The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment had significant pros and cons. On the positive side, it promoted reason, science, and the idea of natural rights, influencing democratic revolutions and technological advances....

Enlightenment thinkers criticized absolute monarchy and the established church, particularly the Catholic Church, due to their perceived abuses of power. They championed reason, intellectual...

Enlightenment thinkers would likely support liberalism due to its emphasis on individual rights, a core Enlightenment value. They would oppose communism because it disregards individual rights and...

Enlightenment thought significantly contributed to the rise of secularism in society by promoting reason, individualism, and scientific inquiry over religious dogma. Philosophers like Voltaire and...

The Enlightenment was an 18th-century movement emphasizing reason, science, and individual rights. Originating in Britain, France, and Germany, it advocated for the separation of church and state,...

Dorinda Outram interprets the Enlightenment as a complex and diverse movement, not confined to a specific period or a single geographic region. She argues against viewing it as a unitary phenomenon,...

The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, spanning from the 17th to late 18th century, marked a shift towards empirical and inductive methods in science and philosophy. Key developments included...

Hobbes and Locke discussed the social contract as an agreement where individuals surrender some freedoms for societal protection. Hobbes viewed humans as self-centered and believed a strong authority...

The transition from Puritan ethics to Enlightenment ethos in 18th-century American literature marked a shift from a focus on divine power and Original Sin to individualism and reason. Puritan...

The Enlightenment was an 18th-century movement across Europe, Britain, and North America, influencing philosophy, science, literature, and religion. Its culture emphasized tolerance, liberality,...

A key similarity between the thinking of scientists during the Scientific Revolution and philosophers during the Enlightenment is their emphasis on reason. Both movements prioritized reason over...

The Enlightenment, an 18th-century intellectual movement, profoundly impacted Europe and North America by promoting science, reason, and knowledge over religion and superstition. It challenged...

Historians do not agree on the exact start of the Enlightenment. The consensus is that the period began somewhere between the last half of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth...

John Locke's ideas significantly influenced eighteenth-century Enlightenment thinkers by presenting government as a rational experiment rather than an authoritarian rule. He proposed that government...