview were formed. In philosophical and religious questions, he shared Montaigne's skepticism in the Anglican interpretation, emphasizing the weakness, limitations and deceptiveness of the human mind; his ethical teaching was reduced to Anglican rationalism with the requirement of strict ordering of feelings, their subordination to common sense. At the heart of his historical ideas was the idea of historical variability.

The main theme of "Gulliver's Travels" is the variability of the external appearance of the world of nature and man, represented by the fantastic and fabulous environment that Gulliver finds himself in during his wanderings. The changing face of fantastic countries emphasizes, in accordance with Swift's intention, the immutability of the inner essence of mores and customs, which is expressed by the same circle of ridiculed vices. Introducing fairy tale motifs in their own artistic function, Swift does not limit himself to it, but expands its significance through parody, on the basis of which the satirical grotesque is built. Parody always presupposes the moment of imitation of a previously known model and thereby draws its source into the sphere of action. The double artistic function of fiction - entertaining and grotesque parody - is developed by Swift in line with the ancient and humanistic tradition through plot parallels, which constitute a special layer of sources in Gulliver's Travels. In accordance with this tradition, the plot is grouped around the scheme of a fictional journey. As for Gulliver, his image is based on the English prose of the 17th century, in which the narratives of travelers of the era of great geographical discoveries are widely represented. From the descriptions of sea voyages, Swift borrowed an adventure flavor that gave the work the illusion of visible reality. This illusion is also increased because in appearance between the midgets and giants, on the one hand, and Gulliver himself and his world, on the other hand, there is an exact ratio of greatness. Quantitative relationships are supported by the qualitative differences that Swift establishes between the mental and moral level of Gulliver, his consciousness and, accordingly, the consciousness of Lilliputians, Brobdingnezhians, Yahoo and Houyhnhnms. The angle of view from which Gulliver sees the next country of his wanderings is precisely established in advance: it is determined by how much its inhabitants are higher or lower than Gulliver in mental or moral terms. The illusion of credibility serves as a camouflage for the irony of the author, who imperceptibly puts masks on Gulliver, depending on the tasks of satire. The fairy-tale plot, combined with the believable adventure flavor of the sea voyage, form the constructive basis of Gulliver's Travels. This includes an autobiographical moment - family stories and Swift's own impressions of an unusual adventure in his early childhood (at the age of one, he was secretly taken away by his nanny from Ireland to England and lived there for almost three years). This is the superficial layer of the narrative that allowed Gulliver's Travels to become a reference book for children's reading. However, the storylines of the plot, being an allegory of generalized satire, combine many semantic elements designed exclusively for an adult reader - hints, puns, parodies - into a single composition representing Swift's laughter in the widest range - from a joke to "severe indignation".

The disclosure of the most important social contradictions in the novel is carried out in a generalized image of the state, penetrating all four parts of the work. England and - wider Europe appears before us in several dimensions, in different plans. So, the tiny inhabitants of Lilliputia, the ugly inhabitants of Laputa and the disgusting Yahoos from the country of the Houyhnhnms are fantastically and satirically transformed Europeans, the embodiment of the incurable vices of society. Comparing and playing with creatures of different sizes gives the author the opportunity to show a person from an unusual point of view and reveal new aspects of his nature. If you look at a person through the eyes of midgets, he will seem huge, if through the eyes of giants, he will seem small. Everything depends on the point of view. Everything that claims to be absolute is compared with the insignificant and small. However, despite the small size of the Lilliputians, they have their own cities, customs, state, emperor, court, ministers. And, what is especially important, they had ancient wise regulations, which are gradually supplanted by modern mores. Swift uses a materialized metaphor to show the servility and dexterity required to make a career in the Lilliputian court. It is necessary to train from childhood to dance on a tightrope. You must also show your dexterity in jumping over the stick held by the emperor, or crawling under it. The statement of power and greatness sounds comically from the lips of the Lilliputians and suggests the relativity of any power. The struggle between the two parties that exist at court - the party of high and low heels - serves to divert people's attention from the pressing issues of life. The party struggle is complemented by the depiction of religious strife. They are shown in the form of a struggle between blunt-pointed and pointed-pointed. Because of which end to break the egg, fanatics go to their deaths. Swift speaks here against religious bigotry and religious prejudice.

Swift's irony here reveals the squalor of good deeds that a friend is capable of, who does not break with the vile logic of the ruling order. The troublesome vanity of intrigue acquires the character of an empty and insignificant game among the Lilliputians. Lilliputians are vile, but their small stature symbolizes the pettiness and insignificance of their deeds - human deeds in general.

In the second part of the novel - the journey to Brobdingnag - everything turns upside down. The inhabitants of the country are giants. Swift continues to play with the size difference. Gulliver falls into the position of a midget. He himself looks like an insignificant creature, an animal, an insect. On the other hand, Gulliver's small stature and, accordingly, a different sight of his eyes give him the opportunity to see what big people do not see, for example, the unattractive sides of the human body up close.

The theme of England is introduced here differently than in the first part. The central place is occupied by Gulliver's conversations with the king. Gulliver acts like an average Englishman, with all his prejudices and unconscious cruelty. He wants to elevate his fatherland, portrays the political system as ideal, highlights everything that, in his opinion, can decorate this state. In response to this, the king - a man endowed with natural common sense, remarked how insignificant human greatness is if such tiny insects can aspire to it. Swift expressed this idea by comparing the Lilliputians with Gulliver, and he repeats it by comparing Gulliver with the giants. The sober, sensible character of the king of giants seems very attractive to Swift. Swift positively assesses the social system of giants. Politics is not raised to the level of science. The king of giants is an opponent of state secrets, intrigues and sophistication. He believes that a man who has grown one grain is worth more than all politicians.

