Teaching the Article
Exercise 2, The Danger of the Passions
A. Visual Representations of the Passions
Philip Vickers Fithian lived in a world where the "passions" were considered dangerous to the pursuit of an enlightened, modern self. Visual representations of passions and their consequences were common in eighteenth-century enlightened circles, as seen in the four representations here. Their subjects range from outright physical violence to religious emotion. Examine the representations below and consider which passions are portrayed, how the eighteenth-century mind might have connected them, and what made each passion possibly dangerous to good character and social order.
Images:
Pamela Fainting, by Joseph Highmore |
Evelina resists the advances of Sir Clement Willoughby |
The Four Stages of Cruelty, plate II, Second Stage of Cruelty, William Hogarth, 1751. |
"Dr. Squintum's Exaltation or the Reformation" |
B. Fithian's View on the Passions
Now read the following excerpts from Philip Fithian's writings. The excerpts are from different kinds of writing--two personal letters, a journal entry, and a brief essay on passions. Despite these differences, what view of the passions emerges consistently from each text? What does this suggest about where Fithian thought he might encounter dangerous passions? How does each text show Fithian's determination to be a man of the Enlightenment and curb his passions in order to live a life of restraint?