The Enlightenment accepts only what conforms to computation and utility

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 (#expands, via linked claim)

In an important article on what she called “the rationality of feeling gratitude toward nature,” the environmental ethicist Karen Bardsley contends with the Enlightenment paradigmatic conception of a denuded, mechanical, and disenchanted nature. In this conception, the feeling of gratitude as a key concept is seen as inappropriate in response to someone’s unintentional decisions, so that if nature is viewed, as is in fact the case, as mere inanimate subject matter, even “stupid,” then the requirement that we ought to feel gratitude to it falls apart. Gratitude, in this conception, is called upon when the benefit accruing to us is motivated by intentionality, and being inanimate, nature cannot choose to help or harm us. Thus the question that arises for Bardsley is, “Is it rational … to feel gratitude toward something that has no intention?” — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 489 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Enlightenment is kind only by confronting reason’s link to domination.; The Enlightenment’s core project displaced local moralities with universal rational ones — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism: A Critique of…, 71; The Enlightenment liberated man only to enslave him more effectively — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 833 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• The Enlightenment’s core project displaced local moralities with universal rational ones #expands (0.82) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 71
• The Enlightenment provided both the explanation and the measure of human progress #expands (0.80)
• Enlightenment is kind only by confronting reason’s link to domination. #complicates (0.78)
• The Enlightenment liberated man only to enslave him more effectively #expands (0.78) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 833
• Enlightenment disenchantment makes gratitude toward nature seem irrational #expands (0.78) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 489
• Theoretical universalizations can recuperate difference into old Enlightenment universalist frameworks #expands (0.76) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 409
• Enlightenment ‘man’ served as a limit on power, not a target for correction #contradicts (0.75) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 126
• Enlightenment can be redeemed from blind domination by self-critique #qualifies (0.75)
• Enlightenment must critique itself rather than merely defend cultural values #responds-to (0.72) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 24