The third part also deals with the question of the development of mankind - its historical and biological development, the movement of history, life and death. Getting to the island of Globdobdrib - the island of sorcerers and wizards, the whole history of mankind passes before Gulliver. This is where Swift's historical concept comes into play. He has a deep respect for antiquity and its heroes. This respect develops into a kind of classicism. Comparison of ancient and modern history is necessary for Swift in order to show the degradation and decline of mankind. Oppression, bribery, perfidy, betrayal - that's what accompanied the birth of a new civilized society. The concept of human development, which Swift expounds, emphasizes, first of all, the contradictions of this development, the final decline of the human race. It opposes the optimistic concept of the Enlightenment, which portrays the historical process as the victory of light over darkness.

The third part of the novel ends with a visit to the eastern countries. The absurdity and cruelty of court life appears in it in especially frank forms. A special group of people in this country are the struldbrugs, or immortals. The description of these people, as it were, echoes the resurrection of the dead, which took place on the island of sorcerers and wizards. Longevity is the dream of every person. Gulliver was delighted with this idea. He believes that eternal life can give a person experience and wisdom, that the wealth of life experience that the immortal accumulates will prevent the decline and degeneration of mankind. But everything happens the other way around.

"Gulliver's Travels" captured the period when bourgeois relations were thoroughly strengthened in all spheres of public life, and Swift's novel, by its construction, conveys their relative immobility. The circumstances in this satirical work have only one direction of development, which is expressed in the expansion and deepening of the sphere of evil. Life, all living things seem to be devoid of movement: under the deep cover of this inviolability, the tragedy of the lonely Gulliver is growing. But the social relations themselves, the structure of society, have frozen dead. It is no coincidence that Gulliver did not notice any changes for the better in his native country over the years of his wanderings. Time stopped. Or, to be more precise: time moves in a direction hostile to man. A tragic time that did not portend genuine and tangible progress. Therefore, Swift's satire is tragic in its vital basis and in its artistic essence.

Swift's novel "Gulliver's Travels" is on the main highway of literary development. Its outstanding significance is determined primarily by the formulation and solution of the most complex and important socio-philosophical problems that worried European society in the 18th century, as well as in later times. The role of Swift's satire is so great that not only Swift's contemporaries W. Gay, J. Arbuthnot, but also the largest English writers of other generations somehow took the lessons of the author of Gulliver's Travels and were under his influence.

The 18th century is the century of the final fall of feudalism in Western Europe, the formation of the great European colonial powers, and the formation of the world market. To the forefront historical process came out England, the most advanced country of the victorious bourgeois revolution, and France, which was preparing for the epoch-making revolution of 1789-1793; in Catholic Spain and Italy, feudal remnants were still quite stable, and Germany, with its feudal fragmentation and serfdom, was the most backward of the countries of the West, recovering from the consequences of the Thirty Years' War only towards the end of the 18th century.

The culture of the XVIII century entered under the name "age of Enlightenment", or "age of Reason". "Enlightenment" is the same designation of a cultural era as "antiquity", "Middle Ages" or "Renaissance", that is, this term has the broadest meaning. The Enlightenment created its own special picture of the world, a special ideology, on the basis of which a new stage in the arts arose.

The 18th century is the key period of the New Age, when the traditionalist consciousness collapsed. Modern consciousness begins, according to M. Weber, with the division of the self-sufficient meaning contained in religion and metaphysics into three autonomous spheres: science, morality, art. They stood out when the unified worldview offered by religion and metaphysics collapsed. The problematics inherited from these old approaches to the world began to be built on the basis of new criteria: truth, right, authenticity or beauty. From now on, each sphere of culture corresponded to a certain profession, and all the problems that arose in it were given to specialists for consideration. Thus, a gap arose between the culture of specialists and the cultural level of the general public. J. Habermas characterizes the place of the 18th century in the history of culture in the following way: “In the 18th century, the Enlightenment philosophers formulated a modernization project through the development of objective science, universal morality and law, autonomous art. Each of these areas had to develop according to its own internal laws. At the same time, this project was called upon to release the cognitive potential of each of these areas.The Enlighteners were going to apply the achievements of specialization in culture for the benefit of everyday life, in other words, for a more rational arrangement Everyday life society.

Enlighteners with a mindset like Condorcet still harbored the illusion that the arts and sciences would not only help to gain power over the forces of nature, but would give people an understanding of the world and the place of the individual in it, would promote moral progress, the justice of public institutions, and also the happiness of man in general. The twentieth century has done away with this optimism."

Enlightenment sought to illuminate the new, critical light all hitherto existing views and theories, and was especially radically tuned in the spheres of religion, philosophy and social thought. It was in the 18th century that reason triumphed over faith and turned from a lawyer of religion, as was still the case with R. Descartes, into its accuser. The explanatory-blaming function of the mind creates that specific meaning of the concept of the Enlightenment, which was used in the 18th century.

Although at the level of mass consciousness religious prejudices and rituals retained their traditional role, the philosophers of the 18th century were consistently exposing religious superstitions from the standpoint of reason. Atheism was in vogue among a very small part of the intellectual elite, but even those who did not share the extremes of atheism agreed that consistent thinking would not find in the world any trace of the presence of God, nothing but nature. The Enlightenment inherits the rationalism of Descartes but rejects the idea of God. The Christian understanding of man, which still prevailed in the 17th century, was replaced by a naturalistic understanding.

