what is the enlightenment period

What are some interesting facts about the Enlightenment period?

Some interesting facts about the Enlightenment period are that it was caused by the Thirty Years’ War and that the Enlightenment period began in 1648. Some of the first people to take the plunge into Enlightenment were authors John Comenius and Hugo Grotius. During the Enlightenment period, thought processes revolved more around science and ...

What is the Enlightenment period also known as?

What is the Enlightenment period also known as? The Age of Enlightenment (also known as the Age of Reason or simply the Enlightenment) was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. What was the Enlightenment period all about?

What are the main characteristics of the Enlightenment period?

The three characteristics of the enlightenment are rationalism, the discoverability of the laws of human society, and the never ending improvement of human civilization. The three characteristics of the Enlightenment

What were the pros and cons of the Enlightenment?

Pros And Cons Of The Enlightenment 721 Words | 3 Pages • During the Enlightenment there was a Scientific Revolution • The enlightenment was also called the Age of Reason • The chaos of the Reformation and wars of religion had shaken a belief system that had been accepted by society in the Middle Ages • People began looking for natural law, the conditions that govern human behavior ...

What does Enlightenment period mean?

The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and cultural movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith.

What were the main ideas of the Enlightenment?

The Enlightenment, a philosophical movement that dominated in Europe during the 18th century, was centered around the idea that reason is the primary source of authority and legitimacy, and advocated such ideals as liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state.

What happened in the Enlightenment period?

1685 – 1815Age of Enlightenment / Period

What was the Enlightenment period for dummies?

The Enlightenment has been defined in many different ways, but at its broadest was a philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It stressed reason, logic, criticism, and freedom of thought over dogma, blind faith, and superstition.

Why is the Enlightenment important?

“The Enlightenment” has been regarded as a turning point in the intellectual history of the West. The principles of religious tolerance, optimism about human progress and a demand for rational debate are often thought to be a powerful legacy of the ideas of Locke, Newton, Voltaire and Diderot.

Why was the Enlightenment period important?

What were the most important ideas of the Enlightenment? It was thought during the Enlightenment that human reasoning could discover truths about the world, religion, and politics and could be used to improve the lives of humankind.

How did the Enlightenment start?

The Enlightenment was preceded by the Scientific Revolution and the work of Francis Bacon, among others. Some date the beginning of the Enlightenment back to the publication of René Descartes' Discourse on the Method in 1637, featuring his famous dictum, Cogito, ergo sum ("I think, therefore I am").

When did the Enlightenment begin?

1685 – 1815Age of Enlightenment / Period

How did the Enlightenment change religion?

The Enlightenment underlined an individual's natural rights to choose one's faith. The Awakening contributed by setting dissenting churches against establishments and trumpeting the right of dissenters to worship as they pleased without state interference.

Who created the Enlightenment?

In the mid-17th century, the Enlightenment traces its origins to Descartes' Discourse on Method, published in 1637. In France, many cite the publication of Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica in 1687.

What is an example of Enlightenment?

An example of enlightenment is when you become educated about a particular course of study or a particular religion. An example of enlightenment was The Age of Enlightenment, a time in Europe during the 17th and 18th century considered an intellectual movement driven by reason. The act or a means of enlightening.

When did the Enlightenment start and end?

1685 – 1815Age of Enlightenment / Period

What was the Enlightenment movement?

European politics, philosophy, science and communications were radically reoriented during the course of the “long 18th century” (1685-1815) as part of a movement referred to by its participants as the Age of Reason, or simply the Enlightenment . Enlightenment thinkers in Britain, in France and throughout Europe questioned traditional authority ...

Who were the early Enlightenment?

The Early Enlightenment: 1685-1730. The Enlightenment’s important 17th-century precursors included the Englishmen Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes, the Frenchman René Descartes and the key natural philosophers of the Scientific Revolution, including Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

What did the Enlightenment thinkers believe?

Enlightenment thinkers in Britain, in France and throughout Europe questioned traditional authority and embraced the notion that humanity could be improved through rational change. The Enlightenment produced numerous books, essays, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars and revolutions.

What was the French Revolution?

The French Revolution of 1789 was the culmination of the High Enlightenment vision of throwing out the old authorities to remake society along rational lines, but it devolved into bloody terror that showed the limits of its own ideas and led, a decade later, to the rise of Napoleon.

