Guide in PDF format

Philosophy of the Enlightenment

Code: 100307
Credits: 6

2026/2027

Degree programme	Type	Course
Philosophy	OB	2

Contact lecturer

Name :: Alejandro Mumbrú Mora
Email :: alejandro.mumbru@uab.cat

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

None.

Objectives

This course offers a critical and contextualized introduction to the main philosophical debates of the European Enlightenment, particularly during the 17th and 18th centuries. Its aim is to explore how Enlightenment thought reshaped conceptions of history, politics, education, and reason, laying the conceptual foundations of our contemporaneity.

The course begins with a general overview of the Enlightenment as an intellectual and cultural project, emphasizing its faith in reason, progress, and emancipation. From there, we examine key issues in the Philosophy of history, such as the idea of progress, the role of war, and transformations in educational theory. In the field of Political philosophy, we address topics such as the origins of society and property, the legitimacy of the state, and the place of civil disobedience within established political orders.

A central part of the course is devoted to the critical analysis of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, often seen as an anomaly within the Enlightenment framework. Special attention is given to his reception and critique of Hobbes's and Locke’s social contract theories, as well as the tensions his work generates within Enlightenment ideals.

We also study Kant’s transcendental philosophy as a philosophical culmination of the Enlightenment project and as a decisive contribution to the critique of reason and morality. Finally, we examine the early German Romantic reception of the Enlightenment, focusing on figures such as Schiller and Hölderlin, who propose an aesthetic and existential reformulation of Enlightenment ideals.

Learning outcomes

CM10 (Apply historical philosophical perspectives to the analysis of current problems, valuing the historicity of human thought.) Apply historical philosophical perspectives to the analysis of current problems, valuing the historicity of human thought.
CM11 (Develop a comprehensive and critical understanding of the Western philosophical legacy, recognising its relevance for contemporary thought in order to address the omissions that have conditioned the configuration of its canon and to assert historically marginalised contributions.) Develop a comprehensive and critical understanding of the Western philosophical legacy, recognising its relevance for contemporary thought in order to address the omissions that have conditioned the configuration of its canon and to assert historically marginalised contributions.
CM12 (Develop a project related to the philosophical tradition that encourages reflective positioning, rational dialogue and a critical attitude.) Develop a project related to the philosophical tradition that encourages reflective positioning, rational dialogue and a critical attitude.
KM11 (Explain the main philosophical systems, currents, authors and problems developed from ancient philosophy to the nineteenth century.) Explain the main philosophical systems, currents, authors and problems developed from ancient philosophy to the nineteenth century.
KM12 (Identify the fundamental concepts of philosophical thought in a specific period, such as arché, substance, reason, faith, freedom, enlightenment, spirit, among others.) Identify the fundamental concepts of philosophical thought in a specific period, such as arché, substance, reason, faith, freedom, enlightenment, spirit, among others.
KM13 (Identify the continuities and ruptures between the different stages of the historical development of Western philosophy by virtue of the conceptual elaboration that characterises them and the references between the texts worked.) Identify the continuities and ruptures between the different stages of the historical development of Western philosophy by virtue of the conceptual elaboration that characterises them and the references between the texts worked.
KM44 (Use basic historiographical criteria to place philosophical doctrines in their corresponding social, scientific or religious context.) Use basic historiographical criteria to place philosophical doctrines in their corresponding social, scientific or religious context.
SM11 (Relate philosophical ideas to other knowledge and cultural expressions of their time (science, art, religion, politics).) Relate philosophical ideas to other knowledge and cultural expressions of their time (science, art, religion, politics).
SM12 (Analyse primary philosophical texts from different periods with critical and interpretative rigour.) Analyse primary philosophical texts from different periods with critical and interpretative rigour.
SM13 (Contrast different philosophical positions, identifying their foundations, internal tensions and historical projections.) Contrast different philosophical positions, identifying their foundations, internal tensions and historical projections.

