CHAPTER XXIV--THE ENLIGHTENMENT
(What did he contribute?)
NOTE THAT THIS PERIOD IN PHILOSOPHICAL
HISTORY HAD SEVERAL HEADINGS, EACH
CONNOTING AN ASPECT OF ITS INTENT:
CHAPTER XXIV--THE ENLIGHTENMENT
(What did he contribute?)
NOTE THAT THIS PERIOD IN PHILOSOPHICAL
HISTORY HAD SEVERAL HEADINGS, EACH
CONNOTING AN ASPECT OF ITS INTENT:
I. THE NOVEL HAS RAISED THE ISSUE OF WHAT CONSTITUTES THE NATURE OF REALITY-why is the word MAGIC used?
A. IS SOPHIE REAL AND WHY?
B. IS HILDE REAL AND WHY?
C. THERE WILL BE SHIFTS IN POINTS OF VIEW--why from a literary and philosophical perspective would point of view shift?
D. NOTE THE REFERENCES TO HAMLET
II. WHAT DOES THE ENLIGHTENMENT HAVE TO DO WITH HELPING SOPHIE JOURNEY?
A. NEXT STEP ON THE JOURNEY--STARTING FROM SCRATCH, PAGE 309...
B. WE SEE HILDE’S FATHER AS ‘GOD’ MAKING A UNIVERSE FOR HILDE --HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE THAT UNIVERSE FROM WHAT WE HAVE SEEN SO FAR? WHAT PHILOSOPHICAL DRAMATIZATIONS ARE ACTUALIZED?...
GOD : UNIVERSE :: HILDE’S DAD : ____
WHAT CAN HILDE'S FATHER DO
WHICH COMPLETES THE ANALOGY, AND WHAT PHILOSOPHERS HOLD THE CLUES...
NOTICE THAT THE CHAPTER FORESHADOWS WHAT PHILOSOPHER WILL PROVIDE A SYNTHESIS THAT WILL BE TERMED THE "C---- REVOLUTION" IN PHILOSOPHY.
III. WILL SOPHIE AND HILDE REACH THE SAME CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF REALITY, AND WOULD THE JOURNEY END?
A. LOSS OF THE GOLD CROSS--MOTHER FOUND IT, AND TOLD HILDE’S DAD.
B. HILDE BEGINS TO TALK TO HER MOTHER THE WAY THAT SOPHIE TALKS TO HERS.
IV. POINT OF VIEW SWITCHES BACK TO SOPHIE--PP.-308 - 309--NOTICE HOW ALBERTO AND THE MAJOR WILL COMMENT ON EACH OTHER'S DOINGS.
A. SOPHIE AWAKES ON HER B. DAY JUNE 15, 1975
B. ‘ARE YOU SURE IT ISN’T ALL A DREAM? -P. 308
C. EXISTENTIAL ANGST-- “I AM SCARED THAT NOTHING IS REAL.”--P. 309
V. KNOX POSTULATES THE IDEA TO SOPHIE THAT THEY HAVE ALL BEEN INVENTED AS A PRESENT FOR HILDE, BUT...
A. CAN THEY PLAN?
B. ARE THEY REAL AS CREATURES OF FICTION?
C. WHAT IS A DREAM?
VI. CAN THE ‘CHARACTER’ TAKE THE INITIATIVE AND DO SOMETHING THAT MAJOR = GOD DID NOT ANTICIPATE?
A. CAN A CREATION ACT OUTSIDE THE OMNISCIENCE OF THE CREATOR?--WHY IS THE WORD 'OVERVIEW' SO IMPORTANT ON PAGE 312?
B. CAN WE DETACH OURSELVES FROM THE IMAGINATION OF THE CREATOR?--WHAT WOULD HUME SAY? SPINOZA?
C. HILDE AGREED THAT THE MAJOR MIGHT NOT KNOW ALL OF THE DETAILS IN THE FUTURE OF SOPHIE AND ALBERTO
VII. MAJOR KNAG SENDS CARDS TO BOTH SOPHIE AND HILDE FROM LEBANON
A. OPPOSITION TO AUTHORITY, REASON, NATURAL RELIGION
B. THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT--P. 313
VIII. ROMANTICISM AND THE IMPACT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION...ROUSSEAU
A. THE AGE OF REASON
B. CULTURAL OPTIMISM
C. THE PERFECT SOCIETY--note that much of the satire of the period comes from this belief--see the classical sources and Swift's writings listed below.
IX. DEISM AND REASONABLE CHRISTIANITY
A. LAWS OF NATURE
B. WHAT IS GOD?
C. HOW IS THE CHILD TO BE EDUCATED?
D. 1789--DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN--see the links below...
E. LIBERTY, FRATERNITY AND EQUALITY
X. LETTER TO BOTH OF THEM--RELATING THE IDEAS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO THE PEACE- KEEPING IN LEBANON
SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS
An excellent philosophical introduction to Enlightenment philosophy is Pope's Essay on Man. For the text plus other authors, click here for Supplementary Readings:
The following authors should be consulted from that page:
THE CLASSICAL DATABASE: (AS THE PERIOD IS CALLED THE NEOCLASSICAL AGE), YOU SHOULD REVIEW THE 'GOLDEN AGE' OF PHILOSOPHY, ATHENS OF THE 5TH CENTURY:
PHILOSOPHERS: (POPE AND ROUSSEAU MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE BRITISH LITERATURE HOME PAGE)
HISTORY:
SCIENTISTS, NOVELISTS, ESSAYISTS AND SATIRISTS:
RESEARCH TOOLS:
IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE LOCATING A PRIMARY SOURCE,
CLICK HERE FOR TEXTS ON LINE.