The first real criticism of the Enlightenment can be found in Jonathan Swift's satirical novel Gulliver's Travels. While we survey the book, we'll address the following questions:
- How does Swift's emphasis on human character critique the Enlightenment notion of homo universalis?
- In what way does Gulliver's Travels argue that man is not nearly as rational as Enlightenment philosophers have presumed him to be?
- Why does Swift seem to reject the concept of striving for immortality?
Recommended Reading: Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. 1726. Reprint, England: Oxford University Press, 2008.
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The Pillars: Jerusalem, Athens, and the Western Mind