開明是一種信念,相信用理性和科學方法可以促進人類文明,達到至善的社會和世界.
文藝復興以後，歷史上又出現另一個光輝的時代，那就是通稱的'理性時代', Age of Reason (1620-1720). 無獨有偶,在理性時代之後又出現了一個更光輝而燦爛的時代,那是'開明時代', Age of Enlightenment (1720-1790). 大部分歷史書把這兩個時代連起來講,因為年代太接近,可以一以貫之。光看年代不太清楚這兩個時代究竟有什麼不同。最好的方法是列举這些時代的名人，然後去了解和探討其間的不同及因素。
Age of Reason (1620-1720), 代表人物:
Bacon (1561–1626), Galileo (1564-1642), Hobbes (1588-1679), Descartes (1596-1690), Pascal (1623–1662), Spinoza (1632-1677), Leibniz (1646-1716), Locke (1632–1704)
這個時代注重在哲学思想和方法論. 這時期影响最大的是笛卡兒 (Descartes).
他的名言:
Cogito Ergo Sum (Latin)
I Think, Therefore I Am. (English)
我思故我在 (Chinese)
Age of Enlightenment (1720-1790), 代表人物:
Newton (1642-1726), Berkeley (1685-1753), Voltaire (1694-1778), Hume (1711-1776), Montesquieu (1689-1755), Rousseau (1772-1778), Diderot (1713-1784), Ben Franklin (1705-1790), Lavoisier (1743-1794), James Cook (1728-1779), Adam Smith (1723-1790)
這個時代側重在科学應用到社會,地理,歷史,經濟及政治哲学. 這時期影响最大的是 牛頓,伏尔泰和亞當斯密 (Adam Smith). 這時期影响最大的是伏尔泰 (Voltaire) .
他的名言:
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Age of Reason brought together the fruits of Renaissance and the concept of Reason.
Age of Enlightenment brought together the ideas of the Reason and the Scientific Revolution.
為方便起見，以下的討論可以同時適用在理性和開明時代，姑且稱之"理性開明時代"
This age generated some constructive and destructive power that shaped the new world. The ideals of liberty and reason helped to shape the government of the new country created by that revolution-the United States of America. The same idea also caused the downfall of the French Monarch and created the French Revolution.
We already mentioned the Masters of Renaissance, let's talk about the scholars of the Reason and Enlightenment. First, there were scientists who led the way out of the Renaissance; Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo showed that the idea of an Earth-Centered universe was wrong. Descartes had created a scientific philosophy for seeking truth. Everything had to be tested by the standard of reason. This idea was the basic to the Enlightenment. The epitome of the scientific revolution was Isaac Newton. He discovered the gravitation and the relation between force and matter. He published his master work, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. He unified all the previous scientific findings in this book.
Armed with the legacy of Renaissance and the concept of Reason, a new breed of the scholars began to influence the world. They are called Philosophes. They set forth the idea that people could apply reason to all aspects of life just as Newton had applied reason to science. At the heart of their mind were five ideas:
1. Reason: was the absence of intolerance, bigotry, or prejudice in one's thinking.
2. Nature: was good and reasonable. There were natural laws of economics and politics just as there were natural laws of motion.
3. Happiness: a person who lived by nature's laws would find happiness.
4. Progress: They believed in progress for society via scientific approach. They believed society and humankind could be perfected.
5. Liberty: Through reason, the philosophes believed, society could be set free.
Voltaire and his scholarly friends honoured reason as if it were a kind of divine force. They think, through the power of reason, society would make steady progress toward liberty and justice.
黄仁宇寫了一本書"萬曆十五年",英文名 "A Year of No Significance" (無足輕重的年代). 萬曆十五年乃西元 1587年,正是文藝復興的末尾和理性時代的開始. 在這時期,西方經文藝復興的洗禮,在文化上已凌駕東方,可是相差还不太遠. 可是從 1620 年後,西方開始以快速的脚步把東方遠遠抛在後面,其最大的原因就是東方缺乏理性和開明的思想. 中國的理学在宋朝已發跡,到明朝王陽明更發揚光大. 可是中国理学太著重儒学的改造和新的銓釋,又在缺乏科学的支持和應用,開明思想没法深耕,所以在政治经济和一些民生有關的新观念没法產生. 尤其是在政治思想上,東方一直没有突破,其呆滞一直延續到二十一世紀. 勉強可以提到是明朝黄宗羲的'明夷待訪錄'. 可是他的開明思想祇是在纸上,一直没受到社會的重視,更不用提其影响力了. 至於兩千三百年前孟子的'民本君轻'思想,一直是口號而已. 天子的观念在中國根深蒂固,專制思想没有消失,一直到二十世纪才稍有改变. 但天子雖去,專制政杈思想和制度还在继续,不知何日真正的民本政治才能在中國發揚光大.