Even stronger than in the 17th century, man's dependence on society emerged. The concept of education arose, according to which the personality is a reflection of the state of society, therefore, the improvement of society will entail the improvement of man. In man, the founders of the Enlightenment saw a being by nature good, endowed with innate inalienable rights to freedom, equality, happiness, and the mind finds a way to fulfill these aspirations. This idea of a man's right to happiness on earth and not in afterlife, distinguishes the hedonistic, pleasure-prone 18th century from the 17th century with its Christian stern rigorism.

Therefore, everything mystical, supersensible, irrational is expelled from the philosophy and literature of the Enlightenment, therefore they are distinguished by a materialistic, purely rationalistic approach to the world and man. But after all, personal freedom and spiritual life are carried out in many respects, as it seems to us today, in the sphere of the subconscious, and underestimation of this sphere is fraught with serious distortions in ideas about a person. Still, man is not a "reasonable social animal", he cannot be explained solely by logic and common sense; in a person there is always unpredictability, irreducibility to the most exhaustive explanations, and this is what is beautiful, this is the basis of the dissimilarity of people to each other, which must be valued and respected. The Enlighteners, on the other hand, believed that people have much more in common than different, and if people are explained their delusions and shown the way to universal happiness, they, as rational beings, will immediately take this road. This utopian, illusory idea of a person was corrected by history itself already during the French Revolution, which began under the slogans of freedom, equality, fraternity, and turned into rampant bloody terror and the Napoleonic wars that shook all of Europe. Therefore, the words of S. L. Frank, who speaks of the 18th century as the century of the crisis of an autonomous personal-spiritual culture, are true, "when the Renaissance and the Reformation in the West were already replaced by a flat atheistic enlightenment and when the grandiose collapse of this movement in the face of the great French revolution was already imminent" .

In the Enlightenment, political and legal ideas turned out to be the core of the concept of human essence, and this specificity of Enlightenment thought led to the justification in the 18th century as the embodiment of these ideas of social institutions of bourgeois democracy, which were designed to guarantee the impossibility of usurping power by one person or group of people.

Recently, the traditional picture of the Enlightenment as the century of the triumph of Reason has been undergoing changes. The latest historians emphasize the importance of feeling, sensitivity in the philosophy of the Enlightenment, especially at its later stage. The English philosopher D. Hume argued: "Reason is the slave of the senses, and can only serve and obey the senses." In the art of the late Enlightenment - sentimentalism - emotions are more important than intellect, the heart is more important than the head; For the first time, people began to feel someone else's pain as their own. Pity, sympathy, disgust for cruelty have become the measure of humanity, tears have become a sign of a tender heart. These mindsets brought to life the sentimental novel of S. Richardson, L. Stern, and the young I. V. Goethe.

The thinking of modern man is permeated with categories rooted in the Enlightenment (belief in the omnipotence scientific progress, which replaced faith in God, faith in the justice of bourgeois-democratic institutions of power, in the social significance of art). These provisions expressed the historical optimism, the energy of the then young bourgeois class, and can apply to the entire history of the bourgeois period: the ideology of the Enlightenment is still embodied in practice in the social structure of Western democracies.

We are still too close to this era, and assessments of the place and role of the Enlightenment will still be clarified in the ongoing disputes, but in order to understand the art of the Enlightenment, it is important to emphasize two things again: a lightened, too narrow idea of man as the sum of external influences from nature and society and the utopian hopes that explaining to a person his true interests will lead to a rapid reform of society based on the improvement of the individual.

A straightforward understanding of the transformative impact of art on life led to the dominance of the educational principle in the literature of the Enlightenment, to the development of political and philosophical literature, and dramaturgy. Among the enlighteners, philosophy supplanted art, and artistic literature XVIII century is distinguished not only by increased rationalism, but is often used as a direct mouthpiece for the ideological and philosophical views of the author. From the problem of "man and the world", characteristic of the Renaissance, the art of modern times - and this is especially characteristic of the 18th century - passes to the problem of "man and society".

The Age of Enlightenment - under this name entered the history of the 17th-18th centuries, the time when reason and education ruled the ball. The heart of this era was France, although the movement originated in England, but it also embraced Germany, Italy and Russia.

The ideology of the Enlightenment and the main thinkers of the time

The birth of a new culture was prepared by bourgeois revolutions and the spread of philosophical knowledge. Enlighteners believed that a person can be changed for the better - and this was a fundamentally new approach.

It is difficult to accurately name the years of the Enlightenment, since it covered the end of the 17th and the entire 18th century to one degree or another. Enlighteners were inspired by the idea that human society can be changed by educating people, that is, they put their hopes in the human mind and creativity in people, seeking to develop both.

The 18th century was the century of technology, achievements and urban culture, but it was nature that was considered by philosophers as the basis creativity. They saw it as an arena of transformative ideas. Another important philosophical thought of that time is that culture began to be regarded as the spiritual creativity of man.

The main names of the Enlightenment in France are such thinkers as Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire. The German Enlightenment gave the world Goethe, Schiller and Kant, while the English Enlightenment gave Cavendish, Watt and Fielding. Russia also had its own educators - Mikhail Lomonosov and Alexander Radishchev.

