The Age of Enlightenment - The Deeper Thinking Podcast

The Age of Enlightenment

How Reason Reshaped the World—and Why It’s Still Unfinished

The Enlightenment was one of the most transformative intellectual movements in history, challenging monarchy, religious orthodoxy, and the limits of human knowledge. But was it truly the dawn of reason—or a flawed project with unintended consequences?

This episode takes a deep, non-polemical dive into the Enlightenment’s ideas, tracing its evolution from early rationalist and empiricist debates to its impact on modern democracy, science, and human rights.

The episode also examines Romanticism as a counter-reaction, critiques from thinkers like Edmund Burke and Friedrich Nietzsche, and the ongoing debate over whether we are in a new Enlightenment or a digital Dark Age.

The Battle Between Reason and Power

This episode traces the Enlightenment across three interwoven dimensions:

1. The Foundations of Reason – Rationalism vs. Empiricism

Philosophers like René Descartes and John Locke laid the groundwork for human knowledge, but their approaches were at odds. Was knowledge derived from pure reason, or was it shaped entirely by experience? David Hume took skepticism to its extreme, questioning causality itself.

2. Enlightenment vs. Revolution – Liberty or Chaos?

The American and French Revolutions were fueled by Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau, but could reason alone create a just society? The Reign of Terror challenged the Enlightenment’s faith in rational governance.

3. The Digital Enlightenment – Knowledge or Misinformation?

The Enlightenment dreamed of universal knowledge, but today, information is abundant—and dangerously fragmented. Does AI represent the next step in human rationality, or is it an algorithmic distortion of truth?

The Unfinished Enlightenment: What Happens Now?

Does the modern rejection of expertise signal the failure of the Enlightenment? Or do today’s struggles—polarization, misinformation, and AI decision-making—demand a new Enlightenment?

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📖 Further Reading

📖 The Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790 – Ritchie Robertson
🔹 A sweeping account of the Enlightenment’s ideals, contradictions, and impact.
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📖 Critique of Pure Reason – Immanuel Kant
🔹 A foundational work on knowledge, morality, and autonomy.
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📖 Reflections on the Revolution in France – Edmund Burke
🔹 A conservative critique of the Enlightenment’s faith in reason.
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📖 The Genealogy of Morals – Friedrich Nietzsche
🔹 A radical rejection of Enlightenment morality.
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📖 Enlightenment Now – Steven Pinker
🔹 Argues that the Enlightenment’s values remain our best hope.
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📖 The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World – Catherine Nixey
🔹 Explores how religious reactionaries tried to suppress Enlightenment thought.
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