The Evolution of Western Thought Essay

For centuries the comfort of traditions was how humans lived. The teachings of the church and the system of the monarchy was the way the cities and countries were ruled and people would not question it because it was the way that they must be follow or else there would be consequences. Although there were those who constantly reinforced the old customs, change is inventible in history. People stopped listening to the church and started to learn for themselves. The enlightenment period was born and the old world was a talk of the past. It completely reinvented the ideas and beliefs of olden days and brought on a new look for the world that they’ve been accustomed to. Thus pushing away the church supremacy and bringing forward the age of reasoning, the period of enlightenment is the most profound event in history because of the increase of social interactions between people, the exploration of nature and the change in political views.

The Enlightenment was a time of change in Europe. There were many new ideas, and various influential thinkers that inspired new invention and also inspired revolutions. All of these thinkers had different views on people and government and different views of people and how they act. Many of these authoritative individuals thoughts still influence us even today. Many of their ideas are used in government and also as guidelines for people to live their lives by.

The Enlightenment known by many as the Age of Reason was a turning point in history. Man people believe that without the Enlightenment, many of the laws, and rules would exist. For example the United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were greatly influenced by the Enlightenment. For example, John Locke, an Enlightenment thinker highly influenced the Declaration of Independence by stating that the natural rights of people include life, liberty and property except the founding fathers changed it by stating life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The

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 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 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 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,

The Enlightenment was a movement which focused on logic and individualism instead of tradition lasting between the 17th and 18th centuries. Ideas from Enlightenment influenced the uprising within the American colonies, France, and Latin America throughout the 1700’s. Thomas Hobbes thought the best government should have single ruler. John Locke thought that people should rule themselves instead of kings. One of the main ideas is that people should be governed by reason, not by tradition.

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

Have you ever thought about how our society became how it is today? The enlightenment was time period during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when thinkers called philosophers tried to find new ways to help and improve their societies. These philosophers used reason and observation to think of ideas to change many different areas of society. Philosophers during the enlightenment believed they could improve society in three different areas, government, religion, and the role of women.

The Enlightenment Era, also known as the Age of Reason, brought about many of the political and social ideals that are held today. During this era, there was a heavy emphasis on political and social development of Europe and these development remained in place for centuries to follow. When compared to the Humanist thinkers of the Renaissance—who placed an emphasis on arts, literature, and culture—the Enlightenment thinkers had a greater impact on the social and political development of Europe in their respective eras. The Enlightenment thinkers placed a stronger emphasis on social issues than the humanists thinkers and, because of this, contributed more to the social development in Europe.

Like all of these other movements, much Enlightenment thinking challenged accepted beliefs. Enlightenment philosophers wanted to use the ideas and reason of the Scientific Revolution for problems in government and society. Politics also had a huge impact on the enlightenment, Locke’s work was tremendously important

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.

In this essay I will be discussing four of the major themes in this course in terms of progress, they will be religion, humanism, individualism and secularism. I will discuss these concepts within the countries of England, France, and Russia, and show my point of view on each.