The Enlightenment And The Enlightenment : The Age Of Reason

The Enlightenment period, known as the Age of Reason, was the period during the 18th and 19th century. It was known as one of the greatest moments in history, the time of transformations, reformations, revolutions and many other critical events that ever took place in human history. It is also credited for all of the revolutions that helped to change and enlighten mankind. The Agricultural Revolution paved the way for the Industrial Revolution through its population growth by increasing the food supply. The outcome of the advancement of agriculture is due to the development industrialization. When it comes to economic development in different countries, Agriculture has always been the most important role. When agricultural production increases, the average income of the rural communities, industrialization, and urbanization also lead to an increased demand in industrial production. A lot of small farmers and peasants were unemployed and lost their land to rich landholders and because of this, labor was increased and the production of food was lower causing the standard of living to be higher. During this time, England seemed to be more socially and economically wealthy and had everything they needed to fuel the industrial revolution. At the same time, England’s cottage industry was not able to fulfill its demands because of its increasing population. The population was doubling and the ratio of demand to supply increased tremendously. Therefore, people had to focus more on

Galileo, and others were part of the scientific revolution that doubted religion and placed truth in

The French Revolution was an uprising in France initiated by the Third Estate against the monarchy, which resulted in the establishment of France as a republic. Even though there were various causes to the French Revolution, there are events dating back centuries before the start of the Revolution, such as the publication of the 95 Theses, that can be seen as a preface to the Revolution. As time went on, more events acted as precursors. The French Revolution occurred as an effect of the work of Martin Luther, the creation of Absolutism, and the Enlightenment.

The Age of Enlightenment, sometimes called the Age of Reason, refers to the time of the guiding intellectual movement, called The Enlightenment. It covers about a century and a half in Europe. From the perspective of socio-political phenomena, the period is considered to have begun with the close of the Thirty Years' War (1648) and ended with the French Revolution (1789). The intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment was spreading ideas about the equality and basic rights of man and the importance of reason and scientific objectivity. François-Marie Arouet ( 1694 – 1778), known by Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy

The Enlightenment is said to have begun in the 1680’s, the same decade that the “Glorious Revolution” occurred, which crowned daughter of James II Mary and her husband Prince William of Orange Monarchs of England. This turning point in English history can be considered part of the Enlightenment due to the switch from an Absolute Monarchy to a Constitutional Monarchy and the passing of the English Bill of Rights in 1689 after William’s ascension to the throne.

During the late 17th-18th century Enlightenment, people began to question the norms that had previously blindly accepted. Philosophes emerged, trying to find new ways to understand and improve their society. Using observation and reason, these philosophes uncovered natural laws of existence - patterns in nature and human behavior that could be used to understand the truth of all things and could improve human activities. All four of the Enlightenment philosophers emphasized people’s personal freedom in choosing their own political, religious, economic, and societal alignments, as long as in attaining their natural rights, people didn’t infringe on others’, because in doing so, they will benefit the whole society.

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement during the 17th and 18th century when the philosophers and scientists started examining the world through human intellect and reason. It is a new way of thinking which allowed human improvement. Generally, the enlightenment thinkers thought without prejudice. This cultural movement led to many new developments, ideas, and inventions in science, art, politics and philosophy. Reason guides human affairs. Science over religion, belief in freedom, liberty, and progress that it will get better. The new attitudes are optimistic, seek practical improvement, and it focused more on liberty. The Enlightenment affected the way people understood the role of government. It changed they way they think about

In the 1600’s the reign of James II in England with his emphasis on Catholic practices and the censorship of mail motivated English Parliament to undertake a journey to the Netherlands in search of new leaders by the names of William and Mary. Their arrival in England prompted James II to abdicate his throne. This further propelled the period of William and Mary’s reign otherwise known the Glorious Revolution. Additionally, it put forth a new period of constitutional monarchy, religious toleration, and peaceful succession in England. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 led to the Enlightenment because, William of Orange promoted and protected religious toleration and a constitutional monarchy. Furthermore, the majority of English Protestants agreed with William of Orange’s stance and allowed the Glorious Revolution to further inspire them as enlightened thinkers. However, William was still heralded as a king and the people of England nevertheless portrayed him an absolute monarch.

