The scientific revolution based on empirical observation, and not on metaphysics or spirituality gave the impression that the universe behaved according to universal and unchanging laws think of Newton here. This provided a model for looking rationally on human institutions as well as nature. Rousseau, for example, began to question the idea of the divine right of Kings. In The Social Contract , he wrote that the King does not, in fact, receive his power from God, but rather from the general will of the people.
The Enlightenment thinkers also discussed other ideas that are the founding principles of any democracy—the idea of the importance of the individual who can reason for himself, the idea of equality under the law, and the idea of natural rights. The Enlightenment was a period of profound optimism, a sense that with science and reason—and the consequent shedding of old superstitions—human beings and human society would improve.
You can probably tell already that the Enlightenment was anti-clerical; it was, for the most part, opposed to traditional Catholicism. Instead, the Enlightenment thinkers developed a way of understanding the universe called Deism—the idea, more or less, is that there is a God, but that this God is not the figure of the Old and New Testaments, actively involved in human affairs.
He is more like a watchmaker who, once he makes the watch and winds it, has nothing more to do with it. The Enlightenment encouraged criticism of the corruption of the monarchy at this point King Louis XVI , and the aristocracy. Locke argued that human nature was mutable and that knowledge was gained through accumulated experience rather than by accessing some sort of outside truth.
There was no single, unified Enlightenment. Individual Enlightenment thinkers often had very different approaches. Their differences and disagreements, though, emerged out of the common Enlightenment themes of rational questioning and belief in progress through dialogue. Locke, along with French philosopher Pierre Bayle, began to champion the idea of the separation of Church and State.
Secret societies—like the Freemasons, the Bavarian Illuminati and the Rosicrucians—flourished, offering European men and a few women new modes of fellowship, esoteric ritual and mutual assistance. Coffeehouses, newspapers and literary salons emerged as new venues for ideas to circulate. The French Revolution of 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.
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.
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The English philosopher and political theorist John Locke laid much of the groundwork for the Enlightenment and made central contributions to the development of liberalism. Trained in medicine, he was a key advocate of the empirical approaches of the Scientific The Enlightenment has also long been hailed as the foundation of modern Western political and intellectual culture.
It brought political modernization to the West in terms of focusing on democratic values and institutions and the creation of modern, liberal democracies. In religion, Enlightenment-era commentary was a response to the preceding century of religious conflict in Europe. Enlightenment thinkers sought to curtail the political power of organized religion and thereby prevent another age of intolerant religious war.
A number of novel ideas developed, including deism belief in God the Creator, with no reference to the Bible or any other source and atheism. The latter was much discussed but had few proponents. Many, like Voltaire, held that without belief in a God who punishes evil, the moral order of society was undermined. The Industrial Revolution allowed consumer goods to be produced in greater quantities at lower prices, encouraging the spread of books, pamphlets, newspapers, and journals.
The ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution, which began in and emphasized the rights of common men as opposed to the exclusive rights of the elites. As such, they laid the foundation for modern, rational, democratic societies. Although they did eventually inspire the struggles for rights of people of color, women, or the working masses, most Enlightenment thinkers did not advocate equality for all, regardless of race, gender, or class, but rather insisted that rights and freedoms were not hereditary the heredity of power and rights was a common pre-Enlightenment assumption.
This perspective directly attacked the traditionally exclusive position of the European aristocracy but was still largely focused on expanding the rights of white males of a particular social standing.
Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Search for:. The Age of Enlightenment Learning Objective Identify the core ideas that drove the Age of Enlightenment. Key Points The Age of Enlightenment was a philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe in the 18th century. There is little consensus on the precise beginning of the Age of Enlightenment, but the beginning of the 18th century or the middle of the 17th century are commonly identified as starting points.
French historians usually place the period between and Most scholars use the last years of the century, often choosing the French Revolution of or the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars —15 to date the end of the Enlightenment. The cultural exchange during the Age of Enlightenment ran between particular European countries and also in both directions across the Atlantic. The radical Enlightenment advocated democracy, individual liberty, freedom of expression, and eradication of religious authority.
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