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Condorcet and the Meaning of Enlightenment

Lorraine Daston

Open publisher page 4 citations

Abstract

This lecture discusses the meaning of Enlightenment through Condorcet's eyes. It begins with the notion of lumières, which is a word best translated as ‘enlightenment’, but this time written in miniscule. This preserves the associations of wisdom and deeper insight that still cling to the word in English, such as in the phrase ‘spiritual enlightenment’. Next, the lecture explores the multiple senses of calculation. It also looks at how Condorcet sought to fight two variants of fear, one with lumières and the other with calculation. It finally concludes with some reflections on the Enlightenment, spiritual enlightenment, and the probability 0.999993.

About this research paper

What this paper is about

This lecture discusses the meaning of Enlightenment through Condorcet's eyes. It begins with the notion of lumières, which is a word best translated as ‘enlightenment’, but this time written in miniscule. This preserves the associations of wisdom and deeper insight that still cling to the word in English, such as in the phrase ‘spiritual enlightenment’. Next, the lecture explores the multiple senses of calculation. It also looks at how Condorcet sought to fight two variants of fear, one with lumières and the other with calculation. It finally concludes with some reflections on the Enlightenment, spiritual enlightenment, and the probability 0.999993.

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OpenAlex reports 4 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

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Available abstract

This lecture discusses the meaning of Enlightenment through Condorcet's eyes. It begins with the notion of lumières, which is a word best translated as ‘enlightenment’, but this time written in miniscule. This preserves the associations of wisdom and deeper insight that still cling to the word in English, such as in the phrase ‘spiritual enlightenment’. Next, the lecture explores the multiple senses of calculation. It also looks at how Condorcet sought to fight two variants of fear, one with lumières and the other with calculation. It finally concludes with some reflections on the Enlightenment, spiritual enlightenment, and the probability 0.999993.

Key concepts: Enlightenment, Condorcet method, Meaning (existential), Phrase, Philosophy, Literature, Linguistics, Epistemology

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