The ideals of the Enlightenment are the basis of our democracies and universities in the 21st century: belief in reason, science, skepticism, secularism, and equality. In fact, no other era compares with the Age of Enlightenment. Classical Antiquity is inspiring, but a world away from our modern societies. The Middle Ages was more reasonable than its reputation, but still medieval. The Renaissance was glorious, but largely because of its result: the Enlightenment. The Romantic era was a reaction to the Age of Reason – but the ideals of today’s modern states are seldom expressed in terms of romanticism and emotion. Immanuel Kant’s argument in the essay ‘Perpetual Peace’ (1795) that ‘the human race’ should work for ‘a cosmopolitan constitution’ can be seen as a precursor for the United Nations.

The Age of the Enlightenment during the beginning of the 18th century was a revolution that vanquished the suffocating darkness of superstition that shrouded the Middle Ages. Revolutionary thinkers of the Enlightenment, such as Denis Diderot, René Descartes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, led western civilization out of the darkness of ignorance with a small flame generated by the power of scientific and intellectual reason. For a while, it seemed as though the reason and rationality of Enlightenment thinking would be the harbinger of peace. However, this idea of peace was merely a conjectured fantasy that disregarded the rising discontentment of a newly oppressed people. This is displayed through the perversion of the French Revolution into an irrational and passion driven bloodbath. Towards the end of the 18th century, people felt that the rigidity of scientific reason instilled by the Enlightenment was bleeding the spirit, morality, and especially the passion out of existence. The small flame of the Enlightenment was ignited into a raging fire of oppressed passion generated through the power individualistic thinking. Rather than focusing on a unified peace, revolutionaries, such as Thomas Paine, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann von Goethe and Jane Austen, of the late 18th and 19th century emphasized the passion of self-expression within the individual.

In situations of unbalanced power, people will always revolt and work to change their nation’s order, so that equality will be made. Once revolutions have taken their toll, and brought devastation to the land, the ash becomes a perfect place to cultivate a new system of power. The American and French Revolutions were aided, and created, by the Age of Enlightenment’s ideas of personal rights and freedoms. The new knowledge of the era brought change to people who had constantly been forced to live under the rule of their wicked rulers. They harnessed the progressive concepts, and brought riots across the lands of the unjust states. After the fighting, almost all traces of both governments had vanished, and in it’s place, the people’s government

“Have the courage to use your own intelligence! Is therefore the motto of the Enlightenment,” (Kant). The Enlightenment consisted of the ideas of nature, reason, progress, and optimism. Sir Isaac Newton, a scientist during the Scientific Revolution, greatly influenced the Enlightenment due to his stance on natural law. The idea of a social contract, where the power to govern came from the consent of the governed, was a major force during this time period. Adam Smith, a physiocrat from Great Britain, supported the idea of laissez-faire economics. During this time period, deism, the belief in an impersonal God, was popular due to its logical approach to religion. During the Enlightenment, an egalitarian society formed where the main focus

During the Enlightenment era, both elite culture and popular culture had influences, philosophers dominating the ideals of the time period. In the eighteenth century, philosophers such as Adam Smith, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean Jacques Rousseau empowered people to think upon their natural rights and suggested new ideologies to follow and/or support. Additionally, because of the Enlightenment, the Realist and Neoclassical Art Movement spurred and gathered momentum as artists changed the art scene with their masterpieces across Europe.

The Enlightenment age or the Age of Reason (1620-1780) witnessed major religious changes. Before the Enlightenment, and before the discovery of natural laws, people believed that everything happen, no matter how major or minor, was a direct massage from God. But with the discovery of the natural laws, people began to fear less, and as a result, religious obligations were no longer the primary concern of many people.1 Peter Harrison explains that, in The Enlightenment age “the natural order is opposed to the supernatural. In this scheme of things ‘natural religion’ is the result of human sin, and stands in opposition to ‘revealed’ or supernaturally based religion.”P.6 2 Thus, the Enlightenment thinkers and writer demanded a religion which is

The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual and scientific movement which is characterized by its rational and scientific approach to religious, social, political, and economic issues. Enlightenment ideals challenged the way people were taught to think and let them express their criticism of the church, the monarchy or whatever system they saw as unjust. The impact of the enlightenment movement was first seen in 18th century Europe and soon spread to different parts of the world. People who believed in these ideals were called enlightenment thinkers. Enlightenment thinkers were a voice for the masses who felt they were being manipulated by people holding all the power. It also helped the masses realize that they did not need the church or monarchy, and enlightenment thinkers were able to assemble a following to stop people of power taking advantage of those who were not quite as powerful. Enlightenment thinkers gave an outlet to the common citizen who were seeing injustices in their government system.