Essence of Enlightenment Ideas

The religious worldview, which dominated Europe until the 18th century, is replaced by an appeal to reason. Knowledge is considered a common wealth, so scientists tend to disseminate it among the masses. The main ideas that were professed at that time were as follows: knowledge belongs to everyone and it should bring practical benefit. Education has become available even to those who have been excluded from this process for a long time - women.

The practical embodiment of these ideas was the "Encyclopedia" edited by Diderot, which collected all the knowledge accumulated at that time by mankind.

Rice. 2. Encyclopedia Diderot.

Gradually, scientific texts are no longer written in Latin - the scientific world is switching to national languages, and this is also an important step towards making knowledge publicly available.

The essence of this process is beautifully described by Jonathan Swift in the satirical story "The Battle of the Books".

Enlightenment literature

In this historical period, sentimentalism is born, as literature begins to pay great attention to the feelings of a person, his experiences. Thus, with the help of works of art, moral values are instilled in people. This fits in perfectly with the idea that the book is a tool. The enlighteners considered literature as a means to educate their contemporaries in a new spirit, that is, it had a strong didactic beginning. However, the dominance of a certain stylistic direction in the literature of this period is not traced.

The Enlightenment gave literature new genres - a novel of education, a family drama and a philosophical story. The most famous works of that time are Rousseau's New Eloise, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Voltaire's Candide and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. The main theme of each of them is a person as a being born good and striving to return to this state.

Rice. 3. Robinson Crusoe.

The 18th century can also rightfully be called the golden age of utopia, as the enlighteners were fond of constructing both an ideal state and an ideal person.

Historical significance of the period

The ideas of enlightenment gave rise to reforms that improved the situation of people, although utopian idea that public life should be completely rebuilt, did not receive incarnation.

But the most significant consequences of the spread of enlightenment ideas were the American Revolution and the French Revolution.

Also, the ideas of this historical period largely influenced philosophical thought more later eras and even on modern political science - they are the basis of democracy.

What have we learned?

The fundamental ideas of the Enlightenment, as well as its main features, were considered. We talked briefly about the culture of the Enlightenment, its leaders and how social thought developed and evolved. The main ideas on which literature was based were also identified, and it was considered what characteristic features it had - didactic beginning, rationalism and at the same time attention to the emotional sphere of a person. The main names of philosophers and thinkers that are in the textbook for grade 7 are indicated, and what influence the Enlightenment had on the events of the early 19th century and the New Age.

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After studying this chapter, the student will: know

chronological boundaries of the era;
ideological prerequisites for its emergence;
the main representatives of the educational movement;
how new ideas were reflected in various spheres of social life; be able to
characterize the contribution of Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes and Benedict Spinoza to the preparation of the Enlightenment;
define the specifics of the Enlightenment in various countries;
characterize the genesis and evolution of the enlightenment movement; own
the concepts of "natural man", "enlightened absolutism", deism;
an idea of the main features of enlightenment literature.

18th century went down in history European culture like the Age of Enlightenment. It has another name - “the age of Reason”, which brings to mind the definition given to the Enlightenment by the German thinker Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): “Enlightenment is a person’s exit from the state of his minority, in which he is through his own fault. Immaturity is the inability to use one's reason without guidance from someone else. Immaturity due to one's own fault is one that is not due to a lack of reason, but to a lack of determination and courage to use it without the guidance of someone else. Sapere aude! Have the courage to use your own mind! - such is, therefore, the motto of the Enlightenment.

Kant sees the goal of the Enlightenment in the intellectual freedom of the individual, people must free themselves from the oppression of authorities and learn to think independently. Any kind of belief - religious, scientific, political, philosophical - has a basis, a reason, but which they believe in. In the Age of Enlightenment, this basis begins to depend on the individual himself, who now had to bear greater responsibility for his beliefs. Old authorities such as God, the king, the Bible, tradition are gradually losing their power, and experience, analysis, logic, and reason take their place. However, such a change was a long and difficult process.

Among historians, there is no consensus on what date the Enlightenment era should start from. The most popular is the date from English history - 1688, when a change of power took place in the country, which received the name of the "Glorious Revolution". The conflict between the English Parliament and King James II ended with the fact that the Dutchman William of Orange was invited to the throne, and James II was forced to flee to France. This event put an end to the controversy divine origin royal power, and showed that great success can be achieved in politics if you rely on reason, and not on tradition and religious prejudice. The end of the Enlightenment was French revolution 1789, when a decisive attempt was made to translate educational ideas into real life.

The fact that the beginning of the Enlightenment is more often associated with a date from English history is quite natural, since it is England that is considered the birthplace of this ideological movement. Here, earlier than in other countries, new ideas began to influence social and political life, and the activities of the English philosopher John Locke and the famous scientist Isaac Newton became a serious incentive for the formation of an educational ideology. Enlighteners from other countries were looking for a source of inspiration in English philosophy and politics. So, Montesquieu and Voltaire studied the English constitution, creating their political theories.

However, the foundation of the Enlightenment was laid much earlier, and such Western European thinkers as Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes and Benedict Spinoza played a significant role in this process.

Francis Bacon(1561 - 1626) developed an experimental method of scientific research, which is often called "Bacon's method." In his essay "New Organon"(1620) he outlined the basic principles of the new method: the researcher must obtain knowledge from the surrounding world through observation, experiment and hypothesis testing. Bacon's teaching was the first step towards the Enlightenment precisely because of its empirical orientation. His ideas will be developed in the works of J. Locke, J. Berkeley, D. Hume, K. Helvetius, P. Holbach, D. Diderot.

