The Enlightenment’s core project displaced local moralities with universal rational ones

Evidence

As the political philosopher John Gray aptly argued, the core project of the Enlightenment “was the displacement of local, customary or traditional moralities, and all forms of transcendental faith, by a critical or rational morality, which was projected as the basis of a universal civilization.” This new morality, dominantly secular and humanist, and “binding on all human beings, … would set universal standards for the assessment of human institutions.” Under the command of human reason finally divorced of traditional principles of morality, the project would aim to create a universal civilization, one premised upon a particular notion of rationality, materiality, individualism, autonomy, and, crucial for us, domination of nature. — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 71

Categorization

• XREF: This ‘displacement of local moralities by universal rational morality’ connects to the author’s broader thesis about modern state power and to earlier discussions of epistemic paradigms in the book. — connects to: The Enlightenment accepts only what conforms to computation and utility; Bourgeois ethics inherits Enlightenment’s truth-postulate as the demand to be oneself.; The Dialectic of Enlightenment targeted the whole Western rationalist tradition, not just Marxism — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 781 (+3 more)
• DEFINE: Defines what Gray takes the Enlightenment’s core project to be.