J.M.W. Turner: Bell Rock Lighthouse (1819)

While this isn’t necessarily something that I come across everyday, I feel as if this image is an accurate representation of the sublime. I am a huge fan of Turner’s paintings and I often leaf through a book I have which showcases his paintings, and this one stood out to me. From the reading I noticed that the sublime represents beauty and fear; sometimes in nature. This painting by Turner illustrates the beauty of a lighthouse during a storm. There is a sort of eeriness to this painting, the storm clouds in the background indicate a sense of horror and distress, while the light falling on the lighthouse showcases it’s beauty which prevails throughout the storm. While looking at this painting you see both the beauty and the fear of the storm. Images like this are something we encounter in our everyday lives, and prevail through many aspects of both Gothic and modern literature.

Olga K.

Gothic; an new element in literature created in the Romantic Period. Unlike the traditional frictions, Gothic contained the evil sides of the human beings, what they can do to satisify themselves, what kinds of tragedies that can happen to them, and what kinds of evil thought they can think of or come up with. Even today, the Gothic is still popular. Well, the movies to those classic or newly formed stories made from frictions are the best choices for Halloween. At least, they are scary enough to fit the that holiday. Furhtermore, modern literture also contains elements of darkness or the elements of Gothic in frictions they are including murder, the skills murderers use to murder a character, plus many more dark elements are including. Those elements made the stories to be more interesting for readers, and made the stories to be more wonderdul.

Other than literature, in real world people brought the Gothic clothings alive. Especially for girls, those Gothic dress are welcomed by ladies at all age. There’s are mom that brought Gothic styled dress for their daughter just because those dress are good looking. Also, for cosplay festivals, ladies put on Gothic dresses. Plus, in many anime the Gothic elements are used, althought they represents the evil sides. The Gothic has shaped the way how people think, modern day, we viewed those dark elements normally. Without those, we as the readers or movie watchers would think that it is not splendid, can’t bring up our emotion toward the stories.

The excerpt Edmund Burke. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of theSublime and Beautiful discussed the sublime and many factors very precisely to my own daily life. In my daily life I actually never think of Sublime, but I always undergo it, it may not be daily, but I still feel it. I feel astonished with many events I’m put into, it’s as if everything stops and you just appreciate what you have in front of you for however long the euphoria last.  You feel as if your life is complete at that very moment. Following the primary focus of Sublime obscurity comes into play, I believe obscurity does play a critical role. In my daily life, there is the constant attraction to things I don’t know, I wonder how things occur and how things will be and when I actually sit and look at me and feel astonished, the effect of sublime is back. I constantly think about what’s after life, the infinite possibilities that lie that we just don’t know, how did this actually happen, does the supernatural exist, do aliens exist. I love the feeling of my mind wandering constantly, I hate the idea of not wandering and just being content with what’s actually there. That brings me to the belief that yes, obscurity has a more powerful effect than clearness will ever have. I want to solve and a puzzle that can never be solved, I want to learn about my mind and others.

This reading discusses the many factors that have shaped, what I would call, the guidelines on how to exist as a human being. It talks about the elements of human development throughout the period of Enlightenment of searching within ourselves as people, rather than looking to an outside source for answers. It was a period where people began to believe in themselves and really began questioning what was always known to be fact. Religion, traditions, leadership, monarchies, all in which once upon a time was the undisputable truth. Rather than accepting continuing to accept what has always been, people around the world grew a curiosity for further discovery and explorations of themselves and the universe they belonged to.

Society, in my perspective, is one of the largest factors in shaping the development of a person. Society has a way of setting an acceptable set of guidelines of what it is to be a person, and how one should act. It is around us at all times, keeping a close eye, making sure we feel the pressure of values that morals at all times. The Enlightenment period seemed as though it was the first step to the acceptance of individuality, and with ever step astray, there will be a struggle between the old and the new, a grey area, and uncertainty of where the boundaries of the present society lies. The passage states, “It was generally believed that human nature remains in all times and places the same: all people hope and fear, are envious and lustful, and possess the capacity to reason. All suffer loss, all face death. Thinkers of the Enlightenments emphasized these common aspects of humanity far more than they considered cultural dissimilarities,” allowing people the confidence to express themselves, knowing that they will be judged in a light which was assumed by others as human nature… pushing boundaries of society and going further than ever before, allowing improvement in the human race.

This period of Enlightenment is very relatable to the present period we live in today. Not to say our society wholly accepts the individuality of all people of the world, but the vast majority is opening a path for accepting all rarities of people of all nature. Our generation is pushing to set new precedents, channeling acceptance, and building an intolerance of discrimination against superficial land ‘cultural’ differences. Very similar to the thinkers of the Enlightenment.

