On The Ideological Characteristics And The Influence Of The British Enlightenment

The Enlightenment, continuing from the mid-17th century to 18th century, was an intellectual movement against feudalism and Christian Church in Europe and America. Britain took the lead in entering the era of the Enlightenment due to its unique political traditions, the rational Reformation and Puritanism campaign, splendid scientific achievements, and earlier Bourgeois Revolution.Newton was the most excellent scientist in the seventeenth century. Scientific achievements gained by Newton convinced people of law of nature. The British tried to apply the principle of law of nature to many fields, such as politics, economy, religion, culture and so on, to analyze all kinds of issues they faced then, and thus diversified thoughts and theories emerged. Firstly, British empiricism, initiated by Francis Bacon, believed that human knowledge originated from perception and experience, which attached much importance to practicalism. Secondly, the thinkers of the British enlightenment opposed Social Contract Theory to Divine Right, and argued against the autocratic monarchy by check-and-balance, which laid the foundation for modern constitutional system in the western world. Thirdly, economic liberalism, which was based on individualism and law of nature, played an important part in the course of the western economic development for more than one century.Lastly, the British, who were always equipped with Golden Mean, were far less radical than the French on dealing with religion, and thus, Deism and thought of religious tolerance ran through the British Enlightenment constantly.The British Enlightenment, affected by Scientific Revolution deeply, not only bore the characteristics of the Enlightenment, whose connotations were rationalism and progress, but also took on its own particular ideological characteristics. Scientific Revolution changed modes of thought of the Europeans and the Americans. Moreover, scientific research methods were widely used in many fields. Empiricism, originated from the development of science and British political and cultural traditions, was British unique mode of thought. Experience and facts were highly valued, which was the most important characteristic of the rationalism in Britain. Francis Bacon was the primogenitor of empiricism, and it was embraced by Hobbes, Locke, and Hume.However, the defects of empiricism made itself advance to Hume's skepticism, which formed another trait during the British Enlightenment. The British, who had a preference for empiricism, valued practicality well and despised phrasemongering. So the pragmatic thought became the main ideology during the British Enlightenment because of the achievements of natural science and the rise of middle class. And thus, the tradition of empiricism manifested itself as the conservatism in the fields of politics and religion. Therefore, all of them made the unique mode of the British Enlightenment.The British Enlightenment, being the headstream of the Enlightenment, promoted the rising of the European and American Enlightenment and the outbreak of revolutions in France and America undoubtedly. The thoughts and theories brought forward by the British thinkers involved all kinds of fields, among which, Hobbes'and Locke's political theories, Smith's thought of economic liberalism, the thought of religious tolerance, empiricism and pedagogy during the period of Enlightenment, exerted a profound and lasting influence upon politics, economy, and culture in the western world since modern times.