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Discussion Group I

Enlightement-From Peter Hans and Ellen Judy Wilson: Encyclopedia of the Enlightement, rev. ed, Facts on File,New York, 2004 [1996]

I.FREEMASONS (pp 209-211)

Freemason was an organization that originated in 17th century England and Scotland. During the 18th century,the Freemasons spread throughout Europe spreading the ideals, ideas, and sociability of theENLIGHTENMENT.

a)IMPORTANT DATES:-1641 in Edinburgh, Scotland: earliest record of this speculative Freemansonry- October 1646:the earliest reference to an English organization (made by the Oxford professor Elias Ashmolein its diary)- between 1700 and 1720: The Scotish lodge established the first French Masonic lodges to provide a secretorganization through which to disseminate their political claims-1717: four London Masonic lodges united to create the Grand Lodge of London(philosophers and pastorscommitted to spreading the ideas of: Isaac Newton, mechanical philosophy,deism)- in 1723: Desaguliers drafted the first constitution of the Freemansons as The Constitutions of the FreeMasonscontaining the History, Charges, Regulations, etc., of that most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity, Forthe Use of the Lodges- Lodges appeared in : Ghent (1722); Paris (1726); the American colonies and Russia (1731); Florence (1733);Poland and Lisbon (1735); Hamburg, Geneva, and Sweden (1737); and Copenhagen (1743)-between 1736 and 1738: French government tried unsuccessfully to limit their activities

b)GOALS:- they were searching for the universal religious beliefs rooted in the natural feelings and ideas of earliest

primitive human beings, hopeing that such a natural religion could act as a substitute for dogmaticforms of Christianity and that this universal set of beliefs would bring men (no women were originally admitted)from conflicting religious and socioeconomic backgrounds together into a common brotherhood of humanityand this goes back to the ideals of the Enlightenment (religious toleration, the universal brotherhood ofhumankind, reason, progress, perfectibility, and humanitarian values)c)IMPORTANT FIGURES:- GEORGE WASHINGTON, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, MONTESQUIEU, SEBASTIEN-ROCH-NICOLASCHAMFORT,CLAUDE-JOSEPH VERNET, JEAN HOUDON, VOLTAIRE, JOSEPHJRME LALANDE,FREDERICK II (THE GREAT) OF PRUSSIA; JOSEF VON SONNENFELS; WOLFGANG AMADEUSMOZART; FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN; GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM LESSING

II.HERMETICISM (pp 269-270)Hermeticism is a quasireligious philosophical movementwhich attempted not only to maintain some sort ofreligion and spirituality, but also to marry it to a form of science.*Historically, hermeticism refers to beliefs found in the writings of Hermes Trismegistusa)The Hermetic View of God and Persons:God is knowable through humankinds use of mind to contemplatenature and God

b)Hermetic Science: the world, both divine and natural, could be known through the manipulation of theforms and substances of mercury, sulphur, and solid metalsc)The Hermetic Legacy: played a role in the growth of later esoteric traditions, such as 18th centuryRosicrucianism and Freemasonry in Europe and America.!!Hermeticism continued to inspire many romantic artists, musicians, and writers, including SAMUELTAYLOR COLERIDGE, WILLIAM BLAKE,VICTOR HUGO, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHEAND JOHANN SALOMO SEMLER

III.THE BAVARIAN ILLUMINATI(pp 292-293)Was a secret revolutionary organization founded in 1776 by the law professor Adam Weishaupt.- illuminati merely means enlightened or illumined.- The Bavarian Illuminati represented the extreme radical wing of the AUFKLRUNG(German enlightenment)a)IMPORTANT DATES:

-in 1784 and 1785: Decrees aimed at suppressing the Illuminati and other secret organizations wereissued by Karl Theodor Wittelsbach.

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- in 1785: the decree (Freimauerpatent) of Emperor Joseph II banned the Illuminati and limited theactivities of the Freemasons.

-in 1787, the organization of the Illuminati had collapsed.b)IMPORTANT MEMBERS:-WEISHAUPT, FRANZ XAVER VON ZWACKH, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH JACOBI, JOHNANNWOLFGANG VON GOETHE, JOHANN GOTTFRIED HERDER, KARL-AUGUST, DUKE OF WEIMAR.

IV.ROSICRUCIANSWas a secret society whose name derived from a combination of two words: rose and cross. It was also knownas the Rosy Cross.a)IMPORTANT DATES-in 1614 and 1616 first appeared in Europe-by the Thirty Years War (16181648) the Rosicrucian phenomenon died out-by the beginning of the 18th century the Rosicrucian brotherhood had reappeared in Germany

b)ASPECTS- claimed to have access to secret knowledge that would empower men (no women were admitted to themembership) to dominate nature by blending alchemy, ancient occult teachings of Egypt, and Renaissance

Neoplatonism with Christian doctrine=> Rosicrucian doctrine shares with the Enlightenment the belief inthe perfectibility of men and in the ability of the human intellect to acquire the wisdom of God.

c)MAJOR ROSICRUCIAN writers during the 18th century:- BERNARD JOSEPH SCHLEISS VON LWENFELD, JOSEPH WILHELM SCHRDER, GEORG VONWELLING, CARL WCHTER.

V.SECRET SOCIETIES (pp 523-524)Were political and occult organizations whose goals were variously to reform political and social institutions orto experience personal enlightenment.a)Ritualistic and Mystical Secret Societies: many secret societies were occult or mystical in nature. The 18thcentury saw the growth of groups devoted to the study and rituals of the texts of hermeticism( the Jewishkabbalah, and other ancient writings that had supposedly been lost to earlier generations)EXAMPLES: THE ROSICRUCIANS AND THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR,BAVARIAN ILLUMINATI,FREEMANSONS

MEMBERS: THOMAS JEFFERSON, GEORGE WASHINGTON, AND BENJAMIN FRANKLIN and manysupporters of the FRENCH REVOLUTIONb)Political Secret Societies: not all the secret societies in the 18th century were of an occult nature. There weremany clubs whose political goals required that their membership be secret.EXAMPLES:CLUBS OF JACOBITES, THE WHITEBOYS, THE OAKBOYS, THE DEFENDERS,THEUNITED IRISHMEN, CARBONARI