 |
| John Toland |
The Return of the Old Darkness
The Enlightenment faces renewed criticism today, but not
from the ancien régime or clerical militants who once burned books. Instead, it
is challenged by the modern academy and its pseudo-left allies. Trends like
postmodernism, identity politics, and the irrationalism popular over the past
forty years have launched a persistent attack on universal reason and
materialism, undermining the idea that humanity has a shared nature. These
movements are not just misguided; they are politically reactionary, aligning
with ruling classes that fear the revolutionary potential of Enlightenment
ideals—namely, that ordinary people can understand the world and unite to
transform it.
The stakes are clear: we must either continue the
Enlightenment’s legacy of reason, equality, and human unity or succumb to the
tribalism, relativism, and mystification that capitalism now employs as
ideological shields. The Enlightenment is not just a historical period but a
vibrant tradition of intellectual resistance. Leading this tradition is John
Toland (1670–1722), a key figure in the early radical phase of the English
Enlightenment, who exemplifies this spirit. To revive Toland’s work is to
revive the revolutionary core of the Enlightenment.
The Radical Enlightenment and Its Enemies
The Enlightenment was not a single unified movement but
included conservative, moderate, and radical strands. The radical
branch—featuring figures like Spinoza, Diderot, Holbach, and Toland—directly
challenged religious authority, political absolutism, and metaphysical dualism.
It emphasized that reason is universal, nature is self-driven, and humans have
the ability to comprehend their circumstances.
This reflects exactly what modern academic ideology opposes.
Postmodernism rejects the idea of universal truth, while identity politics
denies a common human nature. Both perspectives dismiss the chance for shared
rational understanding, replacing political analysis with psychological
grievances and breaking class solidarity into fragmented identities. Their
emphasis on universal reason directly counters the dominant contemporary
identity politics, which are characterized by irrationalist, particularist, and
elitist beliefs.
The radical Enlightenment posited that humanity is unified,
serving as the philosophical basis for emancipation. In contrast, the
pseudo-left claims that humanity is inherently divided, providing the
ideological rationale for ongoing fragmentation.
John Toland: Reason Against Priestcraft
Toland’s Christianity Not Mysterious (1696) was a
bomb thrown into the theological fortress of the seventeenth century. He argued
that nothing in scripture lies beyond reason, and that religious “mysteries”
are either intelligible truths or pagan corruptions. For this, his book Christianity Not Mysterious… was
publicly burned by the hangman in Dublin.
Toland was exiled, navigating through radical circles in the
Dutch Republic, England, and France. He was the first to be called a
“freethinker,” a title he truly earned. He argued that no religious or
political authority had the right to impose beliefs beyond rational scrutiny.
This core belief is something that modern irrationalism aims to suppress.
Toland’s philosophical importance stems from his departure
from mechanical materialism. In Letters to Serena (1704), he claimed: “Motion
is an essential and intrinsic property of matter.” This marked a significant
step beyond Descartes and Locke, who viewed God as the external source of
motion. Toland’s idea of matter as self-moving foreshadows the dialectical
materialism later developed by Marx and Engels. It dismisses the theological
remnants still present in early modern science, affirming that nature is self-organising,
that humans are part of nature, and that the laws of nature are comprehensible.
Marx and Engels explored Toland’s genealogy in *The Holy
Family*, and Plekhanov, through his research on French materialism, wrote:
"Toland belongs to that tradition… that prepared the theoretical ground
for socialism." Today, rejecting Enlightenment materialism means
regressing into mysticism—be it the religious mysticism of the right or the
epistemological mysticism of the postmodern left.
Why “Rehabilitation” Matters
Rehabilitating Toland today
holds political importance as it reflects a larger debate over the significance
of the Enlightenment. "There is a concerted effort in
bourgeois academia… to bury the radical Enlightenment." This is intentional.
The radical Enlightenment emphasises that truth is objective, reason is
universal, humanity is one, oppression is historically specific, and
mystification benefits the ruling classes.
These ideas are unacceptable to a ruling class that depends
on mystification—such as nationalism, identity politics, or postmodern
theory—to sustain its authority. Supporting Toland means supporting the notion
that ordinary people can grasp the world. It involves defending the
Enlightenment’s democratic spirit against the elitism seen in modern academia.
It also reclaims the intellectual tradition that points not toward liberal
parliamentary systems but toward Marx's revolutionary materialism.
Enlightenment Universalism and the Contemporary Struggle
Enlightenment universalism's defence is not outdated; it serves as a tool in modern battles against capitalist illusions and imperialist conflicts. Toland’s opposition to priestcraft is directly relevant today, countering those who claim truth is subjective, reason is oppressive, and politics revolves around identity rather than class. "Toland’s fight against priestcraft and political tyranny [connects] to the contemporary struggle against capitalist mystification and imperialist war.”Indeed. Defending the Enlightenment is essential because its fundamental principles—universal reason, materialism, and equality—remain crucial to meaningful emancipatory politics.
Universalism or Barbarism
The choice today is clear-cut: we must either uphold the
Enlightenment’s universalist legacy—centred on reason, equality, and human
potential to understand and transform the world—or succumb to the
irrationalism, tribalism, and mystification that capitalism now endorses as a
form of ideological self-protection. John Toland, whose writings were once
destroyed by the hangman, recognised that reason is fundamentally
revolutionary. Supporting him means defending the very possibility of human
emancipation.
No comments:
Post a Comment