General remarks on the Enlightenment
The Rousseau anomaly: critical reception of Locke and Hobbes' Political philosophy
Kant's Transcendental Philosophy
Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment
Early German Romanticism

Learning activities and methodology

Title	Hours	ECTS
Supervised Individual Assignments	30	1.2
Classroom sessions	50	2
Autonomous Individual Assignments	50	2

Class sessions are primarily structured around lectures, which are designed to provide the conceptual, historical, and critical framework necessary to engage with the course content. These lectures are complemented by spaces dedicated to questions, objections, and collective discussion. Student participation is actively encouraged in order to foster a rigorous philosophical dialogue in which multiple perspectives on the texts and topics can be compared and debated.

Student work is based on the material developed in class and the recommended bibliography. This reading list is intended to support and expand upon the topics addressed in the sessions, and includes both foundational texts from the period studied and contemporary critical studies. Careful reading of these materials is essential for successful engagement with the course and for preparing the assessment activities.

Individualized academic support is also planned as part of the learning process. Through tutorials or specific meetings, the professor offers personalized guidance to resolve doubts, clarify content, or assist in selecting and studying additional readings. This direct communication is intended to support students in developing critical and independent thinking and to promote a deeper understanding of the topics and issues addressed throughout the course.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title	Weight	Hours	ECTS	Learning outcomes
Final exam	35%	8	0.32	CM10, CM11, CM12, KM11, KM12, KM13, KM44, SM11, SM12, SM13
Partial Exam	25%	4	0.16	CM10, CM11, CM12, KM11, KM12, KM13, KM44, SM11, SM12, SM13
Assignment	40%	8	0.32	CM10, CM11, CM12, KM11, KM12, KM13, KM44, SM11, SM12, SM13

CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT

Assessment for this course consists of one assignment (25%), a midterm examination (30%), and a final examination (45%). The conference will be organized as a cross-curricular initiative in collaboration with the Political Philosophy course. Detailed information regarding the format of the activity and the examination schedule will be made available through the Virtual Campus at the beginning of the academic year.

Assignments submitted after the established deadline will not be accepted. Any indication of plagiarism will result in a grade of 0 for the assignment concerned.

To be eligible for the resit examination, students must have completed at least two-thirds of the assessment activities. In addition, students must have obtained a minimum average grade of 3.5 in the course. The resit examination will cover all course content. Students who have not participated in more than one-third of the assessment activities will receive a grade of “Not Assessed”.

SINGLE ASSESSMENT

Assessment consists of one assignment (30%) and two written examinations (45% + 25%). The format of the assignment and the examination date will be announced at the beginning of the semester.

Assignments submitted after the established deadline will not be accepted. Any indication of plagiarism will result in a grade of 0 for the assignment concerned.

Students opting for the single assessment system must complete the required assignment in order to be eligible for the resit examination.

The review of final grades will follow the same procedure as that established for continuous assessment.

The same “Not Assessed” criteria will apply as in continuous assessment.

The same resit procedures will apply as in continuous assessment.

OBSERVATIONS

At the time of each assessment activity, the lecturer will inform students (via Moodle) of the procedure and the date for reviewing grades.

Any irregularity committed by a student that may significantly affect the grade of an assessment activity will result in a grade of 0 for that activity, regardless of any disciplinary proceedings that may be initiated. If several irregularities occur in the assessment activities of the same course, the final grade for the course will be 0.

In situations where, in accordance with Article 264 of the Academic Regulations and the supporting documentation provided, assessment activities scheduled for the first assessment period must be rescheduled, they will take place on the same day as the assessment activity corresponding to the second assessment period or, where appropriate, during the resit period.

If the incident affects an assessment activity scheduled for the second assessment period, the activity will be rescheduled for the date established for the resit examination, without affecting the resit process established for the course.

In all cases, and depending on the specific circumstances, the Degree Coordination Office, in agreement with the Course Coordinator, may determine an alternative date if deemed appropriate.

Exchange students wishing to sit an examination earlier than scheduled must provide the lecturer with an official document from their home university justifying the request.

