下文转载自华科哲学双学位班的新浪博客。
These days, I read An Excerpt on Criticism of Alexander Pope, the greatest poet in the first half of 18th century. He was good at using the heroic couplet, one of the characteristic of neoclassicists.
These days, I read An Excerpt on Criticism of Alexander Pope, the greatest poet in the first half of 18th century. He was good at using the heroic couplet, one of the characteristic of neoclassicists.
In the 18th century, which is also called the age of reason, the
outbreak of the Enlightenment movement had lightened people mind.
As Different from renaissance, the enlightenment paid more
attention on order and reason rather than personal value or
individualism. The most fundamental concept of the Enlightenment
was faith in nature and belief in human progress. Nature was seen
as a complex of interacting laws governing the universe. The
individual human being, as part of that system, was designed to act
rationally. If free to exercise their reason, people were naturally
good and would act to further the happiness of others. Accordingly,
both human righteousness and happiness required freedom from
needless restraints, such as many of those imposed by the state or
the church. The Enlightenment's uncompromising hostility towards
organized religion and established monarchy reflected a disdain for
the past and an inclination to favor utopian reform schemes. Most
of its thinkers believed passionately inhuman progress through
education. They thought society would become perfect if people were
free to use their reason. During this time, there were many famous
giants such as Marquis de Montesquieu
(1688-1755), Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau(1712-1778). And
Adam Smith (1723-1790), the Scottish father of modern economics,
David Hume (1711-1766), the best-known English skeptic, and Jeremy
Bentham (1748-1832), the founder of utilitarian philosophy.
If you want to know more about philosophy in 18th
century, you can read our text book, chapter 12.
The enlightenment concept reflected on literature field was the
revival of the classic. We call it neoclassicism. They had strict
rules on writing. On poem, they especially prefer to use what we
had mentioned before, the heroic couplet. (if you want to know more
about it, please google it).
Since you all know about the 18th century, now, I am
going to talk about my thoughts on this essay of Alexander
Pope.
Pope emphasized that the whole was a vast chain of being. That
means that all the creatures are just one link of the chain. In
some excerpts of this poem we can see the differences between the
Christian God and the reason god. It indicates that the world is
filled with infinite creature, and we are just one of the links of
this chain. The broken of one of the link, the whole system will be
destroyed. the order or the chain is all made by God, if we think
that you are capable to change it or disobey it,that is impossible
and it just show you are too pride and disrespectful to the
almighty god. God is with us, “great in the earth, as in the
ethereal frame, warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, glows in
the stars, and blossoms in the trees." all these show that god not
only with us, but also in us. Thought he give us imperfection, but
we should not blame the god, we must satisfied with what we are
having now. Everything happened accidentally but it is
predetermined by god. You think this discord is hard to understood,
but indeed, its harmony.
In Pope's words, we can see a whole now god image presents in
front of us. He has no feeling to specific creature but he equally
treats every creatures. He makes rules and creatures should obey
these rules and develop their individual characteristics .Has all
above these make you remind of something we have learnt in our
philosophy class? Yes, that is Daoism. I remember Limai had asked
the teacher once about the comparison between the Chinese Dao and
the western god. The teacher’s answer was that “they are different,
the god has feelings but Dao did not have. But both of them create
the whole world. The god would interfere what creatures are doing,
but the Dao will just let it develop and live freely. In the age of
18th century, the god is no longer the church god, he is
the reason god rational god.
To be continues, I am too exhausted right now. See you guys on
this Sunday.