All of these authors share some similar points, but the majority spoken is disagreement. I would expect this when there are men and women speaking their views during enlightenment. Of course, the men see women as objects to look good for them while requiring no education or the ability to reason. In 1751, Jean Jacques Rousseau in A Critique of Progress, answers the question, “Has the reestablishment of arts and sciences contributed to purge or corrupt our manners”. (p 363) In response he found the answer to be no, as he saw these advances as corrupting man’s goodness and human morals.
He has doubts about the powers of science to be a benefit to ones morals. Also, the diffusion of knowledge will not erase superstition. It is our conscience playing the same role that our instinct plays for our morals. Rousseau sees our personal conscience alone is able to distinguish between good and evil. However he does give high place to the impulses of the conscience, defending feelings and passions, as well as praises of the heart. Rousseau believes we can transport ourselves to another universe when we read ancient history.
Our prejudices, our base philosophy, and the passions of petty interest and selfishness in the heart of all the foolish institutions finds that genius has ever dictated. Voltaire’s In Defense of Modernity sees history as only being a source of wars and disasters rather than a source of peaceful times. (p 370) It is the love for order in mankind that alone prevents our total destruction. Man’s reason is needed to free us from wrong doing and the injustices in life. We went from an inferior way of thinking to slowly acquiring the ability to think for ourselves.
Modernity considers human reason to be the most important aspect of Enlightenment. In addition the main connection seen between modernity and Enlightenment is man’s ability to reason and his optimism. Rousseau and Voltaire have differing views on modernity. Rousseau sees arts and sciences as something that corrupt manner. Our conscience detects the difference between good and evil and we transport ourselves to another universe when we read ancient history. Voltaire on the other hand sees history only as a source of wars and disasters and it is our reasoning that frees us from wrong doing.
Also, the discovery of the ability to think for ourselves comes very slowly. Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman shares Voltaire regarding the greatest gift of humanity was the ability of man to reason. It stands to reason if men and women enjoy the same ability to reason they also should have the same education and influence as men. However, women in Wollstonecraft’s time felt it was not wise for a woman to fuss with studying and reading and she sees this only causing social problems.
She notes, how can women raise children without the ability to reason and without a proper education. After all women are just as intelligent as men. On this subject, Jean Jacques Rousseau was a great supporter of the idea that women should only be taught to be beautiful for men, no intelligence needed. All of us have immoral souls outside our bodies so they are neither male nor female. Therefore, equality should reign supreme. She points out that she dislikes the fact that parents want to live through their children which will lead to immoral communities.
Also, a person who is unable to develop reasoning skills without an education and without reasoning skills can never understand the goodness in morality. Human rights are for anyone who has the ability to reason and she appeals to women to reason and acquire intellectual and physical strength. This piece speaks mainly to the middle class who are not biased by wealth or poverty. Men are overgrown children and are not equipped to lead a woman to virtue. Virtue is a trait we are born with but must be acquired by ourselves.
Finally, an educated woman can trust he own thoughts, take comfort from within herself rather than from society. This is a woman who voiced equality long before the 1970’s feminism. All three of this philosophers have differing view on the various subjects. Voltaire sees no favorable part in the history, only war and disasters. On the other hand Rousseau sees reading history transports us to another universe. It is Wollstonecraft who sees modernity and progress in the women of the era. Women are not just to be pretty but intelligent and have a sense of reason to lead them.
