Unixplorian Enlightened Monarchy






The Enlightenment and Human Reasoning

The Enlightenment was a cultural movement in Europe during the 1700s, with roots in the late 1600s. The change was a strong force in the early 1700s, with an end around 1800. The peak was reached in France with Voltaire and the so-called Encyclopaedists. The vitality in this intellectual movement came because of the natural progress of science and the attendant credibility crisis for the Christian religion. The principal idea was the firm belief in a human ability to reason.

Therefore, one should not uncritically believe in such things as policymakers and other authorities claim. Following scientific methodology, intellectuals began to criticize inequities in society. The right way to change the culture for the better would be to find out the facts by studying them rationally and changing injustices to create a more harmonious society of freethinking individuals.


The Scientific Revolution

The scientific revolution went into full bloom in the 1700s. Collecting, classifying and exploring the world and beyond became essential on a global scale. What is now labeled “big science” also had its humble beginnings during the Enlightenment. Museums, libraries, and scientific institutions flourished, and the educated middle-



The famous coffee houses became very popular in larger cities; people discussed politics, philosophical and scientific ideas, and read newspapers and magazines. The professional scientist, as we know them, were not yet a reality. The amateurs often laid the foundations to what we now consider to be scientific disciplines.


The scientific achievements that characterized the Enlightenment in large parts of Europe had mainly originated in Newton's epoch-making work in the scientific field. John Locke should also be mentioned. Together with Newton, Locke’s political views as presented in Two Treatises of Government created what would become the foundation stones of the Enlightenment philosophical and scientific heyday.


Spreading the Ideas

How did these new ideas spread? The increase in the literacy rate in the 1700s helped to bring scientific knowledge to society in a completely different way than before. It must be stated that democratization still had a minimal scope, and the progress of science was still primarily a concern for the educated, urban population.


Enlightenment and Religion

The Enlightenment philosophers' relationship to religion in general and Christianity in particular, was in many respects problematic. On the one hand, these new ideas turned many of them against the Church's traditional beliefs, especially Voltaire is known to have nurtured an intense hatred against the Catholic Church and its authoritarianism. It also forms the background to his famous words "Ecrasez l'infâme" ("Crush the Infamous").




Enlightened Absolutism



The consequence of this reasoning was that in many countries monarchs were still autocratic but to a lesser extent. They chose to run their country according to the philosophical principles of the Enlightenment, such as freedom of press and religion. Examples of such Enlightened monarchs could be found all over Europe, from Prussia (Frederick II) and Russia (Catherine the Great) to Sweden, where Gustav III represented this type of regent.


Our take on Enlightened Monarchy

Unixploria is an Enlightened Monarchy which means that we use rationality to enforce reforms in our kingdom. We do, however, believe that the revolutionary ideas that followed the mental paradigm shift took the initial liberating steps too far.


The movement initially offered a fresh new perspective. Religion is necessary, but shouldn’t be a public affair. Using science and rational reasoning is also a good thing, but we must not forget how essential our emotions are for us to be whole human beings.


The House of Oxenmyr, the current royal house of Unixploria, has historically been in favor of taking on a moderate approach to governing a nation. Considering that our royal house also believes in the rather radical ideas that arose during the 1700s, many might look at our viewpoint as an anomaly. However, the philosophical and scientific ideas surfacing during the Enlightenment, still offer validity today.

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