Age of Endarkenment

The Age of Endarkenment is a colloquialism which appeared in the 18th century[1] and denotes a philosophical disagreement with the implication of the term the Enlightenment, that mankind was indeed benefited by its new philosophical and specifically metaphysical approach to describing reality. The term expresses resentment of the use of the term "enlightenment" usually because of its withdrawal of support for the Aristotelean system of causality, which includes material causes, formal causes, efficient causes and final causes.[2]

The term can also refer to various revolutions across Europe which manifested Anti-Catholicism (since the Church was in "power" before), such as the Reign of Terror during the French revolution and implementation of the Religion of Humanity, the Red Terror (Spain) during the Spanish revolution, or the very proposition that men are equal, or created equal. The term can also refer to various negative events involved with the removal of the Catholic Church's temporal power and the separation of Church and State. It can oppositely refer to the time period of Galileo and the Catholic Church's adverseness to scientific advancement.[2][3]

It is often a way to express a disagreement with the concept of a mechanistic approach to the world where reality exists only in the demonstrable, most often the scientifically demonstrable.[1]

It has also been used to describe the rise since the early 1980s of unscientific and antiscientific beliefs, largely driven by dogma, especially in relation to creationism[4] and alternative medicine.[5]

The term "endarkenment" is also used by conservative philosopher Roger Scruton to refer to processes by which human minds are disciplined into following socially acceptable ways of behaving.[6][7]

References

  1. 1 2 The gentleman's magazine, and historical chronicle, Volume 60, Part 1
  2. 1 2 Feser, Edward (2010). The Last Superstition. St. Augustine Press. ISBN 978-1-58731-451-3. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  3. ↑ Weissmann, Gerald (2007). Galileo's gout: science in an age of endarkenment. Bellevue Literary Press. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  4. ↑ The facts of evolution: fighting the Endarkenment, Gerald Weissmann, Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, vol 19 no. 12 DOI:10.1096/fj.05-1001ufm
  5. ↑ The Age Of Endarkenment, David Colquhoun, The Guardian, 15 Aug 2007
  6. ↑ Ireland, P. (1997). Endarkening the mind: Roger Scruton and the power of law. Social & Legal Studies, 6(1), 51.
  7. ↑ Stafford, J. M. (1991). The two minds of Roger Scruton. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 11(2), 187-193.
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