Overview

What exactly was the intellectual and cultural movement called the Enlightenment? In what way was it a continuation of the Scientific Revolution? How did it reflect changes in the structure of eighteenth century European society and politics? Did it involve a repudiation or undermining of Christianity? And did the Enlightenment philosophes succeed in creating the “science of freedom” for which some of them strove?

HIST 407 examines the intellectual history of eighteenth-century Europe in the context of its social and political history, drawing upon the writings of leading historians of the subject as well as studying the works of leading French, German, and British thinkers from the period. The first part of the course provides an overview of European political, social, intellectual, and cultural life in the seven decades before the outbreak of the French Revolution. The second part gives an introduction, interpretation, and analysis of the Enlightenment, relying on the work of one of the leading historians of this intellectual movement, Peter Gay. The last part examines Enlightenment thought at first hand, using a wide variety of primary sources written by such thinkers as Voltaire, Rousseau, Helvetius, Diderot, Montesquieu, Swift, Hume, Smith, Kant, and Condorcet.

Outline

Part I: Europe in the Eighteenth Century

Part II: Interpreting the Enlightenment

Part III: Enlightenment Thought: Primary Sources

Evaluation

To receive credit for HIST 407, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 percent) and a grade of at least 50 percent on the final examination. The weighting of the course assignments is as follows:

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Gay, Peter. 1977. The Enlightenment: An Interpretation. Volume 1, The Rise of Modern Paganism. New York: Norton.

Gay, Peter. 1977. The Enlightenment: An Interpretation. Volume 2, The Science of Freedom. New York: Norton.

Woloch, Isser. 1982. Eighteenth-Century Europe: Tradition and Progress, 1715-1789. New York: Norton.

Other Materials

The course materials include a study guide, student manual, and two reading files.