The Age of Enlightenment

The age of enlightenment was a philisophical movement that heavily occurred in the Europe in the 18th century.  This was during a period when science was breaking away from the Church which for centuries had dominated peoples lives in the way that they lived.  This is not to say that people weren’t religious but there was a stronger sense of freedom that existed which included individual liberties and religious tolerance to each individual.  This theory is closely linked with the scientific revolution, breaking away from the Church led to the political revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries by empowering people to have a voice and interpretation of the world around us.

Rene Descartes’ rationalist philosophy alid the foundations for enlightenment thought by constructing science on a metaphysical basis.  His skepticism was refined by John Locke’s Essay: Concerning Human Understanding (1690) concerning the foundation of human knowledge and David Hume’s writings examine passion not reason was the governing factor influencing human behavior.  This laid down two significant lines of enlightenment: 1) reform vs power and faith 2) Democracy, Liberty, freedom of expression.  Philosophers advocating this theory wanted to emphasize the intellect from within from these overshadowing themes which contrasted counter Enlightenment philosophers who sought a return to faith and argued  that beauty existed in and out of this world.  This influenced art in this era because in the transition from faith to science, questioning where we stand, artists very much explored the idea of heaven being on earth as Earth being a hub for all things paradisaical.  This links to my project exploring creationism, evolution and the process of change – acting as backdrops for freedoms in nature and over that freedoms of spirituality in nature.

The Theory of the Sublime

In terms of Aesthetics  (a branch of philosophy exploring the nature of art, beauty and taste within the creation of beauty), is the quality of greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, spiritual measures that is beyond human comprehension.

The concept of the world appearing  sublime in an aesthetic form in how nature is distinct from beauty first arose heavily in the 18th century with three particular philosophers Anthony Ashley Cooper,  John Dennis and Joseph Addison – exposing the fearful and irregular forms of external nature with reference to sublimity.  Each of thee men had journeyed across the Alps and this essentially inspired them to express their accounts of the horror and harmony of the experience, highlighting the contrasting relationship of each aesthetic quality.

Contrastingly, Edmund Burke’s concept of the sublime was developed in the book: A Philosophical Enquiry into the origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful.  He believes that the sublime and the beautiful are mutually exclusive.  Burke heavily referenced the concept of light vs darkness as he advocates that beauty is made predominantly significant because of light, but either intense light or darkness is sublime in that it reconfigured the sight of an object and turn it into a sense of awe and wonder but also with horror because it connotes feelings of darkness, uncertainty and confusion.  The sublime may invoke horror, however in doing this, one receives pleasure in knowing the perception is fiction.  Burke identified the idea of the theory of the sublime as in his own words: “delightful when we have an idea of pain and danger, without being actually, in such circumstances… whatever excites this delight, I call the sublime.” (Burke, E. [date) A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Oxford. Oxford University Press).

In Art

One artist who is well established in being philosophically influenced in their artwork for the sublime are JMW Turner.  Turner revolutionized the uses of light and color which he utilizes when capturing aesthetically beautiful natural world scenes by recalling experiences and their impacts internally and externally, expressing them through his work.   He clearly displays how Burke’s theories on light and darkness, and how both these factors create a sense of horror that exists to allow the viewer to feel exhilaration that the artist is capturing.

The oil painting Snow Storm I believe captures the awe and wonder found within the sublime.  The storm is creating danger within the image that creates a sense of exhilaration that is almost dangerous and out of control.  This links to Burke’s theory because he describes the sublime as being successfully endorsed through feelings of horror and through that, the viewer finds these perceived feelings enjoyable knowing that it is fiction.  For example the brush strokes showing the impact of the forces of nature such as the wind, the sea and the light I believe emphasizes this.