The Enlightenment also known as the age of reason is the name giving to an important period of Western civilization that followed the renaissance. The Enlightenment occurred roughly from the mid-sixteenth hundreds up to the end of the seventeenth hundreds, and it was a time where the human ability to reason was glorify. The word enlightenment means a time of illumination. It was a time of an influential group of scholars, writes, artists, and scientists actively sought to use the reason over the superstition. As a result of their efforts, tremendous improvement in the understanding of mathematics and science occurred. And whole new ideas regarding basic human rights and democracy were developed. As a result of the age of Enlightenment, there were changes in European and Euro-American understandings of sovereignty, as to who should have the power and lead a society, and the relation between the leaders and their subjects.
According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, the word revolution is defined as "the usually violent attempt by many people to end the rule of one government and start a new one." The word revolutionary means "relating to, involving, or supporting a political revolution."
The Enlightenment was a time of new concepts and theories that caused the people to think about the condition of their society. There were many events such as the American Revolution that promoted and encouraged the French Revolution. However, the ideas of the philosophers and scholars of the enlightenment proved to have made the biggest influence on the French Revolution. The ideas of the Enlightenment revealed to the people of France the corruption of the monarchy, new political leaders, and the poverty of the commoners to bring about beneficial changes and the French Revolution.
To begin with, the Enlightenment applied scientific methods to the study of human society just as prominent philosophers of Ancient Greece and Rome. The Enlightenment period began with John Locke, an English philosopher who held a new concept of God called Deism, or the need for proof. He argued that people could learn everything they needed to know through their senses and reason, so faith was irrelevant. Locke published a book titled, Two Treatises of Civil Government which explains his theory of natural rights and natural law for all individuals. He then uses this to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate civil governments, and to argue for the rationality of a revolt against tyrannical governments. This was an idea of a social contract. This means that in order for one to be under the authority of a government, it must protect their rights to life, liberty, and property. If a government failed to protect these rights, then the people had the right to have a new government. This is the idea of popular sovereignty. Additionally, Adam Smith, a Scottish philosopher argued that people act according to their own interest, but promote economic advancements while in competition. This meant that government should not regulate to favor individuals. It was decided that rational laws co...
The Enlightenment was the period lasting from the mid-seventeenth century and throughout the eighteenth century in which, thought and culture led to brilliant revolutions in science, society, politics, and philosophy. People living in this time often referred to it as the “Age of Reason”. During this time a contemporary western culture developed and was a precursor to the beginning of our ever-expanding technological and political world. This era brought representative government, an aura of freedom, and belief that people could better human existence. The Enlightenment idea was partially taken from John Locke’s “Essay Concerning Human Understanding”.
The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment period were both a time of immense growth in scientific discovery and an increase in the secular view of the world. The Scientific Revolution would include the use of direct observation and experimentation, dependence on mathematical confirmation, and inventions to test new scientific discoveries (Kwak). The new discoveries of the Scientific Revolution led the growing number of literate middle class individuals in the Enlightenment period. This growth of enlightened individuals led to more intellectual and cultural attitudes that shaped modern history throughout the world (Fiero, 134). This paper will analyze the impact of the
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and cultural movement in the 17th and 18th centuries. It concentrated on reason, logic, and freedom over blind faith. During this time more and more people reject absolute authority of the church and state. The driving force of the enlightenment across Europe and England came from a small group of thinkers and writers that are known today as “philosophes.” The English Enlightenment differed from other European countries, like France. England had many discoveries in manufacturing, literature, plays, and landscaping, but the advances in sciences were probably one of the important. This period of time was coined as the Scientific Revolution. The most
The Enlightenment was a turning point in European history because of the breakthroughs in scientific discovery that led to new beliefs in human nature and the differing opinions between religion. The first important development that led to the origins of the Scientific Revolution was the creation and establishment of universities. The Scientific Revolution was the breakthrough that led into the start of the Enlightenment. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, discoveries about intellectual thought created the modern worldview we possess today. Scientific and mathematical thought was the way of thinking during these centuries and the Scientific Revolution used modern science. “In the eighteenth century philosophers extended the use
The Enlightenment was the time period that followed the Scientific Revolution and was characterized as the "Age of Reason". This was the time when man began to use his reason to discover the world around him rather than blindly follow what the previous authority, such as the Church and Classical Philosophers, stated to be true. The Enlightenment was a tremendously broad movement that dominated much of the European thinking during the 18th century, however, several core themes that epitomized the movement were the idea of progress, skepticism against the Church, and individualism.
