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Enlightenment and the Age of Reason: Philosophy, Politics, Society

Module description

Today we take for granted that scientific rationality, individual autonomy, universal human rights, and notions of “progress” are key features of the modern world, but how did this happen? This module explores the social, cultural, and political conditions in Britain, Europe, and the wider world in the period c. 1650-1800 within the context of the birth of the “modern world”. Each week you will examine key works, people, and institutions that contributed to the intellectual, cultural and social discourses of this crucial period of flux, which has had long-lasting and world-wide consequences, some of which you will explore during the course of the module. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to give you in-depth knowledge of a crucial period in history and to engage you in critical reading and thinking. Primary source texts and secondary literature will present you with ample material to develop critical and analytical skills, as well as hone your discursive and communication skills in the seminar discussions which will be a key component of this module. Lectures will provide key background information, especially biographical and historical context and introduce key themes and questions for discussion. You will have the opportunity to undertake independent research and to present their work in a supportive environment. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate understanding of the broad chronology and key events and ideas of the period c. 1650-1800
• 2. Identify and reflect critically on the major intellectual discourses of the period and the manner in which they developed

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Develop and effectively deploy critical vocabulary for engaging with ideas and discourses
• 4. Utilize close reading skills to engage critically with primary source texts in the history of thought
• 5. Interpret and critique complex historical arguments

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Display independent critical thinking and research skills

Syllabus plan

Topics studied in this module may include some of the following:

• selfhood and rationality
• ideas and materialism
• religious scepticism, scientific rationalism
• deism, atheism, and secularism
• political freedom and human rights
• economic growth, colonialism and global exchange
• gendered behaviour and language
• popular audiences and cultural development
• radicalism and progressivism

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

• Burgess, G. The politics of the ancient constitution: an introduction in English political thought, 1600-1642 ( 1992)
• Carr, R. Gender and enlightenment culture in eighteenth-century Scotland (2014)
• Cassirer, E. The philosophy of the Enlightenment (1951)
• Chico, T. The experimental imagination: literary knowledge and science in the British enlightenment (2018)
• Darnton, R. The Great Cat Massacre and other episodes in French cultural history (published online 2009)
• Gies, D.T. Wall, C. The eighteenth centuries: global networks of enlightenment (2018)
• Israel, J. Radical Enlightenment: philosophy and the making of modernity, 1650-1750 (2001)
• Outram,D. The Enlightenment (2012)
• Jacob, M.The Secular Enlightenment (2019)
• Jones, T. Boyson, R.(eds), The poetic Enlightenment: poetry and human science, 1650-1820 (2013)
• Kidd, C. The Forging of Races: Race and scripture in the Protestant Atlantic World, 1600-2000 (1999)
• Knott S. and Taylor, B. (eds), Women, gender, and Enlightenment (2005)
• Kow, S. China in early Enlightenment Political Thought (2017)
• O’Flaherty, N. Utilitarianism in the age of Enlightenment (2019)
• Pocock, J.G.A. Barbarism and religion (6 vols) (2015)
• Rivers (ed), I. Books and their Readers in 18th-century England (2003)
• Roper, H.T. History and Enlightenment (2010)
• Zaretsky, R. Scott, J.T. The philosophers’ quarrel: Rousseau, Hume, and the limits of human understanding (2009)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE: 

Key words search

Enlightenment; politics; philosophy; political thought; intellectual history; history of ideas; Britain; Europe