“As the authority of the Church, the monarchy and the government began to wane in the late eighteenth century, a new public sphere emerged. For the first time in Europe, people from many different walks of life were able to socialize together in the city, and it became far less scandalous for people from different social classes to mix.”
“In England, the emergence of the coffee house was pivotal to this new public sphere. The first coffee houses emerged in England and the trend soon spread into Paris and across Europe until, in the late eighteenth century, establishments where people met to drink coffee became commonplace. Far more refined and sociable than the taverns that preceded them, coffee shops became places to meet for intelligent conversation and enlightening debate. Suddenly people became coffee and chocolate connoisseurs and spent hours in their favorite cafés reading and discussing whatever it is they might have read.”
Excerpt From
Age of Enlightenment: A History From Beginning to End
Hourly History
Years ago I asked a respected acquaintance of mine what one word of wisdom he would offer a young man. He hesitated, seemingly mulled the thought in his head, then succinctly responded: “I have three words of wisdom, read, read and read!” And while I accept, as another philosopher friend of mine once observed, that the universe is ultimately personal, I especially favour among other human beings the privilege to rally and communicate with one another. Increasingly as I age the frequency of my association with others diminishes and I perish the loss. It is a corollary which has been hastened no doubt by the pandemic, effectively enforcing seclusion upon humanity for two years. But it is nonetheless a palpable deprivation. Frankly having all the intelligence in the world from avid reading is wasted if there is no one with whom to discuss the principles governing us.
“Intellectually, the Enlightenment gave birth to the disciplines of political science, economic theory, anthropology, sociology, and modern philosophy—disciplines which still form the basis of how we attempt to understand life in the twenty-first century. The Enlightenment can be understood as a direct challenge to the status quo at a time when intolerant and superstitious religious beliefs dominated most people’s lives.”
In our immediate environment there is a regular coffee klatch every Wednesday morning either in the common room during the winter or on the garden patio in the summer. It is however a congregation bearing an unintended element of exclusion; namely, it is a congregation devoted primarily to resident condominium owners as opposed to tenants such as ourselves. Naturally it is unimaginable that anyone would promote our ostracism for that reason alone but it captures even in this putatively casual glimpse the unwritten features governing human relations. Besides property ownership is another of humanity’s critical features; and, it is inextricably entwined with language which is in turn linked to printing and books.
“Rousseau named the institution of property as the main cause of inequality in modern society. Language had only developed, he argued, when men and women began to live together in communities and had to negotiate the world of property and ownership of land. In verbally accepting the institution of ownership of land and property, we agreed to hierarchy and thus inequality.”
There was yet an element insinuating the egalitarian improvement of the coffee house chat. For those who could not bear to contaminate their nosegay by proximity to hoi polloi, the French embarked upon an upgraded version of the coffee house; namely, the salon. Those who frequented the salon were the “salonnieres“, essentially aristocratic women entertaining whimsical objectives. While the salons captured the allure of enlightenment, they didn’t succeed to replace the coffee house where thought and social status blended more smoothly.
“Another institution that linked the Enlightenment with the public sphere was the salon. In the mid-eighteenth century, Paris became the home of many salons and attracted the most notable philosophers and writers of the time. Essentially social gatherings amongst Paris’ social and intellectual elites, salons were more often than not organized by women. These women included the wives, friends, and lovers of the leading philosophes of the time, a detail that has led some historians to point to the salons as an example of female agency.”
It is noteworthy however that the promotion of one’s philosophy was unquestionably enhanced by association with the wealthy, many of whom delighted in spiriting the otherwise humble or secreted dominion of the proponents. These philosophers, when their theories of enlightenment were publicized, succeeded in some instances to afford such remarkable amendment as abolition of the slave trade not only within England and Europe but also within the global sphere peculiar to colonialism and imperialism. Without the interest of supportive wealthy members of society, many philosophers were confined by necessity to the cloisters of universities or religious institutions.
“Although expensive to produce (the book Encyclopédie was printed in 17 volumes and 11 plates) the financial reward far outweighed the costs. The first publisher of Encyclopédie made a huge sum of money before passing the rights on to another publisher whose aggressive business strategies enabled him to distribute the book in France without paying any customs fees. The publisher, named Pancouke, made an astounding amount of money but also benefitted readers by bringing this important book into the homes of up to 16,000 people by the year 1789. The people exposed to Encyclopédie ranged from other philosophers, thinkers, and writers of the Enlightenment, aristocrats, and the bourgeoisie as well as the clergy. It’s also worth noting the impact women had on the creation and distribution of the Encyclopédie. Many salonnieres (women associated with the literary and philosophical meet-ups known as salons) contributed to Encyclopédie financially and intellectually.”
I am addicted to coffee. When frequenting a commercial coffee house it is common for me to order a double or triple espresso. I suggest that my attraction is not merely the smell of freshly roasted coffee (which I adore) but rather the energizing ingredient of coffee, whatever it is clinically. In the retirement of my withdrawing room I customarily enhance my current intellectual state with a chilled triple espresso. Externally I have discovered the affogato al caffè which combines the tonic element of coffee with the hedonism of vanilla ice cream.
At our local coffee houses I also fully expect that there is a routine contingent. The regularity may even extend to the tables and chairs at which the cohorts prefer to congregate. If the assemblies are anything like our erstwhile breakfast club for local businessmen at the Superior Restaurant thirty-five years on Mill Street, the congregations may be expected to be highly possessory. Interestingly a resident of our condominium building makes a point almost daily of driving to a country village for his morning java (and, I fully expect, for the pleasure of driving his elegant and sporty automobile).