Negative Effects Of The Enlightenment

John Locke, one of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, said that “all men are naturally in...a state of perfect freedom...within the bounds of the law of nature” (Doc A). The citizens didn’t have any say in things, only the king would choose the laws that the people had to obey, and it wasn’t considered of the people to have any natural rights. Locke’s main idea about freedom was that the people should be able to choose their own government and that man is born with natural rights, which shines the light for the final branch of freedom, which is equality of education for men and women.

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, also known as The Age of Reason, was a period of social, religious, and political revolution throughout the 18th century which changed the thoughts of man during this “awakening” time. It was a liberation of ignorant thoughts, ideas, and actions that had broken away from the ignorant perception of how society was to be kept and obeyed thus giving little room for new ideas about the world. Puritan society found these new ideas of thought to be extremely radical in comparison to what they believed which was a belief of strong rational religion and morality. Enlightened society believed that the use of reason would be a catalyst of social change and had a demand of political representation thus resulting in a

The Enlightenment period, also known as The Age of Reason, was a period of social, religious, and political revolution throughout the 18th century which changed the thoughts of man during this “awakening” time. It was a liberation of ignorant thoughts, ideas, and actions that had broken away from the ignorant perception of how society was to be kept and obeyed thus giving little room for new ideas about the world. Puritan society found these new ideas of thought to be extremely radical in comparison to what they believed which was a belief of strong rational religion and morality. Enlightened society believed that the use of reason would be a catalyst of social change and had a demand of political representation thus resulting in a time

The ideas of the Enlightenment are currently shown directly in our modern day society. The Enlightenment was a european movement in the late 17th century emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It allowed people more freedom and more opportunities. It affected today's way of living through politics because it questioned the idea of people of a community governing their community. Religion was also affected because it sought reasonable faith that many could follow and had reason. The Enlightenment did not only have an impact on politics and religion but also on economics because it denounced slavery and slave trade as well as lessened the government's control over the market. The Enlightenment has continued to be influential throughout modern times in many ways but is most present through politics, religion and economics.

The Enlightenment was a period characterized by the idea that people’s use of reason could unlock the mysteries of the world around them. Thinkers of the Enlightenment saw all aspects of the world—religion, wealth, and the earth itself—as being understandable through natural laws. The reliance on and application of reason on the different aspects of the world used by Enlightenment thinkers was directly informed by the Scientific Revolution. In essence the presentation of and descriptive power of Enlightenment theories and ideas would not have been possible without the strengthened exploratory and explanatory rigor established in the Scientific Revolution.

The Enlightenment used the scientific method and reason develop theories rather than always trusting the church. The Enlightenment affected world social and political systems so strongly that it deserves to be one of the three most important “turning points” in history, because it created freedom for the citizens,

Copernicus discovery was a revelation and it undermined the system of hierarchy in the universe that gave order to the world, which was central to the Christian faith. (7) It was believed that God had created the universe for man, and that he had given the central position in his creation to man, giving people a profound sense of security however Copernicus theory took away man’s central position in the universe. (7) The new scientific discoveries were detrimental to authority as they fostered doubt uncertainty, anxiety and threated belief in the faith (*), however the full implications of these discoveries were not fully understood by people during the scientific revolution. The enlightenment further built on this decreasing belief in political and religious authority, and an increasing belief in the power through human reason (8). Critical reason was believed to be able to be used to combat both ignorance and tyranny. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) viewed the enlightenment as man emerging from a self-imposed state of immaturity. He believed that with critical reasoning man would be enlightened with the truth, further building on the discoveries of the scientific revolution, the enlightenment enabled was the start of people questioning, what they believed with critical reason. The so called age of reason’ targeted religion and the old way of Aristotelian logic.(8) The discoveries of the scientific

There are many things that set America apart from the world. Most notably are our political structure, social structure, capitalistic ideals, and the free exchange of ideas and beliefs that were all born from the desire for freedom. After hundreds of years of being told what to do by the Church and the monarchy, there came a time when the people decided that it was time to come out from under the thumb of both, and to become something better. None of this would have been possible if The Enlightenment had not paved the way. The Enlightenment fueled formation of America and continued influencing the evolution of America in to what it is today.

Chapters VI and VIII: The Scientific View of the World and the Age of Enlightenment

The age of Enlightenment was a progression of the cultural and intellectual changes in Europe that had resulted from the scientific revolution during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The scientific revolution and the discoveries made about the natural world would ultimately challenge the way people perceived the world around them. Scientist found real answers, by questioning flawed ancient beliefs that were widely held and maintained by the church. Ultimately, these discoveries and scientific advancements would evolve and effect social, cultural, and political developments in Europe over the course of time. The scientific revolution had provided certainty about the natural world that had long been questioned. With these new

The Enlightenment also had broad effects on religion. The first effect that the Enlightenment had on religion was the idea that people should consider the ideas that he/she was following and then decide is it was true or not. It would no longer require asking the priest for advice, one could make his/her own judgements and decisions using reason. There was no divine intervention (Norton Anthology 5-6). This idea of using reason to make decisions that were once based on religion changed many things. According to the Norton Anthology guide of World Literature, this concept of reason would lead back to the idea of eternal destiny. It was also during this time that the divine right was no longer regarded as truth. The divine right was the idea that God placed the king or queen into power that He wanted. This new way of thinking disregarded this (4-7). The other major religious group during this time were the deists. The deists, unlike other groups who turned to reason, validated the wicked events taking place. The deists said that God created everything but simply watched what was taking place. He did not have any say in what took place. It was this religious philosophy that separated ethics and religion

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.

The Enlightenment was a time of thinking, recalculating, and coming up with new ideas to replace the old and evolving from medieval ways. During the Enlightenment, people questioning everything including whether or not the church should have all the power and if their religion was correct. Martin Luther came up with several ideas about how the Catholic Church was wrong and eventually made up with his own religion called Protestantism. The ideas of the Enlightenment lead to many revolutions including the peasants’ revolts in the German States. The peasants’ revolts in German states, during the early 1500s, resulted in both positive and negative effects.

It discussed how rationalism was important in making decisions and how basing them off the church in exchange for salvation was wrong. His book talked even further on empiricism, which became a major characteristic of the enlightenment period. Voltaire, on the other hand, was much more rebellious, going into exile many times. He challenged many ideas of society, and believed in choice; this included religious toleration, freedom of speech, and freedom of class. These ideas are now followed in great numbers in the 21st century Such examples include voting, giving the people the decision to elect whomever they feel is best suited for the job. Many religions are practiced in the United states, giving a modern day look on how 1700’s enlightenment ideals are still alive and well today.