Some discussion questions for Enlightenment
You may find internet links for these topics on the syllabus.
Hobbes and Locke: Is Hobbes realistic when he says human life in a state
of nature is
"nasty, poor, solitary, brutish, and short"? Or do you favor
Locke's more moderate view, about our potential for rational behavior?
How satisfactory is Pope's Essay on Man? Do you see his view as optimistic?
How would you compare the Enlightenment thinkers' concept of happiness with
that of the Dalai Lama or Thich Nhat Hanh?
Why is Handel's music so memorable? Why is Bach's? What is a
favorite of yours?
How might the 2 different film versions of Moll Flanders by Defoe show different kinds of self-interest and human resilience?
Why was Voltaire a spokesman for the Enlightenment?
In Candide, Voltaire makes fun of many traditionally revered
institutions and assumptions in 18th century Europe, like the status and worth
of the aristocracy, the wars of King Frederick "the Great" of Prussia,
the religious tolerance of the Netherlands, the Inquisition in Spain, the
Jesuits, the "noble savages" of the new world, slavery, Dutch
shipping, Paris society, Venetian pleasures, and most ferociously, of philosophical
"optimism".
Is it still funny?
How might you characterize the phases of Candide's journey, before and after El
Dorado?
What are the pros and cons of El Dorado?
What do you make of the community at the end, and Candide's "we must work
in our garden"?
What would your El Dorado be like?
What are the significant differences between the way Voltaire shows the Jesuits'
and the Guaranee people of South America in Candide, and how we see
them in the film The Mission?
What kinds of slavery exist today around the globe? How necessary is
slavery to capitalism?
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen shows us what life was like in a
small English village, with 3 or 4 families of the gentry class. This is a
society with many traditions and codes of behavior.
How can young men and women of energy and spirit stay sane in such a society?
What are the different expectations of happiness that Austen puts before us?
What are the frustrations that the Bennet sisters Jane and Elizabeth have to
deal with?
What identifies Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth as the most intelligent and
observant of the characters?
How can they each be seen as proud and prejudiced -- in what ways?
How do they come to enlightenment? What does each learn?
There is much satire in the story, and characters like Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins,
and Lady Catherine are considered funny, though they don't mean to be. Do
you like this kind of humor?
What does Austen show us about the way to find a life partner?
How does the story relate to Enlightenment themes, such as self-interest,
self-knowledge, moral blindness, and the balance between head and heart?
Why did Blake see Newton in a negative way?
How do you see Blake's view of contraries, as in the Songs of Innocence and Songs
of Experience?
What is Wordsworth's "romantic" vision in Tintern Abbey?
What is the appeal of Keats' Ode to a Nightingale, and Ode to Autumn?
Consider some goals and/or ideals of D'Alembert, Diderot, Beccaria or Kant.
On Ken Burn's Jefferson: What were Jefferson's most important values?
In what contradictory ways did he view the aristocratic life styles of France?
What were his most meaningful life decisions?
How might he compare to John Adams, his friend and one-time enemy?
Why was Mozart's talent not more profitable in Vienna?
What was the relationship between Count Almaviva and Figaro in his opera Marriage
of Figaro?
What are some examples of Ben Franklin's writing that still entertain and inform
us?
Consider Mary Shelley's or Mary Wollstonecraft's life and work -- what
differences in their cultural cultures do you see as significant?
What is wonderful about Beethoven?
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