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The Enlightenment Research Paper

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In this essay, my main focus will be on the relationship between the ideas of the enlightenment and the development of sociology as an academic subject.
The enlightenment, which is also known as “the age of reason” is the name given to an important period in the history of western civilization. Enlightenment is often defined as a man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Enlightenment was the period during the 17th & 18th century, when people saw the growth of modern science and a new faith in the power of reason and the improvement of the human condition. The developments took place in Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The society increased through much of Europe, as well as Russia and Scandinavia plus the United States. The enlightenment was a time where the human ability to reason was glorified.
The Era was given the name “enlightenment”, because it was a time when an influential group actively sought to use the clear life of reason that is rational thought to rid the world of superstition and ignorance. The influential group included:
John Locke 1632-1704
Isaac Newton 1642-1727
David Hume 1711-1776
JJ Rousseau 1712-1778
Adam Smith 1723-1790
Immanuel Kant 1724-1804
Edmund Burke 1729-1797
Georg Hegel …show more content…

(In Fulcher &Scotts 1999 extract) It states that “Enlightenment thinking led to scientific ideas”. People started to understand their own actions and how the society functions. Enlightenment thinkers influenced the founding fathers of sociology because the founding fathers have embedded and expanded on the ideas proposed by some enlightenment thinkers for example, the concept of tolerating other beliefs and letting people think for their selves rather than people being dictated to (Craib 1997). According to (Giddens 1989) he believed that “sociology is an investing action of a group of life, as well as societies. Individualism is

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