Argien Mendeko espirituaz eta beraren ironiaz

Abstract

The Enlightenment spirit moves away from all beliefs, where it only finds superstition, prejudice and error. The XVIIIth century aims to unmask the great pantomime of the Ancien régime and to disclose everything it hides. Irony, therefore, becomes its fundamental rhetorical resource. During the XVIIIth century aristocratic virtues are abandoned while, instead, bourgeois values are upheld. The jester leaves the court to entertain in the cafés. Modern man loses the ideal of honor to the ideal of welfare. Under the use of irony he hides his impotence, his loss and even his cynicism. Yet some enlightened authors realize that also darkness might be needed. That is the case of Diderot.