We Need to Do Better Than Another Enlightenment

David Bell reflects on the Enlightenment, questioning its status as a high point of human achievement while acknowledging the complex and often harsh realities surrounding that era. He emphasizes the importance of understanding history in a broader context rather than romanticizing the past.

1. Cultural Background: Bell shares his Australian upbringing, which was less focused on intellectual pursuits and shaped by the realities of colonization and its impact on societal structures.

2. Understanding the Enlightenment: The Enlightenment is often seen as a golden age for intellectual progress. However, Bell argues that this period was also marked by slavery, oppression, and inequality, questioning whether such a period should be idealized.

3. Notable Achievements vs. Harsh Realities: While the Enlightenment produced beautiful art and notable thinkers like Handel and Rousseau, these achievements occurred in a context where many people lived in poverty, illiteracy, and oppression.

4. Romanticizing the Past: Bell critiques the tendency to romanticize earlier eras like the one that produced the Venetian Republic, which thrived on brutal practices like slavery. He considers this a shallow perspective, ignoring the suffering that had enabled such artistic flourishes.

5. Learning from History: While it's valuable to learn from the past, Bell emphasizes that history is often recorded by the elite and should not be misconceived as the ideal state of society.

6. Contemporary Freedom and Rights: Bell suggests that, despite current challenges, we enjoy more freedoms now than in previous eras. Recent losses of rights may push society closer to Enlightenment values rather than moving away from them.

7. Need for Noble Aspirations: He argues against yearning for a return to past conditions characterized by oppression and instead advocates for striving toward a more noble future, recognizing the tragic circumstances under which historical masterpieces were created.

Bell concludes that while the Enlightenment has its merits, it should not be romanticized. Instead, society should aim for continuous improvement and not be held back by a nostalgic view of the past, which was often marked by suffering and injustice. True artistic and intellectual pursuits should be appreciated in light of their complex origins, and humanity should aim for a future that goes beyond past failures. 

https://brownstone.org/articles/we-need-to-do-better-than-another-enlightenment/