USE OF AI

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is not permitted at any stage of this course. Any work containing AI-generated content will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total reduction of the grade for the assignment concerned, or in more severe sanctions in cases of serious misconduct.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

DIDEROT, Denis i D’ALEMBERT, Jean-Le-Rond, “Discurso preliminar” a la Enciclopedia de las artes y las ciencias, ed. Orbis, 1985 (versió online)

FOUCAULT, Michel, “¿Qué es la Ilustración?”, en Sobre la Ilustración, ed. Tecnos, Madrid, 2006 (versió online)

GADAMER, Hans-Georg, Verdad y método, vol. I, ed. Sígueme, 1993.

HEGEL, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, Fenomenología del Espíritu, trad. Manuel Jiménez, ed. Pre-textos, 2006.

---: Filosofia del derecho, trad. J. L. Vermal, Edhasa, 1999.

HÖLDERLIN, Friedrich, Hiperión o el eremita en Grecia, trad. J. Munárriz, ed. Hiperión, 2015.

HORKHEIMER Max i ADORNO, Theodor., Dialéctica de la Ilustración, trad. J. J. Sánchez, ed. Trotta, 2018.

KANT, Immanuel, Crítica de la raó pura, trad. Miquel Montserrat, Edicions de la UB, Barcelona, 2024.

—, Crítica de la raó pràctica, trad. de Miquel Costa, edició a cura de Pere Lluís Font, Barcelona, Edicions 62, 2004 (Crítica de la razón práctica, trad. M. García Morente, ed. Sígueme, Salamanca, 1995).

—, Crítica de la facultat de jutjar, trad. de Jèssica Jaques Pi, Barcelona, Edicions 62, 2004 (Crítica de la facultad de juzgar, trad. R. R. Aramayo, Madrid, A. Machado Libros, 2003).

—, “¿Què és la Il·lustració?”, “Idea d’una història universal amb intenció cosmopolita”, “Conjectures sobre el començament de la història humana”, “La pau perpètua. Un projecte filosòfic”, “Replantejament de la pregunta: Si el gènere humà es troba en progrés constant vers el millor”, traduccions disponibles a Història i política, trad. Salvi Turró, ed. 62, 2002.

---: La religión dentro de los límites de la mera razón, trad. F. M. Marzoa, Alianza ed., 1969.

LESSING, Gotthold Ephraim, L’educació del gènere humà, trad. Jordi Jané, ed. Adesiara, 2021.

LOCKE, John, Segundo tratado sobre el gobierno civil, trad. C. Mellizo, Alianza ed., 2014.

LYOTARD, Jean-François, La condición postmoderna, trad. M. Antolín, ed. Cátedra, 2000.

ROUSSEAU, Jean-Jacques, El contrato social, trad. E. L. Castellón, Edimat Libros, 1999.

---: Profesión de fe del vicario savoyano, trad. A. Pintor-Ramos, ed. Trotta, 2007.

---: Discurso sobre las ciencias y las artes, trad. M. Armiño, Alianza ed., 2012.

---: Discurso sobre el origen de la desigualdad entre los hombres, trad. M. Armiño, Alianza ed., 2012.

---: Las ensoñaciones del paseante solitario, trad. M. Fiszman, ed. Losada, 2011.

SCHILLER, Friedrich, Cartes sobre l’educació estètica de la humanitat, trad. Jordi Llovet, ed. Adesiara, 2018.

VOLTAIRE (François Marie Arouet), Càndid, trad. M. Armiño, Ed. Espasa Libros, 2016.

Secondary Sources

ALCOBERRO, Ramon, La filosofia de la Il·lustració, ed. Barcanova, 1992.

BEISER, Frederick. C., The Fate of Reason, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987.

— , Enlightenment, revolution, and romanticism : the genesis of modern German political thought, 1790-1800. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1992.

— , German idealism : the struggle against subjectivism, 1781-1801, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002.

BELAVAL, Yvon (dir.), Historia de la filosofía, Siglo XXI, Madrid, 1974. Vol. 6: Racionalismo, empirismo e Ilustración.

BERLIN, Isaiah, “The Counter-Enlightenment”, en Dictionary of the History of Ideas, 5 vols., ed. Philip P. Wiener, Charles Schribner’s Sons, NY, 1973, vol. II, pp. 100-112 (versió on-line disponible).

