The Enlightenment, or the age of Reason was a philosophical and intellectual movement which dominated the ideas in Europe from the mid-seventeenth century through the eighteenth century. There were dramatic revolutions in science, philosophy, society and politics; and these revolutions swept away the medieval customs, the old regime and ushered in our modern western world The Enlightenment centered its ideas on reason and logic rather than tradition and faith. Reason became the main source of authority and came to advance ideals such as liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government and ending the abuses of the church and state. In France, the Enlightenment helped to begin the French Revolution caused by France’s old regime, the French monarchy, the French nobility, and the corruption of the Catholic …show more content…
But the one of the most important parts of the enlightenment are the Philosophes, the French term for the philosophers who were writers that helped to circulate the ideas of the enlightenment. They wrote pamphlets and books and spoke at salons and coffee houses. Some major philosophes include: Cesare Beccaria, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Immanuel Kant. Even some European rulers became followers of the enlightenment and applied the ideas of religious and political tolerance. These rulers like Catherine II of Russia, Joseph II of Austria and Frederick II of Prussia came to be called enlightened despots. The ideals of the Enlightenment were incorporated into the United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. As for documents, Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie can be considered one of the most important publications of the enlightenment. The Encyclopédie helped to spread the ideas of the Enlightenment across Europe and beyond like never