Supporting Enlightenment Ideals: 1) Built new public schools
4) Wrote laws guaranteeing civil rights
5) Created a fairer tax system
6) Established freedom of religion
Opposing Enlightenment Ideals: 2) Restricted freedom of the press
3) Kept Catholicism the official religion
Napoleon Bonaparte's rule presents a complex interplay between supporting and opposing Enlightenment ideals.
On the one hand, he undertook initiatives that aligned with Enlightenment principles, such as building new public schools and establishing freedom of religion.
By investing in education, Napoleon demonstrated a commitment to spreading knowledge and fostering an informed citizenry, a key tenet of Enlightenment philosophy.
Likewise, granting freedom of religion reflected a departure from the religious intolerance of the past, promoting individual liberty and choice.
Conversely, Napoleon's actions also ran counter to Enlightenment ideals.
Restricting freedom of the press curtailed the open exchange of ideas, a cornerstone of Enlightenment thinking that emphasized the importance of a free marketplace of ideas.
Additionally, maintaining Catholicism as the official religion and creating laws guaranteeing civil rights revealed a complex interplay.
While recognizing civil rights seems aligned with Enlightenment values, Napoleon's centralization of power and imposition of state-controlled religion reflected a departure from the secular ideals championed by Enlightenment thinkers.