What were the American and French Revolutions inspired by?

The American and French Revolutions were directly inspired by Enlightenment ideals and respectively marked the peak of its influence and the beginning of its decline. The Enlightenment ultimately gave way to 19th-century Romanticism.

Which era of modernism owes a heavy debt to the Enlightenment?

Enlightened rationality gave way to the wildness of Romanticism, but 19th-century Liberalism and Classicism—not to mention 20th-century Modernism —all owe a heavy debt to the thinkers of the Enlightenment.

Who was the enlightened despot who unified, rationalized and modernized Prussia in between brutal multi?

It was an age of enlightened despots like Frederick the Great, who unified, rationalized and modernized Prussia in between brutal multi-year wars with Austria, and of enlightened would-be revolutionaries like Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, whose “Declaration of Independence” (1776) framed the American Revolution in terms taken from of Locke’s essays.

What was the Enlightenment?

Overview. The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized reason and science. The British colonist Benjamin Franklin gained fame on both sides of the Atlantic as a printer, publisher, and scientist. He embodied Enlightenment ideals in the British Atlantic with his scientific experiments ...

What were the main ideas of the Enlightenment?

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons. Several ideas dominated Enlightenment thought, including rationalism, empiricism, progressivism, and cosmopolitanism. Rationalism is the idea that humans are capable of using their faculty of reason to gain knowledge.

What did cosmopolitanism reflect?

Finally, cosmopolitanism reflected Enlightenment thinkers’ view of themselves as actively engaged citizens of the world as opposed to provincial and close-minded individuals. In all, Enlightenment thinkers endeavored to be ruled by reason, not prejudice.

What was the Freemasons' philosophy?

The Freemasons were members of a fraternal society that advocated Enlightenment principles of inquiry and tolerance. Freemasonry originated in London coffeehouses in the early 18th century, and Masonic lodges—local units—soon spread throughout Europe and the British colonies.

How did the colonists spread the Enlightenment ideas?

Some American colonists spread the enlightenment ideas through pamphlets, newspapers, and other publications. The wealthy women of Paris also held gatherings in their homes, called salons, where their peers could hear inspiring music, view art and listen to ideas and writings from great thinkers.

Who were the Enlightenment thinkers?

Using the power of the press, Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, Isaac Newton, and Voltaire questioned accepted knowledge and spread new ideas about openness, investigation, and religious tolerance throughout Europe and the Americas.

What is the idea that knowledge comes from experience and observation of the world?

Empiricism promotes the idea that knowledge comes from experience and observation of the world.

Significant people and publications

The most famous work by Nicholas de Condorcet, Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progres de l'esprit humain, 1795. With the publication of this book, the development of the Age of Enlightenment is considered generally ended.

Philosophy

René Descartes ' rationalist philosophy laid the foundation for enlightenment thinking. His attempt to construct the sciences on a secure metaphysical foundation was not as successful as his method of doubt applied in philosophic areas leading to a dualistic doctrine of mind and matter.

Science

Science played an important role in Enlightenment discourse and thought. Many Enlightenment writers and thinkers had backgrounds in the sciences and associated scientific advancement with the overthrow of religion and traditional authority in favour of the development of free speech and thought.

Sociology, economics and law

Hume and other Scottish Enlightenment thinkers developed a " science of man ", which was expressed historically in works by authors including James Burnett, Adam Ferguson, John Millar and William Robertson, all of whom merged a scientific study of how humans behaved in ancient and primitive cultures with a strong awareness of the determining forces of modernity.

Politics

The Enlightenment has long been hailed as the foundation of modern Western political and intellectual culture. The Enlightenment brought political modernization to the West, in terms of introducing democratic values and institutions and the creation of modern, liberal democracies.

Religion

The French philosopher Voltaire argued for religious tolerance, saying that "It does not require great art, or magnificently trained eloquence, to prove that Christians should tolerate each other. I, however, am going further: I say that we should regard all men as our brothers.

National variations

The Enlightenment took hold in most European countries, often with a specific local emphasis.

What was the Enlightenment?

