Where There Was Darkness
Members of the Year 11 Colloquium have begun an examination of the 18th Century European Enlightenment. In the initial session, students considered the value of labels like “Enlightenment” “Renaissance” “The Sixties”, convenient shorthands or unhelpful generalisations? What was the darkness the Enlightenment was challenging? The power of ignorance, superstition and tradition which moulded the political, legal and social systems of most European countries in the early 18th century was the target the Enlightened writers, or philosophes, had identified. The students also examined the secularising effects of this movement, specifically on the origin of moral values. What form the challenges took, is however, the subject of the next session.
