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Enthusiasm: originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus (stunning blow of a new idea) or by the presence of God. It has also been defined as a vain belief of private revelation. Originally, a person possessed by a god was an enthusiast. This notion of devine possessions was applied by the Greeks. An enthusiast would have had intense religious fervor or emotion. In 17th century England, enthusiasm was a term for supporting any political or religious cause in public. Locke characterized enthusiasts as people who believed their actions and opinions were guided by Heaven. He also explains how enthusiasm seemed more common among evangelical churches (Mavrodes, Enthusiasm, 172). The contemporary usage of this term has become much more simple and is less affiliated with religion. The modern definition is someone who is adventurous and full of energy. They want to experience life for its different wonders and they truly live in the moment. They want to experience life to the fullest.
In Signs of the Times, Carlyle uses the modern definition of enthusiasm to a fuller extent. From the first paragraph of his piece, Carlyle emphasizes how "happy men are full of the present" (1). He believes on focusing on doing the things at hand. He goes on to say how people are now more ignorant of the present and are greedy with ambitions. They take advantage of the present and focus too heavily on the future and what "splendour" and "glorious triumphs" it holds. What he calls the "Soul-politic" (5) is less worshipped. This soul-politic includes the moral, religious and spiritual condition of the people. Carlyle emphasizes how the worth of something is found in its interior, and it is invisible and infinite (6). Carlyle underscores enthusiasm's original meaning when talking about certain constructs (in this case religious). He uses the example of Christianity and how it spread due to "preaching of the word, by simple, altogether natural and individual efforts" (6), He goes on to describe how after these efforts, Christianity grew to power in the hearts of the people. Christianity's rose to power because of people's divine inspiration to preach about it. Carlyle states "only the material, the immediately practical, not the divine spiritual, is important to us" (7). He also states that our true deity is no longer God, but Mechanism. We are now inspired by the notion of Mechanism.
Bibliography
Mavrodes, George I. "Enthusiasm." International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 25 Jun. 1989: 172.
[Wikipedia Contributors.] "Enthusiasm." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia/span>. 25 Feb. 2010.
Last modified 25 March 2010