BREWER, Daniel (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the French Enlightenment. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

BROADIE, Alexander & SMITH, Craig (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Scottish Enlightenment, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

BURY, John, La idea del progreso, Alianza ed., Madrid, 1971.

CASSIRER, Ernst, La filosofía de la Ilustración, México, FCE, 1972.

--- : El problema del conocimiento en la filosofía y en la ciencia modernas, México, FCE, 1979 (vol. I y II).

--- : Kant. Vida y doctrina, México, FCE, 1993.

--- : Rousseau, Kant, Goethe. Filosofía y cultura en la Europa del Siglo de las Luces, trad. R. R. Aramayo, FCE, 2014.

---: Le problème Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Hachette, 1987.

---: “L’unité dans l’oeuvre de Rousseau”, a VVAA, Pensée de Rousseau, Ed. du Seuil, 1984, pp. 41-66.

DUSSEL, Enrique, 1492. El encubrimiento del otro. Hacia el origen del “mito de la modernidad”, Plural editores, La Paz, 1994.

—: El primer debate filosófico de la Modernidad, Clacso, 2020.

GUYER, Paul (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Kant, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992.

HAZARD, Paul, La crisis de la conciencia europea, Madrid, Alianza, 1983.

--- : El pensamiento europeo en el siglo XVIII, Madrid, Alianza, 1985.

MARTÍNEZ MARZOA, Felipe, Historia de la filosofía, Madrid, ed. Istmo, 1973 y 1994, (vol. II).

--- : Releer a Kant, Barcelona, ed. Anthropos, 1992.

--- : De Kant a Hölderlin, La Oficina, 2018.

MILLS, Charles, The Racial Contract, Cornell University Press, 1997.

--- : “Kant’s Untermenschen”, a Black Rights/White Wrongs: The Critique of Racial Liberalism, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017, cap. 6, pp. 91-113.

PADGEN, Anthony, La Ilustración y sus enemigos. Dos ensayos sobre los orígenes de la Modernidad, Península, BCN, 2002

PHILONENKO, Alexis, Essais sur la philosophie de la guerra, Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris, 1988.

---: L'oeuvre de Kant, 2vol., Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, París, 1972.

RILEY, Patrick. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Rousseau. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001.

SCHMIDT, James, What is Enlightenment? Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions, University of California Press, California, 1996.

SCHOTT, Robin May, Feminist Interpretations of Immanuel Kant, University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997.

SOLÉ, María Jimena, Spinoza en Alemania (1670-1789): historia de la santificación de un filósofo maldito, ed. Brujas, Córdoba, 2011.

STAROBINSKI, Jean, J-J. Rousseau. La transparencia y el obstáculo, Madrid: Taurus, 1983.

TAVOILLOT, Pierre-Henri, Le Crépuscule des Lumières. Les documents de la querelle du panthéisme. 1780-1789, Coll. «Passages », 1995.

TAYLOR, Charles, Hegel, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1975, cap. 1.

TURRÓ, Salvi, Lliçons sobre història i dret a Kant, Edicions Universitat de Barcelona, 1997.

---: \"Llei pràctica i esquematització (de Kant a Fichte)\", en Anuari de la Societat Catalana de Filosofia (número IX), Barcelona, IEC, 1997.

--- : Filosofia i Modernitat. La reconstrucció de l’ordre del món, Barcelona, Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona, 2016.

WEIL, Eric, “Rousseau et sa politique”, a VVAA, Pensée de Rousseau, Ed. du Seuil, 1984, pp. 9-40.

VVAA, La Ilustración olvidada. La polémica de los sexos en el siglo XVIII, ed. Anthropos, 2011.

Films

Arrival (2016), dir. Denis Villeneuve.
Into the wild (2007), dir. Sean Penn.
Barry Lyndon (1975), dir. Stanley Kubrik.

On-line materials

- https://loliba.cat/

- http://www.philosophica.info/

-http://plato.stanford.edu

-www.leibniz.es

-http://www.davidhume.org

- https://www.rousseauonline.ch/

Software