Essay On The Age Of Enlightenment

     The age of enlightenment took place in the 18th century and was thought by many of the period to be long overdue. Spurred by writers wishing to “awaken” the public from their stupor, it was an age of change. Enlightenment writers tackled subjects from inconsistencies in religion to the oppression of women in society. Utilized during the time were many aspects of writing. Inducing a feeling of fear or guilt within a reader and the use of satire was often combined to leave an impression on a reader. Most

The Age of Enlightenment saw many great changes in Western Europe. It was an age of reason and philosophes. During this age, changes the likes of which had not been seen since ancient times took place. Such change affected evert pore of Western European society. Many might argue that the Enlightenment really did not bring any real change, however, there exists and overwhelming amount of facts which prove, without question, that the spirit of the Enlightenment was one of change-specifically change which went against the previous teachings of the Catholic Church. Such change is apparent in the ideas, questions, and philosophies of the time, in the study of science, and throughout the monarchial system.

The Enlightenment period was an extremely impactful revolution which caused changes in societies around the world. It began in 1651, people across the country took a stand against their unfair rights. In order to have a peaceful society, everyone must be treated with equality which can only occur if there is a fair government system in place. If people have to fight and kill to have their natural rights granted, something has to be done about it. The enlightenment period encouraged the people to share their ideas when before they felt they had no say. When the people come together to fight for something they believe in many good and bad outcomes can take place. This time period led to many changes that have drastic effects on history. As people joined multiple documents were created showing the impact of this time period. A couple of these influential documents was the English Bill of Rights, U.S constitution, and the Haitian Constitution.

The Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century where change in philosophy and cultural life took place in Europe. The movement started in France, and spread to Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Germany at more or less around the same time, the ideas starting with the most renowned thinkers and philosophers of the time and eventually being shared with the common people. The Enlightenment was a way of thinking that focused on the betterment of humanity by using logic and reason rather than irrationality and superstition. It was a way of thinking that showed skepticism in the face of religion, challenged the inequality between the kings and their people, and tried to establish a sound system of ethics. The ideas behind the

The Enlightenment era was a new intellectual movement that stressed reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems. Even though different philosophers approached their goal differently, they achieved it none the less. They all approached their goal differently due to their different upbringings, their different backgrounds, and most importantly their different environments. A few among the many enlightened thinkers were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Baron Do Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. While some of their idea’s are not used in modern society, they were all instrumental to the modern society we live in today.

The Enlightenment formed off of another movement known as the Scientific Revolution in the seventeenth century. The Scientific Revolution brought about new scientific discoveries especially in Astronomy changing the preconceptions of how the cosmos affect the natural world. These dramatic discoveries made people question the existing political and social orders. The Enlightenment challenged the traditional hierarchical ideals such as a king’s divine right to rule, the privileges of nobility, and the political power of religion. It also inspired the ideals of individual determination, freedom and equality, and the basic principles of human reason and natural rights.

During the Renaissance, people began to stray away from the Catholic Church, and began thinking for themselves. While doing so, people began to reconnect to old Roman traditions. Subsequently, the Enlightenment was born soon after. The Enlightenment was a new way of thinking also known as The Age Of Reason. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are two famous philosophers of the Enlightenment that are known for having two different views on government.

During the Age of Enlightenment there were many philosophers that thought differently when it came to humans and their actions. This all started back in the 17th and 18th century in Europe. One day all the thinkers came together to talk about their different ideas at an enlightenment party. Philosophers with different backgrounds and ideologies were able to unite and discussed the world and mankind. Although all of them had different beliefs, there was one idea that everyone had in common.The main idea shared by these enlightenment thinkers was that individual freedom could improve different aspects of society. John Locke believed individual freedom could improve freedom in government, Voltaire believed individual freedom

How and to what extent did Enlightenment ideas about religion and society shape the policies of the French Revolution in the period 1789 to 1799?

a. It gives the idea, thought of people who are living in the society at that time. It’s more relevant than assuming the life condition base on dry facts.

Americans in the Enlightenment period strongly connected themselves with the classical age in terms of how they approached their art. The Enlightenment period lasted for about 150 years, from approximately 1700 -1850. Throughout this time period many artists took inspiration from the classical age which occurred in ancient Greece and Rome hundreds of years before. We can see examples of this in buildings like The White house and Monticello in America, and Kedleston Hall in England. These three buildings, though located in very different parts of the world, all have a number of aestheticly similar attributes.

The ideas from the Enlightenment and its thinkers greatly influenced the world today, everything from our ideas of modern government to our view of everyday life. Important Enlightenment philosophes such as Locke, Montesquieu, Hobbes and Voltaire established controversial ideas and theories on human nature, natural rights, and how government should be run and which form of it was superior. These ideas were all never even thought of before, and shattered many of the previous notions of ideas, such as ideas of how to run government, that had already been established and taken as a standard for several hundreds of years.

“Enlightenment is the human being’s emergence from his self-incurred minority. Minority is inability to make use of one’s own understanding without direction from another. This minority is self-incurred when its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another” (Kant). Enlightenment occurs when one has courage in one’s own thoughts and opinions. Very few people have become enlightened, which is due to laziness because there are plenty of people to do things for you. “If I have a book that understands for me, a spiritual advisor who has a conscience for me, a doctor who decides upon a regimen for me, and so forth, I need not trouble myself at all” (Kant). This mentality is reason why there are very few people who have become enlightened because it has become second-nature to allow other people to do things for you. “Thus it is difficult for any single individual to extricate himself from the minority that has become almost nature to him. He has even grown fond of it and is really unable for the time being to make use of his understanding, because he was never allowed to make the attempt” (Kant). Anyone can become enlightened

Enlightenment thinker where always punished for the way they think or the way they speak but why was it so bad to think differently than others is there only one way to think and was it so bad to think differently than others. because the churches were very important in their time so anytime the church said something you would have to follow the rules of the church or else you were an outcast of society or a cursed person.

The 18th century is referred to as the ‘Age of Enlightenment’. The trends in thought and letters from Europe to the American colonies brought a new light and attention upon mankind. This new movement described a time in Western philosophy and cultural life in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority. ‘To understand the natural world and humankinds place in it solely on the basis of reason and without turning to religious belief was the goal of the wide-ranging intellectual movement’ (Hackett). At the heart o this age, a conflict began between religion and the inquiring mind that wanted to know and understand through reason based on evidence and proof rather than belief on faith alone.