Irene

The Enlightenment Legacy could be summarized with the general description of life in the reading as “understood as a struggle between rationality and emotion, with feeling frequently exercising controlling force (Norton 5).  This quote seems to highlight the questioning nature of the Enlightenment movement, where men and women began to explore their abilities and question the claims made by authority figures. The acknowledgment of human nature that dictates many of our lives presents itself as a challenge not only to authority figures of the times but also to individuals themselves. Introspecting thinking preceded outward seeking as knowledge and communication became widespread during the times. The questioning nature of the Enlightenment against authority or ritualistic beliefs is present today in social aspects of contemporary life.

One aspect of contemporary life that could be compared to the questioning nature of the Enlightenment Legacy is the evolution of independent internet broadcasting. Most customs and communication methods before the new millennium between coworkers, schoolchildren and friends could be based on existing forms of media such as TV shows, and movies. With the development and the widespread usage of worldwide web services, blogging is possible and sometimes memes are used colloquially as forms of speech. People begin to explain the rituals in their daily lives and question the reasons for their habits.

The internet could be said to be a platform for the contemporary Enlightenment Legacy. It could be likened to the saloons in upper class Enlightenment society mentioned in the article (Norton 7), where women were able to converse in new ways throughout the 18th century. Just like many connections were forged between like minds in the original Enlightenment movement, many more connections are being made today by participants in the different communication spheres across the web today. Even though it is a platform for re-evaluating current behaviors and cultural norms, it is still part of a movement characteristic of a generation of people.

In this piece we start of contemplating the balance, and importance, of embracing the old or the new. The Author has us questioning what it means to be human. He brings in the opinion of several philosophers such as Descartes and Hume to provide contrasting opinions. I was content to see that the author used several different points of view to reflect upon this question. From my point of view as a reader it built trust in what he was writing. It wasn’t like he asked a question and immediately answered it with his own opinion, instead he gives the reader some time to formulate their own thoughts.

I think with the question of what it means to be human the author also brought up the debate of ones autonomy. The question of being human is followed by different ideologies such as: Descartes statement, ‘I think therefore I am’ (Norton 4) v. Hume point of view that,’the idea of individual identity [being] a fiction constructed by our minds,’ (Norton 4). Then the Question of authority – to is discussed to great lengths in the reading – brings up the debate of whether or not we can rely on our own judgment to guide us through life v. having to live by the voice of authority, such as a religious figure.

By the time the reading ends it seems, if we tie back to the initial debate of traditionalist v. modernist, that enlightened thinkers (the modernists) would emphasize the continuous truths of human nature from good to bad in all people. I would assume that this created a fracture in the among writers and most likely a bias. The author discussed the impact that universal truths to human characteristics would have had on writers during that time. “It provided a test of excellence: if an authors imagining of character failed to conform to what eighteen-century readers understood as human nature, a work might be securely judged inadequately. Conversely, the idea of a constant human nature held out the hope of longevity for writers who successfully evoked it” (Norton 9). because of the possibility of literary mortality, there would be a pressure on writers to be innovative in the field yet conform the to 18th century way of thinking. Something too revolutionary would surely be chastised and forgotten.

This piece discusses many truths that we as humans have struggled with and tried to cope with for centuries. With the main question being ‘What does it means to be human’? The Enlightenment was a time where we began questioning reason, religious control, and moved away from traditional standards. We began questioning and defining our relationships with ourselves, with others, and with the universe around us. If God is just the “watch-maker” it is us who has the power to make decisions, to think critically and skeptically in order to answer these truths. The conflict between old vs. new, the unwavering thirst for more; whether that be for power, wealth, knowledge,  or advancements in society is something people still struggle in our society.

For years people blindly followed conventions that were passed down and taught to them by the society in which they existed. At this time people began to break out of these conventions and their codes of behavior and began to embrace individualism. Instead of relying on the words of the priest, or the authority of the King, Enlightenment thinkers began to express ideals of relying on your own authority. Because of this, rebellions and revolutions began to take place in England and the Americas as the notion of divine right began to die out. As Thomas Hobbes stated, prior to the formation of societies life was “mean, brutish and short; and men and women banded together for the sake of preservation and progress”. We could move away from this standard of life and begin living a life more meaningful and progressive.

Once we realized we had more to offer than just to live, work and die, we had the power to harness free thought and express our emotions, giving us a better understanding of emotions in general. Inclusiveness amongst people from all genders, races, and classes would prove difficult and a long time coming. Yet, many thinkers focused on the idea that there are common aspects of humanity and by focusing on these commonalities rather than the cultural dissimilarities, the essay states “readers and writers alike could draw on this convention about universality”. This provided stable ground for works to be published that would hold truth throughout time by focusing on constant human nature. The Enlightenment period was a vital step away from the norms in which people assumed and into a new era of free thinking.