Rene Descartes (1596-1650) also anticipated some of the Enlightenment doctrine. He was a brilliant scientist who made significant discoveries in mathematics and physics. His main philosophical works are "Discourse on Method, to direct your mind well and seek the truth in the sciences"(1637) and " Reflections on First Philosophy, which proves the existence of God and the difference between human soul and body"(1641), in which there is a break with traditional metaphysics, which studied the nature of reality, and a shift of interests to the field of epistemology, whose interest was connected with how a person knows the world. The purpose of his research was also far from metaphysics: Descartes wanted, using reason, to prove the existence of God. His strategy was to find some foothold of which we are absolutely sure, and from there, to deduce evidence for the presence of God in the universe. In search of the most general and logically irrefutable truth, he comes to the following conclusion: “So, having discarded everything about which we can somehow doubt, and, moreover, imagining all these things as false, we easily assume that there is no God there is and is no sky, nor any bodies, that we ourselves have neither arms nor legs, nor any body whatsoever; but it cannot be that, by virtue of all this, we who think in this way are nothing: for to suppose that a thinking thing does not exist at the same time as it thinks, would be an obvious contradiction. And therefore the position I think, hence, I exist - primary and most reliable of all that can appear to someone in the course of philosophizing.

It is from this position that Descartes deduces the existence of the whole world and God, and its logical consequence is the assertion that our mind and body are, in a sense, separate entities. We may doubt the existence of our bodies, but not our thought processes. Descartes came to the conclusion that our mind and the physical world (including our bodies) are composed of different substances. The uniqueness of man lies precisely in the fact that he combines these two substances, while animals, for example, consist of only one. The existence of God is also manifested in the fact that he endowed our minds with innate ideas that enable us to correctly understand the world. The reliance of Descartes in his theory on reason, as opposed to faith, found a wide response from the thinkers of the Enlightenment.

Ideas Benedict Spinoza(1632-1677) and Thomas Hobbes(1588-1679) were almost unknown to their contemporaries, but had a significant impact on the next generation of philosophers. Spinoza brought the mechanistic philosophy of Descartes to its logical conclusion. He did not accept the division of the world into physical and mental proposed by Descartes. Instead, he tried to prove that the universe must be a simple unity of thought and matter. It followed from this that there is only one substance, which is God, and thought, matter are the attributes of God, or the fundamental properties of the substance. In such a universe, everything must have its causal explanation. Individual things, acting on each other, are connected by a rigid chain of mutual causation, and in this chain there can be no breaks. All nature is an endless series of causes and effects, which in their totality constitute an unambiguous necessity. Spinoza's theory leaves no room for chance, free will and miracles. Good and evil do not exist here as absolute concepts. These ideas were further developed in the Enlightenment in the writings of the German philosopher Leibniz.

Thomas Hobbes tried in his writings to turn politics into a science with clear and logical principles, similar to the rules of geometry. His sober look on the nature of politics, he recalls the Italian Renaissance thinker Nicolo Machiavelli. But Hobbes goes further than his predecessor. He does not perceive power as a given, it must be confirmed by a system of laws and must be in balance with natural human rights.

In the theory of Hobbes, reasonable reasons for the subordination of citizens to their rulers were determined and at the same time it was indicated that government should be based on a system of laws, and first of all, laws that guarantee the life of subjects. The English philosopher gave a detailed description of the state of nature, i.e. what a person's life turns into without order and law, or what is usually called civilization. Following the main natural laws - the desire for self-preservation and satisfaction of needs - a person often comes into conflict with other people who pursue the same goals. To avoid mutual destruction, people are forced to agree on the principles of relations with each other. As a result of this agreement, the state appears. A person was forced to cede part of his natural rights and freedoms to the state in order to receive guarantees of peace and security in return. Hobbes did not claim that all states arose as a result of a voluntary contract, there were also those that were created through violence and subjugation. It was the idea of a social contract that was popular with the Enlightenment. She found especially active support from the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

One of the central figures in the history of the European Enlightenment is John Locke(1632-1704), sometimes he is even called the "father of the Enlightenment", thus emphasizing the significance of his contribution to the formation of a new ideology. Locke's writings were fundamental to the enlightenment movement. "An Essay on Human Understanding» (1690) and "Thoughts on Education"(1693). Fundamental to the Enlightenment was Locke's controversy with the "theory of innate ideas", one of the supporters of which was Descartes. Locke rejects this theory and argues that a person at birth has no knowledge, his mind is like a blank slate (tabula rasa), and he receives all his ideas in the process of life. It is experience that fills this blank slate with its signs: “All ideas come from sensation or reflection. Let us suppose that the mind is, so to speak, white paper without any signs or ideas. But how does he get them? From where does he acquire that [their] vast stock, which the active and boundless human imagination has drawn with almost infinite variety? Where does he get all the material of reasoning and knowledge? To this I answer in one word: from experience."

From these considerations follows another important conclusion: if a person receives knowledge through the senses from the outside world or through thinking, then these processes can be in a special way organized and through them it is possible to influence the formation of a person, i.e. a person can be educated. This idea became the cornerstone in the foundation of the Enlightenment: through upbringing and education, to create not only a more perfect person, but also a more perfect society. This ideological attitude is also reflected in the name of the era - "Enlightenment". It is quite natural that Locke was one of the first to seriously address the problems of education in his works. In the treatise "Thoughts on Education" he distinguishes five sections of education: physical, mental, religious, moral and labor. All of them should, according to Locke, be in close relationship. It is noteworthy that the goal moral education he puts it this way: "if early years to teach children to suppress their desires, this useful habit will make them disciplined; as they grow older and more sensible, you can give them more freedom in cases where reason speaks in them, and not passion: for the voice of reason should always be listened to.

