NEOCLASSICISMcharacteristic world-view or value-system of this 'Age of Reason', denoting a preference for rationality, clarity, restraint, order, and decorum In literature: a significant influence on English writing, especially from c. 1660 to c. 1780 --- principle according to which the writing & criticism of poetry and drama were to be guided by rules and precedents derived from the best ancient Greek and Roman authorsShowing habitual deference to Greek and Roman models in literary theory and practice, neoclassicism emerged from the rediscovery of Aristotle's Poetics by Italian scholars in the 16th century, notably by J. C. Scaliger, whose dogmatic interpretation of the dramatic unities in his Poetica (1561) would profoundly affect the course of dramaAlong with Aristotle's theory of poetry as imitation and his classification of genres, the principles of the Roman poet Horace as expounded in his Ars Poetica (c.20 BCE) dominated the neoclassical or neoclassic view of literaturethese included the principle of decorum by which the style must suit the subject-matter, and the belief that art must both delight and instruct. central assumption - the ancient authors had already attained perfection, so that the modern author's chief task was to imitate them—the imitation of Nature and the imitation of the ancients amounting to the same thingAccordingly, the approved genres of classical literature ---- epic, tragedy, comedy, elegy, ode, epistle, epigram, fable & satire—were adopted as the favoured forms in this period. The period 1660-1780 in England = the 'NEOCLASSICAL PERIOD', (one very important development in this period—the emergence of the novel—falls outside the realm of neoclassicism)In England, neoclassicism reached its height in the Augustan Age - In English literary history, the term is usually applied to the period from the accession of Queen Anne (1702) to the deaths of Pope and Swift (1744-5) - The Augustans, led by Pope and Swift, wrote in conscious emulation of the Romans, adopted their literary forms (notably the epistle and the satire), and aimed to create a similarly sophisticated urban literary milieu: Conscious parallel with the grandeur of Imperial Rome - characteristic preference in Augustan literature, encouraged by the periodicals of Addison and Steele, was for writing devoted to the public affairs and coffee-house gossip of the imperial capital, London

The ENLIGHTENMENT AGEgeneral term applied to the movement of intellectual liberation that developed in Western Europe from the late 17th century to the late 18th (the period often called the 'Age of Reason'). intellectual movement which began in England in the seventeenth century (Locke and the deists), and developed in France in the eighteenth century (Bayle, Voltaire, Diderot, and other Encyclopaedists) and also (especially under the impetus of the rationalist philosophy of Christian Wolff ) in Germany (Mendelssohn, Lessing). But virtually every European country, and every sphere of life and thought, was affected by it. The age in which the movement predominated is known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. The Enlightenment culminated with the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Encyclopedists, the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and the political ideals of the American and French Revolutions, while its forerunners in science and philosophy included Bacon, Descartes, Newton, and Locke.contrasts with the darkness of irrationality and superstition that supposedly characterized the Middle Ages, but it is not easy to define in a general wayIMMANUEL KANT - essay entitled “WAS IST AUFKLARUNG?” (“What is the Enlightenment?”) – For Kant: E = mankind’s final coming of age, the emancipation of the human consciousness from an immature state of ignorance and error. Kant believed that this process of mental liberation was actively at work in his own time and would entail the advancement of knowledge (understanding of nature + self-understanding no less) – would propel this great leap forwardKant - enlightenment is the ‘emergence of man from his self-imposed infancy. Infancy is the inability to use one’s reason without the guidance of another. It is self-imposed, when it depends on a deficiency, not of reason, but of the resolve and courage to use it without external guidance. Thus the watchword of enlightenment is: Sapere aude! Have the courage to use one’s own reason!’ enlightenment (die Aufklarung) as man's emancipation from his self-incurred immaturity“Sapere aude” (dare to know) – Kant’s watchword – taken from Horace

Enlightenment thinking encouraged rational scientific inquiry (supreme faith in rationality, sought to discover & to act upon universally valid principles governing humanity, nature, & society), humanitarian tolerance, and the idea of universal human rightsIn religion, it usually involved the sceptical rejection of superstition, dogma, and revelation in favour of 'Deism'—a belief confined to those universal doctrines supposed to be common to all religions, such as the existence of a venerable Supreme Being as creatorThe advocates of enlightenment tended to place their faith in human progress and perfectibility --- brought about by the gradual propagation of rational principles. Enlightenment proponents variously attacked dogmatism, intolerance, censorship, & economic & social restraints

20th c critique of the Enlightenment:Dialectics of Enlightenment: MAX HORKHEIMER & THEODOR ADORNO: argued: no accident that reason often went hand in hand with absolutism: reason & science (far from promoting liberty) – encourage an absolutist cast of mind – assume absolute distinction between True & False, Right & Wrong (rather than pluralist diversity of values)MICHEL FOUCAULT (Madness and Civilisation, The Birth of the Clinic): Enlightenment principles & absolutist policy = fused (in name of rational administration) to promote cruel social policies – e.g. various kinds of social misfits (beggars, the sick, petty criminals, madmen) = taken off the streets – social residue, confined – locked up in institutions ------- what purported to be ‘enlightened action’ was ‘repressive’------!~ postmodernist thinkers (Leszek Kolakowski, Modernity on Endless Trial) – have accused the Enlightenment of promoting the absolutism of imperialist reason, while masquerading as tolerant and pluralist

ENGLANDAlready undergoing – before 18th c – those transformations in politics/religion/personal freedom for which French & other radicals had to clamour, unsuccessfully, all the century‘Glorious Revolution’ 1688 – England had achieved the guarantee of parliamentary representation & constitutional government, individual liberty (habeas corpus), substantial religious toleration, freedom of expression & publishingLocke (The Second Treatise of Civil Government) + his followers – produced blueprints for the enlightened society: a liberal regime based upon individual rights & natural law – priority of society over government – rational Christianity – sanctity of property (liberal economic policy) – faith in education – bold empiricist attitude twds advancement of knowledge (championed human capacity for progress through experience)Grand problem facing English intellectuals – 18th century: ≠ criticise an old regime =defend their polity (form of government of a nation, state, church, or organization) & make it work – Could a large measure of individual liberty prove compatible with socio-political stability? Or would limited constitutional government collapse into either anarchy or despotism?English state = constitutional polity: the Crown operated in a complex permanent partnership with the 2 Houses of Parliament – limitation of central power – encourage civil society (merchants, craftsmen, artisans) – self-sustaining economic & cultural growthTensions – did not reach breaking point because the state had already conceded liberty of expression + plenty of scope for the development of civil society & the economy – independent writers/propagandists/critics – no real threat to the state – English intellectuals & artists – often vocally anti-king & anti-ministry – profoundly identified themselves with the cause of the nation at large

Selected Sources:

Adorno, T. W. and M. Horkheimer, Dialectic of the Enlightenment, tr. J. Cumming (New York, 1972).Cassirer, E., The Philosophy of the Enlightenment (Princeton, NJ, 1951).Gay, P. J., The Enlightenment: An Interpretation, 2 vols. (London, 1973).