Enlightenment and Racism

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes some of the writings of Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. The writer illustrates how these authors represent the height of learning and literary achievement in this era, yet they express views on race and racial divisions that we would not consider enlightened today.

From the Paper:

"Racial divisions have occurred throughout history, just as other cultural and ethnic differences have caused dissension, conflict, and war. The Enlightenment is name given to the period in European history when writing and thought in general was characterized by an emphasis on experience and reason. This meant there was a mistrust of religion and traditional authority, and one result was the gradual emergence of the ideals of liberal, secular, democratic societies. The Enlightenment is associated with a materialist view of human beings, an optimism about human progress through education, and a general utilitarian approach to society and ethics. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were part of the Enlightenment in Europe, but the fact that this was an age of the application of reason did not mean that even the most educated were enlightened about the subject of race."

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