Austin Lowery 3/28/2023 ENG-122 English Composition 1 Comparisons and Contrasts of the Renaissance and Enlightenment Eras Two major historical eras that influenced the development of human history are the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. We shall look at the similarities and differences between these two eras in this article. Concentrating on things like art, literature, science, and philosophy and the people who helped shape their respective eras. Each subject will have brief overviews of the comparisons and contrasts for each area along with major points and achievements made during those eras. In order to replicate the artworks of ancient Greece and Rome, painters, sculptors, and architects copied classical themes throughout the Renaissance. …show more content…
Humanity and individualism were also highlighted and explored by authors like Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, who also praised the potential of the human spirit and what a man was willing to go through for a goal. The literature of the Enlightenment, on the other hand, was distinguished by a focus on reason, logic, and scientific evidence. Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu were among the writers who criticized established social and political systems, advocating for progress, tolerance, and societal improvement. They also sometimes argued against religion and the monarchies of the time. Believing that people should have more individual thoughts instead of relying on a higher power for …show more content…
Philosophers like Erasmus, Sir Thomas More and Pico Della Mirandola argued for the importance of education, critical thinking, and the pursuit of personal fulfillment. In contrast, the Enlightenment was characterized by the rise of rationalism and empiricism, with philosophers like John Locke, Immanuel Kant and David Hume advocating for the supremacy of reason, experience and individual liberty. The Enlightenment saw the development of social contract theory, which was the foundation of modern democratic