What Was The Impact Of The Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was arguably one of the most defining eras in history regarding the transition of cultures from pre-modern traditions to current modern thought and philosophy. The Enlightenment came about through many intellectuals’ desires to separate from centuries old political and social traditions, such as absolutism and divine right. The movement advocated the use of reason rather than focusing on religion and began to break away from the bonds of religious tyranny, as well as long-standing notions of sovereignty. The Enlightenment age was the means for these intellectuals to publish their philosophies and theories, which in turn initiated revolution in political and social practices throughout Europe and consequently the entire

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

John Locke wrote his theory around the same time as Hobbes in 16th century England. Locke, like Hobbes, views the state of nature as inherently unstable. People are under contrast threat of physical harm, unable to pursue any goals that required stability and widespread cooperation with other humans. Unlike Hobbes however, he view humanity as also willing to compromise if it suites them. Locke’s claim is that government arose in this context. Individuals, seeing the benefits which could be gained, decided to relinquish some of their rights to a central authority while retaining other rights. This took the form of a contract. In agreement for relinquishing certain rights, individuals would receive protection from physical harm, security for

John Locke comparatively had more of a positive spin on things than Hobbes. Locke proposed the thought that all people were born with natural rights, these natural rights being life, liberty, and property. The government should agree to serve the people and make sure that they would be provided with these rights. Locke urged if these rights had not been met by the government, the people had the right to rebel and overthrow the government. Locke’s theory got a lot of attention because as he said in his book Second Treatise of Government that “New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any reason but because they are not common.” He feels that government was unnecessary because in his perspective, everyone was born with a clean slate and that if someone was evil, it was the world that made them evil-- they were not born that way. John Locke’s views influenced famous documents, including the Declaration of Independence. In the Declaration of Independence it includes “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” which is based on John Locke’s interpretation of life that humans were all born as almost a blank page with no identity and the world and their lives create their interests, intentions and everyone was given the power to the basic rights of

The middle of the eighteenth century saw the use of reason and empirical evidence to support claims rather than relying on blind authority. Increasing interest in science, art, and the progression of society defined the age known as the Enlightenment. Although the Enlightenment was eventually successful in influencing modern society, there was an opposition to the new ways of thinking known as the Counter-Enlightenment. The Counter-Enlightenment was shaped by people from all backgrounds who believed that the philosophes ideas against religion and absolute monarchy would be detrimental to society. Influential philosophers, church members, and government officials resided on either side of the argument, Rousseau being one of them. When studying

The Enlightenment era spanned the late 16th and 17th hundreds and it was a movement in which thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Thomas Pain, and Adam Smith sought to make advances in a similar manner to the occurrences in this period with scientific achievements/improvements. Two of the greatest effects of the Enlightenment era were the American and French Revolutions, which gained their foundation from the revolutionary ideas brought forward by the Enlightenment thinkers. The leaders of the American and French Revolutions were seeking to create new governments reflecting some of the values and ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers.

John Locke believed that “If a government fails in its obligation to protect natural rights, the people have the right to overthrow that government”. He believed that every person has a right to life, property, and liberty. According to Locke, it is the government's responsibility to protect the natural rights of their people. One of his famous quotes was “All mankind... being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty

On the other hand, John Locke, who was also an English 17th century philosopher, believed that isolated individuals are born with natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Even though he is a firm believer in that one has the liberty to do what one pleases without permission from anyone else, he insists that one 's freedom should not infringe on someone else’s freedom. Interestingly, anarchists would disagree with Locke in that property is freedom because they would say ownership is unequal due to the accumulation of wealth being a form of hierarchy. Moreover, without government man is obligated to judge and punish injustices against him. Therefore, when entering society, Locke believed a government should be formed to avoid the state of war. According to Locke, the government provides stability and security of liberties. In contrast to Hobbes ' praise of absolute power in which power cannot be overthrown, the government can be replaced if it fails to benefit society according to Locke.

Rather than believing that all people were wicked and selfish, Locke said that people learned through experience to improve themselves. John Locke said that there should be a social contract between the governed and the government. He said that human self-interest leads to self-improvement. For example, if a person is running a business, they are not running the business to feed other people, they are running the business to make money to support their family and their interests. This leads to the improvement of people's lives. Locke said the idea of self-interest leads to self-improvement which he said was a good thing. In addition, John Locke said that the government needs to protect our natural rights. Compared to Hobbes, Locke denounced the idea of government being an absolute monarchy. Locke liked the idea of a self-government. He said that the government should protect your natural rights. Natural rights are the rights you get when you are born. The three natural rights you get when you are born our life, liberty, and property. He says that the government gets the power from the consent of the people. Furthermore, Locke said that if the government was not doing their job, the people had the right to revolt against the

The Enlightenment was a time in the Western world’s history in which positive strides were taken to change the laws and government. Many people, such as philosophers, scientists, and political leader, had major influences in what was believed. People like Locke, Hobbes, Machiavelli, and Rousseau were well-known philosophers who had contrasting ideas as to how the government should be run, as well as natural rights of the people of a country. People like Copernicus and Newton were well-known scientists who changed the world’s perspective of science. Each historic figure had his or her own philosophy of life.

Locke and Hobbes see government very differently. They have opposing views on what they think would happen if there wasn’t a government in place. Yet they both ultimately believe it is necessary for justice and safety. The government functions to help keep order, settle conflicts, and protect us.

The Age of Enlightenment is one of the turning points in the human history, which affected the economy, politics and social order throughout the world. Period of Enlightenment is vividly bounded in the late XVII century up to the end of XVIII century. Main purpose of the Enlightenment time’s intellectuals was to affect and transform the society in which they lived, by challenging traditions by the science and scientific methods. Indisputably, we could claim that period of the Enlightenment was an unrepeatable progress of the human thinking. Major reason is that, intellectuals in the period of the Enlightenment were neglecting and skeptical

He believes that if there were not government that each individual would be equal to one another. Everyone would be free and have to use the moral principles that God gave us. John Locke believed that an individual should respect the rights of others. He instated that people could acquire property, but they could not steal it. Every man has the right to property to work the land and be proud of the property they are working with their own hands.

Although the movement of enlightenment brought most countries wealth and the growth of economic, these benefits weren’t favored those peasants. In other words, peasants had nothing. Moreover, under the pressure of the monarchy government, peasants were been deprived any food they had or any coins they earned. Again and again, they literally couldn’t survive the minimum wages that they earned. Totalitarianism is the word that narratives the society back in the 17th and 18th centuries, “governments that try to control every aspect of life, including daily activities, while limiting all forms of political dissent” (textbook 4th Ed, pg 620). All of these reasons of being beleaguered, therefore, they started a series of strikes and uprisings, and this was just the beginning because later on they became rebellions and started their first revolution that occurred in 1789 in French.

Throughout modern history no other period of human evolution has had a greater effect on the way people think than the enlightenment. The philosophers and great thinkers of the enlightenment changed the logic of the human mind for the better and propelled a period of mass advancement in all aspects of society. Western thought progressed over time to help build a more intellectual society. Modern philosophers such as Max Horkheimer and Immanuel Kant incorporated their views of Western Thought into their political writings.