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The Enlightenment was something new under the sun. The Islamic Golden Age was intellectually impressive but nothing in it presages the ideas of individualism an
by barry-cotter 7y ago
The Enlightenment was something new under the sun. The Islamic Golden Age was intellectually impressive but nothing in it presages the ideas of individualism and freedom that are at the heart of the Enlightenment project.
- hoseja 7y agoThe heart of the Enlightenment project is the realization that educated, non-poor citizens are more effective at waging war with other countries.
- barry-cotter 7y agoThat’s not an accurate description of the military revolution that began with Revolutionary France and the levée en masse or of the Prussian General Staff system, the two major military organizational innovations of the Enlightenment era. Prussia and France both had mass armies but neither was terribly well educated, officers aside, and calling Prussian subjects citizens is misleading in the extreme. It suggests participation in political life that was restricted to a tiny segment of the population.