The heart of the eighteenth century Enlightenment is the loosely organized activity of prominent French thinkers of the mid-decades of the eighteenth century, the so-called “ philosophes ” (e.g., Voltaire, D’Alembert, Diderot, Montesquieu). The philosophes constituted an informal society of men of letters who collaborated on a loosely defined project of Enlightenment exemplified by the project of the Encyclopedia (see below 1.5). However, there are noteworthy centers of Enlightenment outside of France as well. There is a renowned Scottish Enlightenment (key figures are Frances Hutcheson, Adam Smith, David Hume, Thomas Reid), a German Enlightenment ( die Aufklärung, key figures of which include Christian Wolff, Moses Mendelssohn, G.E. Lessing and Immanuel Kant), and there are also other hubs of Enlightenment and Enlightenment thinkers scattered throughout Europe and America in the eighteenth century.

What was the Enlightenment associated with?

The Enlightenment is often associated with its political revolutions and ideals, especially the French Revolution of 1789. The energy created and expressed by the intellectual foment of Enlightenment thinkers contributes to the growing wave of social unrest in France in the eighteenth century.

How did the Enlightenment influence Christianity?

Alongside the rise of the new science, the rise of Protestantism in western Christianity also plays an important role in generating the Enlightenment. The original Protestants assert a sort of individual liberty with respect to questions of faith against the paternalistic authority of the Church. The “liberty of conscience”, so important to Enlightenment thinkers in general, and asserted against all manner of paternalistic authorities (including Protestant), descends from this Protestant assertion. The original Protestant assertion initiates a crisis of authority regarding religious belief, a crisis of authority that, expanded and generalized and even, to some extent, secularized, becomes a central characteristic of the Enlightenment spirit. The original Protestant assertion against the Catholic Church bases itself upon the authority of scripture. However, in the Enlightenment, the authority of scripture is strongly challenged, especially when taken literally. Developing natural science renders acceptance of a literal version of the Bible increasingly untenable. But authors such as Spinoza (in his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus) present ways of interpreting scripture according to its spirit, rather than its letter, in order to preserve its authority and truth, thus contributing to the Enlightenment controversy of whether some rationally purified version of the religion handed down in the culture belongs to the true philosophical representation of the world or not; and, if so, what its content is.

What makes for the unity of such tremendously diverse thinkers under the label of Enlightenment?

What makes for the unity of such tremendously diverse thinkers under the label of “Enlightenment”? For the purposes of this entry, the Enlightenment is conceived broadly. D’Alembert, a leading figure of the French Enlightenment, characterizes his eighteenth century , in the midst of it, as “the century of philosophy par excellence ” , because of the tremendous intellectual and scientific progress of the age, but also because of the expectation of the age that philosophy (in the broad sense of the time, which includes the natural and social sciences) would dramatically improve human life. Guided by D’Alembert’s characterization of his century, the Enlightenment is conceived here as having its primary origin in the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries. The rise of the new science progressively undermines not only the ancient geocentric conception of the cosmos, but also the set of presuppositions that had served to constrain and guide philosophical inquiry in the earlier times. The dramatic success of the new science in explaining the natural world promotes philosophy from a handmaiden of theology, constrained by its purposes and methods, to an independent force with the power and authority to challenge the old and construct the new, in the realms both of theory and practice, on the basis of its own principles. Taking as the core of the Enlightenment the aspiration for intellectual progress, and the belief in the power of such progress to improve human society and individual lives, this entry includes descriptions of relevant aspects of the thought of earlier thinkers, such as Hobbes, Locke, Descartes, Bayle, Leibniz, and Spinoza, thinkers whose contributions are indispensable to understanding the eighteenth century as “the century of philosophy par excellence ”.

What were the Philosophes?

The philosophes constituted an informal society of men of letters who collaborated on a loosely defined project of Enlightenment exemplified by the project of the Encyclopedia (see below 1.5). However, there are noteworthy centers of Enlightenment outside of France as well.

How did natural science evolve in the eighteenth century?

The rise of modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries proceeds through its separation from the presuppositions, doctrines and methodology of theology; natural science in the eighteenth century proceeds to separate itself from metaphysics as well . Newton proves the capacity of natural science to succeed independently of a priori, clear and certain first principles. The characteristic Enlightenment suspicion of all allegedly authoritative claims the validity of which is obscure, which is directed first of all against religious dogmas, extends to the claims of metaphysics as well. While there are significant Enlightenment thinkers who are metaphysicians – again, one thinks of Christian Wolff – the general thrust of Enlightenment thought is anti-metaphysical.

