The Enlightenment Era

The major cause for the Enlightenment was the Scientific Revolution and due to its numerous feats in science, gave hope to the belief that similar breakthroughs might be achieved in the social and political arena if only the same methods were applied. For example, a philosophe such as David Hume aims to defend the “autonomy” of morality in relation to religion. On this view of things, God and a future state are unnecessary for moral life and human society. The pertinent base for moral life and behavior lies with the fundamentals of human nature which are pride, sympathy, moral sense, and conventions.
Let us first start by defining The Enlightenment or the Age of Reason is an intellectual movement in the eighteenth century which was fueled by the scientific uprising. The philosophes were the intellectuals of the Enlightenment. In addition, philosophes were public literati who applied reason to the study of many components of education, including “philosophy, history, science, politics, economics and social problems.” With the use of a keen eye faults that needed improvement were looked for. Successes in understanding the real world through processes of logic and observation encouraged the belief that similar progress might be made in the area of politics and social affairs. Like the scientific uprising, the Enlightenment involved an application of the “natural” attitudes. It involved a new world view which explained the world and looked for answers in terms of reason rather than faith, and in terms of an optimistic, natural approach rather than a supernatural one.
Moreover, enlightenment writers did not oppose organized religion, but they actively objected to religious narrowness so they recast it. The belief that the logical use...

... middle of paper ...

...ch made attempts at answering skepticism through a logical approach to human nature that, like Hobbes, emphasized self-interest. The Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men is where Rousseau would give his own account of the state of nature. The traditional ideas of republicanism were also ideal, which Rousseau took to be descriptive of virtues. One’s virtues allowed an escape from vanity and superficial values that Rousseau thought to be so widespread in modern society.
In conclusion, the logic of what one constitutes as human nature is highly debated. Either one believes that all is moral as it leaves the hand of the Creator; yet as soon as it enters the hands of man, it all degenerates. Or that the sciences and arts only deal with the external elements of one’s existence. And with it being superficial it also harms one’s internal nature.