1.6 The Enlightenment, Part I: the Scientific Revolution

At the end of the last episode I said we would be discussing Gramsci’s response to strands of anti-intellectualism among the working class. I realized we need a little context to understand the significance of their anti-intellectualism, in part as a rejection of intellectuals of the capitalist class, and more specifically, intellectuals of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was not exclusively nor explicitly capitalist, but after describing the Enlightenment, I will attempt to draw the connection between the Enlightenment and capitalism, a connection that Gramsci took for granted. I will also argue that capitalism failed to fulfill the promises of the Enlightenment, and socialism is a renewed attempt to truly fulfill its promises. There is no consensus about the boundaries of the Enlightenment, though there is agreement about the ideas at the center of the movement. I will prioritizes the philosophical ideas driving it. I see philosophy as the discipline struggling to solve the problems created by each of the other disciplines that defined the Enlightenment: the scientific revolution and its challenges to Christianity, the political debates arising out of growing capitalist and working classes, and the complex interdependent international economies that emerged as a consequence. We will spend at least two episodes on the Enlightenment. Part I - [ ] Scientific Revolution