Emphasis on the dominant role of reason in behavior will be decisive for the enlightenment concept of man. Scientific discoveries also contributed to the strengthening of the authority of reason. Isaac Newton(1642-1727). For example, the three famous laws of mechanics set forth in "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"(1684-1686) demonstrated that all the variety of movements in physical world can be reduced to three reasonable laws. His discoveries in optics showed that the variety of colors of the surrounding world is born from a simple white beam. Enlighteners valued Newton not only for his scientific genius, but also for the fact that the research method he discovered could be used in philosophy. D'Alembert, in one of the articles in the Encyclopedia, pointed out with respect: “Newton, whose path was prepared by Huygens, finally appeared and gave philosophy the form that it seems to have to preserve. This great genius saw that the time had come to banish vague conjectures and hypotheses from physics, or at least show them their true place, and that this science should be subordinated exclusively to experiments and geometry.

Enlighteners did not deny the importance of passions for a person. They are, in their view, a stimulus to development. If a person has no desires, he will not seek to change his position. However, it is important that passions be under the control of the mind, then the development of the personality will occur in accordance with the enlightenment ideal. Often, to illustrate their concept of man, enlighteners used the image of a ship, where sails and wind were likened to passions, and the rudder was likened to reason. The English poet Alexander Pope resorts to the same image in his Essay on Man:

Our helmsman is the mind, whose power is indisputable;

For sails, however, the wind is a passion.

(Translated by A. L. Subbotin)

In the Age of Enlightenment, interest is awakened again in the problem of the “natural man”. For the Enlighteners, a “natural person” is a person whose nature developed in accordance with natural laws and therefore revealed itself most fully and harmoniously. It is much easier to achieve such a result if the formation of personality takes place far from civilization, as it introduces distortions into the original harmony. Therefore, the restoration of the natural harmony of Robinson Crusoe, the hero of Defoe's novel, takes place on a desert island, where the influence of civilization is minimized. Crusoe's upbringing as a natural person also presupposes the subordination of passions to reason. In the first part of the book, the hero depends on his desires and fantasies and, according to his own confession, "... I blindly obeyed the suggestions of my imagination, and not the voice of reason." Since the passions (sails and wind) and reason (the helm) are at odds, it is quite natural that Robinson suffers a shipwreck, both real and symbolic. Once on a desert island, Robinson learns to subdue passions and be more reasonable in his actions and attitude to life. Somewhat later, Friday joins Robinson, representing another version of the "natural man" - "noble savage."

The theory of "natural man" was further developed in the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau "Discourse on the Sciences and Arts" (1752), "Discourse on the origin and foundations of inequality between people" (1755), "Discourse on the social contract" (1762). Rousseau already more radically contrasts “natural man” with “public man,” i.e. shaped by civilization. Civilization is considered by the French philosopher only as a source of negative influence. In his concept of "natural man" reason is no longer perceived as a positive factor, since it is a product of civilization. The "natural man" is not guided by reason, but listens to the "voice of the heart."

In his program of education, which Rousseau outlined in Emile, or on Education, he also seeks to weaken the impact of civilization on his student. The book opens with the statement: "Everything comes out good from the hands of the Creator, everything degenerates in the hands of man." Until the age of 16, Emil (that is the name of the pupil), in order to avoid this bad influence, is at a distance from society. Much attention is paid to his physical education, while moral education involves the formation of "good feelings", "good judgments" and " good will". The only book available to Emil during this period is the same Robinson Crusoe.

Many enlighteners did not accept the views of Rousseau, they set as their goal just the formation of a “natural person” in a civilized society. For example, Voltaire in the philosophical story "The Innocent" (1767) argued that the "state of nature" itself is only a rough basis, which can be ennobled only by the influence of civilization, without this influence a person will remain a savage.

At the early stage of the Enlightenment, an optimistic view of man and the world prevails. The so-called "philosophy of optimism" was first systematically and thoroughly expounded by the German thinker Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716). The main thesis of his treatise "Experiences in theodicy” (“theodicy” literally means “justification by God”) boils down to the following: since this world was created by God, it means that it cannot be imperfect. Leibniz also found justification for the existence of evil. He argued that without the presence of evil, the world would be less perfect. Very often good is born as a result of correcting and overcoming evil. Thus, the free will of man is good, but it presupposes the possibility of sin. If God did not allow the existence of sin, then there would be no free will. Therefore, the German philosopher concludes, our world is the best possible world.

Similar ideas have spread among European enlighteners. In England, the Earl of Bolingbroke, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and the poet A. Pope fell under their influence. However, in the middle of the century, the "philosophy of optimism" is experiencing a serious crisis, and many begin to treat it with skepticism. Especially sharp was the criticism from Voltaire, who survived the period of enthusiasm for the teachings of Leibniz, but then disappointment came and in the story "Candide, or Optimism" he caustically ridiculed the ideas of the German thinker. Voltaire shows that the "philosophy of optimism" is isolated from reality and provokes a passive attitude towards life - if we live in the most perfect of worlds, then there is no need to improve or correct something.