Where did deism originate?

Enlightenment deism first arises in England. In On the Reasonableness of Christianity (1695), Locke aims to establish the compatibility of reason and the teachings of Christianity. Though Locke himself is (like Newton, like Clarke) not a deist, the major English deists who follow (John Toland, Christianity Not Mysterious [1696]); Anthony Collins, A Discourse of Freethinking [1713]; Matthew Tindal, Christianity as Old as Creation [1730]) are influenced by Locke’s work. Voltaire carries deism across the channel to France and advocates for it there over his long literary career. Toward the end-stage, the farcical stage, of the French Revolution, Robespierre institutes a form of deism, the so-called “Cult of the Supreme Being”, as the official religion of the French state. Deism plays a role in the founding of the American republic as well. Many of the founding fathers (Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Paine) author statements or tracts that are sympathetic to deism; and their deistic sympathies influence the place given (or not given) to religion in the new American state that they found.

Why did the Enlightenment end?

According to Encyclopedia Britannica’s entry on the subject, “The Enlightenment expired as the victim of its own excesses”. The Enlightenment was so focused on abstract reason and stoicism, above all other virtues, that some people grew tired of it and began to seek its opposite: emotion, sensationalism, and the softening of every moral value. This search was further sparked by the failure of the French Revolution and its ensuing Reign of Terror. After that disaster, few people believed that a reason-based, egalitarian society could, in fact, function.

What is the philosophical thread of the Enlightenment?

One enduring philosophical thread remained, however: the idea that the human race was, as a whole, moving forward. The idea of progress. These beliefs and factors combined with the scientific leaps made during the Enlightenment would drive the world forward toward the Industrial period, and, to the philosophical, artistic, and literary period known as the Romantic Era.

What style of art did the Enlightenment use?

Art during the Age of Enlightenment saw a shift from the opulent baroque style of the 17th century to a “art for the people” – a more simple, neoclassicism. Artists looked back to styles found in Classical and Renaissance-era creations, and used their art as their voice to spread their feelings and voice their opinions. The Enlightenment was the first time in European history that art served not only a political or religious agenda, sponsored by the rich in society, but also served as a medium of expression.

What was the Romantic period?

It was a volatile time marked by art, scientific discoveries, reformation, essays, and poetry. It begun with the American War for Independence and ended with a bang when the French Revolution shook the world, causing many to question whether ideas of egalitarianism and pure reason were at all safe or beneficial for society. Opposing schools of thought, new doctrines and scientific theories, and a belief in the good of humankind would eventually give way the Romantic Period in the 19th century.

What happened in 1789?

In 1789, they revolted. They threw out all old authorities and attempted to remake society along completely rational lines, but it got completely out of control. In what historians call “The Reign of Terror”, they murdered thousands of people and spread fear of revolution throughout the rest of Europe.

Which composers paved the way for music that was brilliant, bright, and celebrated the natural elements of nature?

Composers like Joseph Haydn and geniuses like Mozart paved the way for music that was brilliant, bright, and celebrated the natural elements of nature.

Who wrote the Enlightenment?

Sir Isaac Newton, everybody. [PHOTO: pinterest] It’s impossible to talk about the Enlightenment without talking about the political leaps and bounds made during the period. Historians trace the scientific beginnings of the Enlightenment back to Sir Isaac Newton ’s Principia Mathematica, written in 1686.

What Was the Enlightenment?

In essence, this period was a time when a lot of the great thinkers across Europe began to question the bounds of conventional authority and embraced the idea of rational thinking as a way to enforce change. This mentality arguably initiated a cultural shift that was clearly visible in art, science, and politics. In fact, a lot of modern ideas and concepts are rooted in this philosophy.

What is the Enlightenment philosophy?

In a lot of ways, the Enlightenment represented a return to the classic ideas and thoughts we saw in ancient Greece and Rome. These ideas stood in contrast to those of the Middle Ages, where the rules of Christianity superseded everything else.

What are the two key traits that tied Enlightenment thinking together?

