The Enlightenment Er A Time Of Enlightenment And Enlightenment

Multi-Era Summery

The Enlightenment era was one of great skepticism and logical curiosity. The Enlightenment can broadly be defined as a time of philosophical and cultural movements during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This era focused on escaping one’s self-imposed nonage and stressed logic and reason. Logic was now included in a worldview which argued that factual observation and the examination of human life could expose the truth behind human society as well as the universe. The Enlightenment concluded that there was a science of man, and that the history of mankind was one of development, which could be continued with a forward way of thinking. The Enlightenment argued that human life and character could be improved through the use of education and reason. In this curiosity people began to break from their social class as a cast resulting in the creation of a merchanstalist middle class. The Enlightenment brought interested thinkers into direct conflict with the political and religious establishment which had up to then been in control of most cultural and social aspects. They challenged religion with the scientific and factual method, often instead favoring natural religion. The Enlightenment thinkers wanted to do more than understand, they wanted to change for, as they believed, the better: they thought reason and science would better the universe. The primary feature of Enlightenment philosophy is a profound faith in the power of reason and rational thought to lead human beings to a better social structure. The leaders of the Enlightenment called for rebellion against fear, and prejudice. They attacked the aristocracy and the church. Candide reflects Voltaire’s lifelong opposition toward Christian regimes of ...

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... society are inevitable and even at some points desirable. There was often a breakdown of intellectual authority and an investigation in popculture included in postmodern works. Similar to their modernist forerunners, post-modernist writers are interested in both the literary past and in new experimentation. Re-telling of older narratives (including well-known novels and fairy tales) and re-workings of genres has preoccupied many famous postmodernists. Modernists occasionally reacted to historical and cultural change with anxiety and despair; the postmodern response to new social developments is more playful and enthusiastic. Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon is a work of postmodernism because it blends themes of race and class, coming-of-age stories, and mythical and realistic genres. It challenges authority and questions truth following the theme of postmodernism.