The Age Of Reason

The Rationalism era, which is also known as “The Enlightenment” or “ The Age of Reasoning”, is an historic event that took place in eighteenth century in Western Europe, England and American Colonies. At this time, people went from thinking traditionally to thinking more rationally. Thoughts and actions went from religious based to more of a scientific approach. Not only is this an important era for American Literature but also for American History because this is when the Declaration Of Independance and The United States Constitution were written. Writers and readers took notice to “The Enlightenment” and started the historic event, we know today as the “The Age of Reasoning”.

During the 17th and 18th century the “Age of Reason” the philosophers showed many new ways of showing natural laws within nation, government, and rights that helped mankind. As the philosophers went to discuss political, religious, economics, and social questions they helped shape the democratic world we live in today.

Next, the new ideal of government started bringing new ideas of how the government should be ran. The old theocracy of the Puritans gave power to the ministers of the older settlements which limited all power from the people. An example of political philosophy ideas that were proposed was the introduction of empiricism by John Locke which profoundly influenced American society to the thought that government had an emphasis of a social contract which created a consistency between society and the laws of nature. This meant that power would reside with the people rather than the state. The Puritan government, before the Enlightenment, was shrouded in myth and radical religious rule where they believed that God had everything to do with how they should rule society and decisions that had to be made. Enlightenment philosophers that would eventually come to be, such as Thomas Jefferson, introduced the Constitution which stated that the government would be “for the people, by people”, resulting into equal rights for all and giving power to the people to make decisions. These ideas of equality and other ideas of political freedom would give way to changes in the social philosophy of the Puritans.

In the late eighteenth century Britain went through an Enlightenment period, which is also referred to as 'The Age of Reason' (Paine, 1794) and this is because reason was emphasised over religion, secularisation transformed

The age of reason changed how science worked inside of Europe. The age of reason is the time period in Europe where the right and wrong were distinguished. New laws were put in place, new political people took over, and Europe grew as a country. It occurred in the 17th century and it spread very quickly. Science and writers also drastically changed due to all new things being discovered. This european revolution also influenced the american revolution. This was also a major social advance for Europe. The reason for this new era spreading so fast was because of famous english writers. Without the age of reason Europe and America would still be stuck in midivil times.

The Age of Enlightenment, a movement during the 17th and 18th century started from the Europeans, later moving into American colonies. The point of this movement was for the society to reform on a new base such as emphasizing reason and individualism over tradition. Enlightenment thinkers, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Beccaria, Locke, and Voltaire helped launched this project amongst Europeans. John Locke, for example, criticized absolute monarchy and favored self-government. Voltaire also believed that people should be able to speak their minds without the fear they may be punished. Through these philosophy influence, this eventually leads to European rulers ruling with a sense of equality, democratic governance, and abolition.

The age of reason brought on many changes to religious, political, scientific, and literary aspects of the eighteenth century. The Age of Reason and

Thirteen colonies, united strong and firm to bring down the King of Great Britain, who had been controlling them for a period of time. In these colonies, various people gathered together and formed a document known as The Declaration of Independence, that broke them free from the king and made them a nation, America. But before becoming America, they were held captive by the King of Great Britain, who did no good for the people and brought them nothing but misery. America slowly, but eventually evolved itself since the mid 1700’s and has become one of the strongest nations even till this day. With all these changes and history this nation has become of, so has it’s actions changed and outgrown throughout these years. The nation created in 1776 can be represented in various characteristics, as when the Age of Reason occurred. The Age of Reason focused on reason, individualism, and skepticism, impacting the society in a variety of ways, creating the colonies to react and show several emotions. During this period of time, people were convinced the reason held by humans could make the discovery of natural laws of the universe and natural rights of mankind. And this conflicted with the religious beliefs because people based on their life from the word of God and didn’t believe a discovery like this would prove God wrong. Above all, the two most important characteristics that best represent America during the Age of Reason are inquisitive

Humanism, exploration, and modern ideas of science all contributed to the beginning of the Age of Reason, or the Enlightenment, a time of perfecting society. In the 1600s and 1700s, some monarchs ruled as enlightened despots, which minorly influenced the society. Some philosophers wanted to make bigger chances as they began developing secular views, ultimately seeking democracy. When seeking this goal, they found the many flaws with society and government. As natural laws took shape in the 18th century, it revolutionized government and changed the nature of society.

In the Age of Reason, writers were most interested in logical arguments. They focused on faith and valued reason and order. The important writers in the Age of Reason were mostly political figures, so the writing concentrated on equality, individualism and self governance. The Declaration of Independence also focuses on equality and self governance by giving people their individual rights. The ideals of the Age of Reason shaped the Declaration of Independance because they both share the values: equality, liberty and individualism.

Age of reason was an eighteenth century movement which was following strictly in the Middle Ages after mysticism, religion and superstition. The age of reasons represented an origin of the perception of man about himself, for the search of knowledge and the universe. In this time period, man’s previous perceptions

The guiding principle of the Age of Reason was initiative, while the guiding principle of modern America is respect. Initiative is defined as, “the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do.” This relates to the Age of Reason in the sense that it was the beginning of a different way of thinking, which was practically unheard of in America before then. However, America today is a time of equality and respect. Respect is defined as, “a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements,” and is seen practically everywhere throughout the country.

Age of reason is mostly about disbelief the bible. Everything involved with religion and, they think only about the future. Of what is going to happen in the world with advanced technology of what humans initiative to have created without biblical beliefs.

Throughout “The Age of Reason,” Thomas Paine gives several examples for why he is opposed to Christianity. Before I began reading this essay, I was absolutely positive that I was going to disagree with every point that Paine had to make and every opinion that he expressed. It did not take long for me to realize that I had made the wrong assumption. There was more than one occasion while reading “The Age of Reason” that I discovered I actually agreed with Paine's opinion/belief. This encouraged me to read “The Age of Reason” once again, but this time with an open-mind. I decided that I would also take notes on the similarities and differences between Paine's worldview and mine.

The Age Of Reason. One of the main ideas and attitudes during this period was, reason