However, the two key traits that tied Enlightenment thinking together were 1) using reason as a base of questioning and 2) coming together to debate ideas through dialogue.

How did the French and American Revolutions affect the world?

Not to mention, the French and American Revolutions created political ripple effects that helped to construct most of the modern world. Indeed, western political culture as we know it, with fundamental theories like the social contract and the right to life, liberty, and prosperity, all have their roots in this era.

What was the interest in reason in the Enlightenment?

In many ways, the interest in reason stoked the desire for opposing ideologies, based in emotion and feeling. These explorations would lead to a cultural shift toward the concept of Romanticism. At the same time, many of the societies born out of Enlightenment thinking were having growing pains.

What was the main focus of the Enlightenment?

The discipline of science, as a counterbalance to religious study, also came to the forefront during the Enlightenment. Many schools and universities were founded for the purpose of furthering teachings, and great thinkers like Isaac Newton became prominent during this time. Buildings like salons and coffeehouses also became popular, as they served as a place for educated people to come together and have public discussions about different ideas and concepts.

Is Enlightenment thinking commonplace?

Even though Enlightenment-style thinking is not as commonplace as it was at the movement’s peak, the remnants of the era are all around us. The scientific theories of figures like Newton are still powering a lot of our work today, and the same can be said for other fields, like economics.

What was the end of the Enlightenment?

The age of Enlightenment is considered to have ended with the French Revolution, which had a violent aspect that discredited it in the eyes of many. Also, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), who referred to Sapere aude! (Dare to know!) as the motto of the Enlightenment, ended up criticizing the Enlightenment confidence on the power of reason. Romanticism, with its emphasis upon imagination, spontaneity, and passion, emerged also as a reaction against the dry intellectualism of rationalists. Criticism of the Enlightenment has expressed itself in a variety of forms, such as religious conservatism, postmodernism, and feminism .

Who were the Enlightenment thinkers?

Several writers, such as Arthur Herman and James Buchan, point to the high level of Scottish contributions to Enlightenment thought, represented by such thinkers as Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746), David Hume, and Adam Smith (1723-1790) .

What religions were affected by the Enlightenment?

Depending on how much it affected Christianity, there occurred two distinguishable schools in the religion of the Enlightenment: Rational supernaturalism and Deism . Rational supernaturalists included William Chillingworth (1602-1644), John Tillotson (1630-1694), ...

How did Kant and Schleiermacher try to accept Enlightenment thought?

So, they attempted to critically accept Enlightenment thought, by synthesizing both traditions. Kant came up with a religion of "practical reason" (not of "pure reason") as a new synthesis of the two, while Schleiermacher decided that "feeling" (not "pure reason" nor "practical reason") is the domain of synthesis.

Why did the Enlightenment believe in reason?

The Enlightenment advocated reason as a means to establishing an authoritative system of aesthetics, ethics, government, and even religion, which would allow human beings to obtain objective truth about the whole of reality. Emboldened by the revolution in physics commenced by Newtonian kinematics, Enlightenment thinkers argued that reason could free humankind from superstition and religious authoritarianism that had brought suffering and death to millions in religious wars. Also, the wide availability of knowledge was made possible through the production of encyclopedias, serving the Enlightenment cause of educating the human race.

What are the consequences of the Enlightenment?

The legacy of the Enlightenment has been of enormous consequence for the modern world. The general decline of the church, the growth of secular humanism and political and economic liberalism, the belief in progress, and the development of science are among its fruits. Its political thought developed by Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), ...

What is Romanticism a reaction to?

Romanticism, with its emphasis upon imagination, spontaneity, and passion, emerged also as a reaction against the dry intellectualism of rationalists. Criticism of the Enlightenment has expressed itself in a variety of forms, such as religious conservatism, postmodernism, and feminism . The legacy of the Enlightenment has been ...

Overview

Significant people and publications

Philosophy

Science

Sociology, economics and law

Politics

Religion

National variations

Introduction

Definition

• For Enlightenment thinkers themselves, however, the Enlightenment is not an historical period, but a process of social, psychological or spiritual development, unbound to time or place. Immanuel Kant defines enlightenment in his famous contribution to debate on the question in an essay entitled An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? (178...

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Significance

Philosophy

Controversies

Influence

Themes

History

Writings

Origins

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Issues