In the political sphere in the 18th century, the theory of "enlightened absolutism" gains influence. It already received clear outlines in the writings of Hobbes, who considered the monarchy the most perfect form of government. Enlighteners believed that under conditions of strong centralized power, it is much easier to carry out "reasonable" reforms. It is important that the ruler be a truly enlightened person who can understand that his interests in a broad perspective coincide with the public good. Among the supporters of "enlightened absolutism" were Voltaire and Kant. Although Voltaire, during his stay in England (1726-1729), recognized the virtues of the parliamentary republic with a limited monarchy, which was established in this country, the activities of the French parliament gave rise to a persistent hostility to this form of government. The French parliament mainly reflected the interests of the aristocracy and the clergy, and its position in relation to politics and social life was often more conservative and reactionary than that of the French king. For example, when Louis XV wanted to abolish legalized torture, Parliament refused to support this initiative.

Some of the European monarchs were carried away by the idea of "enlightened absolutism", and even tried to carry out some reforms in their countries, following the advice of the enlighteners. But more often such reforms were superficial and did not at all imply a serious restructuring of society on more just principles. They only had to somewhat reduce the growing tension in relations between classes in order to prevent serious social upheavals. King Frederick II of Prussia, King Joseph II of Austria belonged to the enlightened monarchs, Russian empress Ekaterina I. They corresponded actively with educators, invited them to the court, published projects of their future transformations. So, Catherine II was in constant correspondence with Diderot and Voltaire, and provided them with financial support. She bought Diderot's library and appointed him lifelong caretaker of her own library, with maintenance paid for him from the Russian treasury.

However, the theory of "enlightened absolutism" also had opponents. It was not accepted by Montesquieu, who believed that if the fate of reforms depends on one person, then there is always a threat that everything will turn back with a change in his views or his death. Montesquieu himself put forward the idea of the division of power into legislative, executive and judicial. Later, this principle of building power was used in many modern democracies.

The growth of the authority of reason, the successes of the natural sciences could not but affect the attitude of the enlighteners to religion. New approaches to religion are already found in I. Newton and J. Locke. The discoveries made by Newton did not shake his faith at all. On the contrary, having discovered that the whole variety of movements in the physical world can be reduced to a few reasonable laws, he saw in this proof of the existence of a divine plan at the basis of the universe. Locke also tried to reconcile reason and faith. Denying innate knowledge, the philosopher also did not accept the theory that a person is born already with faith in God. Faith, Locke believed, had more rational foundations; without God, the very existence of man and his relationship with the world would have no meaning. Reason is the most important tool for man in understanding the world, but this does not mean that divine revelation is impossible. It may not be accessible to rational understanding, but it should not be contrary to reason - such is the conclusion of Locke.

The followers of Newton and Locke later tried to prove the reasonableness of the Christian doctrine, and this quality, they believed, should be available to any reasonable person. Enlighteners sought to establish moderation and rationality in relation to religion in European society. Excessive emotionalism and mysticism in matters of faith, which were defined as "enthusiasm", caused condemnation. This approach found support among the English bourgeoisie, who often viewed the relationship with God as a kind of trade deal. In Catholic countries, it was more difficult to form such a position, since the Catholic Church was initially focused on a more emotional relationship between the believer and God.

Widespread in the 18th century. received deism, one of the religious and philosophical trends, which recognized the existence of God and the creation of the world by Him, but denied most mystical and supernatural phenomena, as well as religious dogmatism. It became very popular in deism to liken God to an architect or watchmaker, who started the clock mechanism of the Universe and eliminated any interference in its existence. Deism gave great freedom to a person, but also imposed on him a great responsibility for everything that happens in the world.

The enlightenment movement was not homogeneous in all countries of Western Europe. It has already been noted that the Enlightenment originates in England and it is here that at the initial stage it acquires a serious influence. The writings of the English Enlightenment philosophers become a source of ideas not only for Europe, but also for America. At the same time, the Enlightenment movement in England was quite moderate. It developed after the "glorious revolution", when the bourgeoisie - the main stronghold of the new movement - solved its urgent tasks. The English enlighteners were interested in questions of moral perfection, in the general problems of man's relations with the world around him.

In France, it was formed on the eve of the revolution and therefore often had a more radical character. The French enlighteners were more resolute in religious matters, among them there were many not only supporters of deism, but also those whose positions were close to atheism. To some extent, this position was due to the fact that they had to deal with catholic church, which was more authoritarian and conservative. Many articles published in the Encyclopedia had an anti-religious orientation. Thus, Diderot in his materials not only asserted the freedom of a person to choose and profess any religion, but also to remain outside the faith. The philosopher was sure that atheism would not cause any damage to society, since morality does not depend on religion at all.

More often, the French turned to social and political problems, were interested in various types of government. It was in France at the end of the century that an attempt was made to translate the ideals of the Enlightenment into real life. During the first meeting of the National Assembly, which drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, there were many references to Rousseau's theory of the social contract. In the first stage of the revolution, he became the most popular philosopher. His bust was installed in the hall of the National Assembly, a little later, the remains of Rousseau were transferred to the Pantheon. Robespierre was a great admirer of Rousseau. However, this first attempt to implement some of the ideas of the French Enlightenment ended in failure.

More successful was the American Revolution. After her victory, the constitution of the new nation took into account many of the ideas that originated within the enlightenment movement. The most important of them was the principle of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial, as well as the principle of religious tolerance. The Declaration of the Rights of Man proclaimed the inalienable right of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The inclusion of these positions in the "Declaration" was also inspired by the Enlightenment.

