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Major philosophies of enlightenment era
Main philosophers of the enlightenment
The impact of enlightenment in society
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Throughout the Enlightenment there were several influential philosophers who contributed to Europe and modern day society. The two most influential philosophers during the enlightenment were Voltaire, and Wolstencraft. Voltaire lived in Paris, where he was politically involved, and was invited to salons because of his intelligence. He criticized organized religion, and the clergy in particular. He also criticized the power of the aristocracy.
Part One: The Enlightenment was an influential time filled with new ideas and change. During this time, there was a shift in thought with how the government should act and with the religion of the people. These changes occurred because of inspiration from the Scientific revolution and past conflicts, like war, and made people want to stand up and adjust society. None of these innovations would have been made without the philosophers.
The Enlightenment period (very often called the Age of Reason) which started in the 17th century, put a huge emphasis on reasoning and humans as individuals. At the same time it touched at the core of the life based on faith and tradition. The ideas developed by thinkers of the time strongly affected future intellectual, political and economic development of Western Europe, influencing also the character of modern societies. During the 16th century society faced many turbulence in different parts of Western Europe. Something what started as a dispute over the political and economic issues between king and nobility in England, and resulted in the Civil war, provided a fertile ground for thinkers who first started to question the world around them.
The European people throughout history had to face a lot of hardships such as wars, famines, diseases and religious conflicts. The continent of Europe had experience a lot of darkness in its history, but news ideas and concept will be created during the Enlightenment period. During this time period, new ideas, ways of thinking and knowledge that brought positive change to the continent. The Enlightenment period created great individuals such as Issac Newton, Denis Diderot, Thomas Jefferson and many more great thinkers. The minds during the Enlightenment period had left an impact on Europe and to the world.
Francois-Marie Arouet, who was also known as Voltaire was known for being one of the first writers to sell his writings and make a great deal of money from them. Voltaire also had an influence on the Enlightenment, he believed that the intolerance of organized religions was what caused much of the suffering and conflict. Voltaire in the Of Universal Tolerance, speaks on how we are all from the same God and should tolerate each other instead of despising each other. He explains that we should do this because it doesn’t take much skill or art to do so.
The Enlightenment engaged in the
The Enlightenment was a period of time where individuals would bring their ideas to the table. It was a time where everyone stressed reasons, thoughts, and the power to solve problems. Voltaire or in other words François-Marie Arouet was one of the leading writers of the Enlightenment. He was a Philosopher, Writer, and Historian. He wrote poetry, letters, and plays His work had great effects on people such as the "Candide" and "Zaire".
The Enlightenment was a very important time for history. It was a time when people started to discuss the rights and freedoms that they believed that they or others deserved. The Enlightenment was a an International movement that occurred during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. It happened along with the rise of scientific thinking, religious thought and discussed the importance of nature and the natural order as a source of knowledge. They emphasised the idea of intellectual freedom and human rights which led to a conflict between the supporters of these new ideas and the political and religious establishments that had .
The image shows the Enlightenment ideas were impacting a crowd of people, especially the third estates. In the late 18th century, people especially third estates began to question and reason of the theories influenced by the Enlightenment. Meanwhile, the Enlightenment before the French Revolution has affected steadily on impact people thinkings with their beliefs of power and rights of human (politics, arts, literature, and science)(Influence of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution). People initiated to open-minded, they admitted the enlightenment ideas were reasonable to their direction, the people started to use enlightenment ideas as a base to change the government system from absolute monarchy to democracy, which all the citizens
The French revolution was greatly influenced by the ideas set forth in the Enlightenment these ideas of a representative government, or a popular sovereignty, where people would choose and elect who they wanted to lead them in government. This would do away with an absolute monarch who inherited their throne via divine right. The Enlightenment set forth the idea of all men being equal, and as all men are equal are deserving of the same natural rights. They referred to these rights as ‘natural’ emphasizing that no matter where or in what oppressive state you lived these rights should be granted to everybody. It was rights such as to live in safety or live free from oppression.
Historian, Anna Plassart (2016 p280) states that the period of Enlightenment (c 1688-1815) changed the ideas of society in the Early Modern Europe and became associated with social, cultural and political changes particularly in the areas of knowledge, religion, politics and education. Plassart argues that Enlightenment was predominately an elite intellectual phenomena with supporting contingent drawn from the developing “middle sort”, which Plassart suggests accounted for approximately one third of Europe’s population (Maza 2012 in Plassart 2016p 280). Following after the scientific revolution of the 17th century the Enlightenment movement brought transformation by challenging traditional moral and intellectual authorities such as the church and government. Enlightened thinkers adopted a form of intellectual and scientific examination based on a theory of mans’ ability to observe, reason and apply logic, that tested traditional beliefs and practices relating to the social issues of the day. (Plassart 2016p.280)
The Enlightenment shaped the world’s view of European culture. Before the Enlightenment, royalty ruled all, the firstborn son would of been the next King. This will prove to be a restriction because we didn't have a choice. When the Enlightenment came into the picture, it was a notable representation of social, religious and political ideas. Those who started the Enlightenment were philosophers who questioned the uniformity of the world.
The Enlightenment was a time of reorientation in the fields of science, politics,
The Enlightenment was indeed a movement which dominated most European states during the late 17th and early 18th century. However, there is evidence to support the idea that the movement was not confined to Europe alone as its ideas had spread to the United States, and later Latin America. Despite this, most of the argument remains on the origins of the Enlightenment and where the enlightened movement had developed. Most notably is Sebastian Conrad, who claims that ‘the eighteenth-century cultural dynamics conventionally rendered as ‘Enlightenment’ cannot be understood as the sovereign and autonomous accomplishment of European intellectuals alone; it had many authors in many places’. This point made by Conrad is interesting because he makes such a statement without any reference to Enlightenment writers outside of Europe.
The Enlightenment was a time where people were beginning to find out that they could speak out against their oppressive leaders and bring to light many of the wrongdoings happening within the many institutions at the time. Two main philosophes who argued for the Enlightenment and its benefits to society in the 18th century were Immanuel Kant and Voltaire, also known as Francois Marie Arouet. These two prominent thinkers criticized the current social, political, and religious systems in place at the time. While both philosophers argue that the Enlightenment is essential to human growth, they both use different ideas and criticisms to prove their point. Both Kant and Voltaire argued that Enlightenment is important in mankind’s growth as a whole
