The age of the autocracy of reason
pp. 485-511
in: , The posthumous life of Plato, Berlin, Springer, 1977Abstract
The 18th century inherited the faith in the faculties of human reason which was fostered in Descartes' and Leihniz's times, attempted to replace by this faith all other faiths, and applied the rule of reason in all wakes of life and to opinions about nature, human society and its institutions and religion as well. It conceded to reason a place which had hitherto been reserved for authority and tradition. Its science penetrated into politics, philosophy and theology. However, this very reasonableness provoked a reaction of those who opposed emotion to reason and nature to the culture of reason — this was Rousseau and the pre-Romantics akin to him — and it was also opposed by those who criticised the operation of reason itself, Hume and Kant, who held that if reason is to be the standard by which everything is measured, it must first be itself investigated and evaluated.