The Enlightenment was a period of intellectual and social growth which took place in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries . It was a huge and dramatic change throughout the world. It changed the way people looked at the world. During this period, Declaration of the rights of men and citizens were passed by the government. People started to search the world around them and started to create new ideas and inventions. The enlightenment was a period of success because it focused on the use of reason and logic, developments in science and art and political philosophers rethought the role of government.
Revolution is briefly described as an attempt to overthrow a government to start a new one. The American Revolution took place between 1775 and 1783 and was a fight for American Independence from England. In 1764, the first of many “Intolerable Acts” were passed. The British Parliament began to excise tax on the American colonies without representation, sparking the great conflict. The British were continuing to incorporate new ways to make more money. England was the most powerful country at the time with an intimidating military, so this wasn’t a hard task to complete. The American Revolution was very Revolutionary because, it jump started the abolition of slavery, it brought about many political and social advances, and served as a stepping stone towards a democracy and a strong centralized government.
Science gave more to life than just understanding how the world works. The discoveries of the scientific revolution proposed great questions as to the truth of what was being taught religiously and academically. The advancements made during the revolution did great good in regards to initiating a more logical approach to explaining daily excursion and events in human life and in nature. Science also created a shift in the general order of what can and cannot be accepted. What was once understood in religion and social system as just a phenomenon that occurred without a connection or correlation to something else had changed. The people of the 17th century soon learned that there was generally a cause and effect in everything, and that certain
When comparing the views presented by both Aristotle and Copernicus, one must consider the circumstances under which these men lived to understand the differences. The most obvious of these is the time in history. Aristotle came almost 2000 years earlier in the astronomy field. While Copernicus had set out to glorify the great religion of his time, Aristotle's views came 200 years before Christ was even born! Although the book gives the impression nothing of significance in astronomy happened in the time between Aristotle and Copernicus, professional astronomy was a developing institution during that time. For nearly 2000 years astronomers had been tracking and organizing and refining the prevailing thoughts in astronomy so that Copernicus could look at them and make his judgment. This touches on perhaps the largest difference between Copernicus and Aristotle; while Aristotle was a pioneer in his field and was bringing a whole new theory about to explain the world to the people, Copernicus was merely evaluating and analyzing other people's theories. In fact, some would say there is no such thing as the Copernican theory, but merely a theory Copernicus believed. The major point where Copernicus disagreed with Aristotelian theory—that the Sun was the center of the universe—was taken from the Greeks. Even after deviating from the Aristotelian view, Copernicus did not question any of the other elements, such as celestial spheres and divine circular motion. While Aristotle and his views revolutionized the thinking of mankind for nearly 2000 years, Copernicus was so timid he did not even publish his works until the year of his death. Finally, while the Aristotelian theory was embrace...
The Scientific revolution in the 16th and 17th centuries changed the way that people views the world. Scientific philosophers such as Galileo and Descartes threw out the old teachings of the church and challenged them with new ways of thinking. These men sought to prove that rational thought could prove the existence of God. They also challenged that it was an understanding of a series of rational thoughts, not faith, would bring understanding of how the world worked. Traditional ways of thinking were ultimately challenged by logical and sensible rationale.
The Enlightenment had its roots in the scientific and philosophical movements of the 17th century. It was, in large part, a rejection of the faith-based medieval world view for a way of thought based on structured inquiry and scientific understanding. It stressed individualism, and it rejected the church's control of the secular activities of men. Among the movement's luminaries were Descartes, Newton, and Locke. They, among others, stressed the individual's use of reason to explain and understand the world about himself in all of its aspects. Important principles of the Enlightenment included the use of science to examine all aspects of life (this was labeled "reason"),...