Society is what carves us as human beings. Its with us all the time, from the day we are born until our last day on earth we conform to society. The proof behind this is the way we think, the choices we make, the things we do. All of this has been influenced by society. We don’t just proceed and do spontaneous things throughout life without thinking of the judgement and consequences from what society has molded and spit out at us.

Society has played many valuable roles within the many periods throughout history. One important one being the Enlightenment period. This thought that men and women were created equally was brought about during the time period. This period brought about the starting of a revolution in America. It brought women together and they became equal with men. Gaining the same opportunities offered to the male race, such as jobs and writing books. Women were not the only ones affected by this period.

The Enlightenment Period led to the American Revolution. This period wasn’t only about standing up for ones self but becoming knowledgable and knowing you do not have to always conform to what is taught to you. One of the most important periods in American history. It led to Americans defending themselves against unfair acts of taxation from Britain and having a voice.  No matter where you are or what you’re doing society has a say in the choices you make. Society may not approve of going against the “norm” but its bound to happen just like it did during the Enlightenment period.

-Priyana

The reading, “The Enlightenment in Europe and the America’s”, underscores and foreshadows many key aspects of our contemporary life and it’s Enlightenment legacy. The reading begins with the “quarrel between ancients and moderns”—which points to a similar parallel we see in modern society, between the quarrel and tension of conservatives and progressives. Ancients held on to things that were familiar and deemed established truths; they feared,”…that new commitment to individualism promoted by the moderns might lead to social alienation, unscrupulous self-seeking, and lack of moral responsibility.” (Norton 1) Ancients did not have a desire, nor justify the necessity thereof, to create new values—based on their understanding of universal and absolute truth. On the contrary, modernists sought the importance of “individual autonomy” and the push for education among women, along with other progressive and intellectual findings. Fundamentally, the concept of an “ancient” like thinking and a “modern” like thinking, did not change and will never change in an ever-growing society.

Enlightenment thinkers challenged the constant reliance and dependence on higher authority—sparking a rebellion like mentality, similar to what American colonists did to Great Britain. Human beings, according to the thinkers, argued they “…could rely on their own authority—rather than looking to priests or prices—to decide how to act well in the world.” (Norton 5). This was a progressive view point, that directly challenged those who held on to traditional and classical views, whom where known as deists. Deists argued against the need to rely on their own authority, because there was a “divine plan” that was set in place. The analogy of the watchmaker explains how a divine figure ordained and planned our lives, though does not facilitate the day-to-day operations. “…God never interfered with nature or with nature or human action…as ethics was increasingly understood as a matter of reason.” (Norton 4). The reading recognizes the need for balance in passion and reason among human beings. “One could hope to steer with reason as guide, but one had to face the omnipresent of unreasonable passions.” (Norton 5). We can see this unfold in the contemporary political environment, among both conservatives and liberals alike. The violent and brewed up emotions across both political camps, unfortunately discourage and eliminate the opportunity for individuals to discuss controversial topics based on reason and fact. The constant fear among past and current politicians are expressed here: “Those who believed in the desirability of reason’s governance often worried that it rarely prevailed over feelings of greed, lust, or the desire for power.

-Danny Lee

I thought this article called The Enlightened in Europe and the Americas, was very interesting. In the beginning of the article it talked about how we humans move fast and seek progress. But somewhere in our lives we start to think about this progress as a bad thing because we are unable to keep up with the new things that are happening. I think this is very true. I am sure as I get older I might be saying the same thing. As we get older we do some things as everyday things and are in our own comfort zone. This is not always a bad thing, but sometimes due to that comfort zone we sometimes stop keeping up with the world. This leads us into feeling not a part of something and makes us feel that the world around. Another thing the article talked about was that people hide behind culture or their community or religion and do some things that logically cannot be explained. For instance, in 2017, our new president Donald Trump has banned many Islamic countries to come to United States. He said that will reduce Islamic Terrorist attacks that have been happening because of people that follow a certain religion. That makes no sense to me because terrorists have no religion. Religion only spreads peace within people and communities. Lately, we had so many shootings that took place and kill and injured and that was because of a white person. I do not see these politicians say these attacks were by few Christian or Catholic terrorists. But no they will still blame other groups of people that have nothing to with these attacks. Rather standing by each other’s side, these politicians do exactly what the terrorists want. That we fight with each other rather than helping each other during bad times as human beings.

Simarjit Singh