The Age of Enlightenment

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The 18th century was filled with Enlightenment philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians, each contributing to the way our world thinks today. The Enlightenment prompted society to part from the ancient views of superstition and traditionalism, and transition to basing findings and concept on reason and logic. Each of the brilliant minds contributed to the worldly movement, their purpose was to reform society by challenging ideas that were grounded firmly in faith, emphasize reason and intelligence, and to advance knowledge through science and the arts. This stirred debate and completely reshaped our world’s perception of the universe, it questioned the existence of our world and what we were meant to evolve to. This mass circulation of thought would significantly affect historical events to come, such as the American and French Revolution, whose bases for government was influenced by thinkers such as Montesquieu, and his idea about the balance of power between the three branches of government, as well as Rousseau’s idea about the power of democracy and the consent of the people. Three such Enlightenment philosophes were John Locke, Rene Descartes, and Jean-Jacque Rousseau. Each of these men generally agreed that most human failure and suffering was a result of mindlessly following tradition and superstition that was fed to them by leaders of the church and state. They believed that humankind could improve itself greatly, and that Enlightenment values of reason and humanity could achieve it. The first step was to free thinking itself-to escape the darkness of the past to the light of reason. René Descartes- the Father of Modern Philosophy "If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your l... ... middle of paper ... ...ousseau did however praise the ancient kingdom of Sparta for expelling the arts and sciences from their city walls. Interestingly enough, Rousseau discusses in this particular section a philosopher named Socrates, as one of the few wise Athenians who recognized the corruption that the arts and sciences were bringing about. Part Two was a thorough examination of the arts and sciences, claiming that they are born from our vices. According to Rousseau, science fails to contribute anything positive to morality; it takes time from activities that are truly important, such as friends, charity, and nationalism. He stated that philosophical and scientific knowledge of subjects such as the relationship of the mind to the body, the orbit of the planets, and physical laws that govern particles fail to genuinely provide any guidance for making people more virtuous citizens.

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