In Germany, due to its fragmentation, the enlightenment movement did not have a significant impact on social and political life, with the exception of Austria and Prussia, where Joseph II and Frederick II tried to play the role of enlightened monarchs. However, the German Enlightenment gave very abundant shoots in philosophy and drama.

In Italy, which was as fragmented as Germany, the rise of the enlightenment movement does not begin until the middle of the 18th century.

and is more moderate than in France. As a rule, the programs of the Italian educators focused on the practical issues of the economy, agriculture, reforming the tax system, trade, legislation, and school education. A feature of the culture of Italy in the XVIII century. was the emergence of the so-called "Catholic Enlightenment" with its center in Rome. This movement united many leaders of the church, moderately sympathetic to some reformist ideas and trying to reconcile them with religious doctrine. Literature also joined in the propaganda of new ideals. During this period, the Italians achieved especially significant success in theatrical genres. Undoubtedly XVIII century in Italy became the age of the theatre.

Enlightenment ideology left its mark on the literature of the 18th century. First of all, it should be noted the noticeable influence of philosophy on it. Often during this period, literature became a kind of testing ground for various philosophical ideas and theories. Many educators have used art form to convey their ideas to contemporaries (Rousseau, Voltaire, Swift). It was in the XVIII century. a genre of philosophical story appeared, in which philosophical theory subjugated all other elements of the genre.

In addition, in the literature of the XVIII century. the didactic principle is enhanced, it seeks to enlighten and educate its reader. In this regard, the role of journalistic genres increases in the literary process. In the American Enlightenment, journalism occupies a dominant position, since it was here that literature was especially closely dependent on the political situation.

At the beginning of the century, the popularity of documentary genres noticeably increases. Memoirs, diaries, correspondence are actively beginning to be published. In many ways, this growth of interest was associated with one of the main provisions of the educational ideology: the environment has a significant impact on the formation of a person. Documentary genres more objectively represented the relationship of a person with the outside world. Passion for documentaries affected fiction. The authors of early enlightenment novels often passed off their works as a report of real events and gave them the form of diaries, letters (Defoe, Richardson, Montesquieu). This trend led to an increase in realistic tendencies in the literature of the first half of XVIII V. In this regard, many domestic researchers have identified enlightenment realism in a special direction in Western European literature. The works of Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Diderot, Lessing were correlated with him. Western European literary historians, when describing the literature of the 18th century, almost never use this term.

IN early XVIII V. classicism, however, does not disappear from the literary scene. The authority of reason and the desire to strengthen the educational principle in art turned out to be close to both the Enlighteners and the classicists. However, the aesthetics of classicism in the Enlightenment is undergoing a number of major changes. For example, the relationship between feeling and duty is changing, the conflict between which was the main mover of action in the tragedy of classicism. But already in the dramaturgy of Voltaire, who, although he was guided by traditions French theater XVII century, did not want to follow them unconditionally, the feeling acquires a new quality. Formerly it opposed duty. Now it itself was perceived as a duty of a person in relation to himself and own nature. It opposed a deceitful, "false debt" to an unreasonable state or dogmatic faith. New approaches to the principles of classic aesthetics can also be found in the work of the English poet Alexander Pope. This renewed classicism was named enlightenment classicism.

Just as in the Enlightenment movement there were almost parallel optimistic and skeptical attitudes towards new ideals and the possibility of their implementation in real life, in literature quite early there is a tendency opposing rationalism, which focuses on the feeling, on the emotional sphere of a person and which, closer to the middle of the century, will give sentimental life. One of the hallmarks of sentimentalism is the hero endowed with sentimental sensitivity. Sentimental sensitivity is a very complex and capacious concept. It also implies an extraordinary internal responsiveness of the personality, when a slight external influence is enough to evoke in the hero a bizarre connection of feelings and thoughts. Sensitivity is also based on a new system of ethical criteria. Possession of it gives additional value to the individual. If the enlighteners believed that a “reasonable person” would treat others in the same way as he would like them to treat him, then sentimentalists simply believed that a “sensitive person” was not capable of bad deeds. sentimental sensitivity and new type perception of the world and relationships with other people.

As a reaction to the crisis of educational ideals, one can also consider the emergence in the second half of the 18th century. pre-romanticism. The pre-romantics seek to escape from the present, which did not justify their hopes, into the past: into the world of the Middle Ages, Celtic mythology, and Old Norse poetry. They contrast the rationalism of the Enlighteners with an interest in the fantastic, fabulous, mystical, and irrational.

In general, it can be noted that the literary process in the Enlightenment is noticeably more complicated than in the previous century. IN XVII century the development of literature was largely determined by the confrontation between classicism and baroque. In the XVIII century. there are many more such factors.

Questions and tasks for self-control

1. Why is the beginning of the Enlightenment associated with a date from English history?
2. What is the essence of the scientific method of research proposed by Francis Bacon?
3. Why did John Locke's controversy with the "theory of innate ideas" turn out to be so fundamental for the formation of enlightenment ideology?
4. What was the meaning of the enlighteners in the concept of "natural man"?
5. What arguments did Gottfried Leibniz use to prove the perfection of the world in which man lives?
6. What is deism?

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Turaev, S. V. Introduction to Western European literature of the 18th century. / S. V. Turaev. - M 1962.

Chernozemova, E. N. History of foreign literature of the XVII-XVIII centuries: Workshop / E. I. Chernozemova, V. N. Ganin, Vl. A. Lukov. - M., 2004.

The Age of Enlightenment: From the history of international relations of Russian literature / ed. editor A. S. Kurilov. - M., 1982.

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