Expert: J.M.J. West - 10/2/2008

Question
QUESTION: Can you please explain the difference between the enlightenment and romanticism? Thank you.

ANSWER: Thank you for your question, Marisol.  The basic answer is that this is the difference between "head" and "heart" (though in truth, I think it's silly to split them apart).

The Enlightenment was a philosophical move which put reason as the central basis and sole authority for all things.  It sought to explain everything in the world, from natural science to human behavior, via rational explanations.  It was, in many ways, a knee-jerk reaction to many of the religious wars between Catholics and Protestants which at times got beyond tragic and into...silly.

The two main camps in the enlightenment were the Rationalists like Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz (all on the European Continent), and the Empiricists like Locke, Berkeley and Hume (all Brits).

Romanticism is a knee-jerk reaction to the Enlightenment, which was viewed by many as dehumanizingly cold and overly rational.  Romanticism sought to de-throne "sola ratio" (reason alone) and find meaning in passion and existence itself, prizing intuition, imagination and feeling.  It reached into all facets of life, from music to art, and even science and philosophy.  Some noteable figures were Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Beethoven and folks like Rousseau, Emerson and Thoreau.

You might find the following articles helpful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

Does that help?

Peace,

-J.M.J. West

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: That was extremely helpful, Thank you. But I have another question :) What would you say is an aspect of romanticism that is still in society today? Any example would be great!

Answer
The fact that we value human feelings and emotions, that we celebrate "individuals", that we love fiction for the sake of fiction; heck Humanities departments in general and even the very Constitution of our country could also serve - at least in part - as examples.  These are all left-over strains of Romanticism, or at least were greatly affected by Romanticism.  NOTE: Romanticism is not necessarily ROMANTIC.  It was greatly interested in human experience and the shaping of one's own destiny.

Does that help?

-J.M.J. West