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The Enlightenment Research Paper

757 Words4 Pages

Political, Scientific, and Religious Origins Beginning as a rebellious movement, the Enlightenment was synonymous to revolt and heresy. Individuals who identified with the ideas of this intellectual eruption were quickly banished or worse, martyred for their controversial beliefs. Therefore, systematic corruption, rigid doctrine, and social unrest became the catalyst to the Enlightenment. Still, without the Enlightenment, development of technology and information would not be possible in modern civilization. This significant historical evident paved way for not solely innovative philosophies, but the radical thought that an individual has the ability to think for themselves. Prior to the Enlightenment was problematic abuses of power from …show more content…

In the event of his banishment his works flourished and provided textual evidence on the reason for a need of political revolution. Locke’s “The Second Treatise on Government”, a product of his exile, clearly states that, “what state are all men naturally in, and that is a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit…”, thus explaining that men should be universally acknowledged the freedom to obey, think, act on their own will. Nonetheless, Locke further explains that his may lead to self-destruction, there is still a need for, “…a law of nature to govern it, which obliges everyone. And reason, which is that law, …show more content…

A famous quote by Immanuel Kant embodies this method, “I think, therefore I am,” consequently he encourages everyone to doubt widely accepted views on anything. It is this general curiosity that ignites people into making great strives to either prove or disprove natural concepts about the world and often, sanctioned ideas of the church. Comte de Buffon challenged many clerical beliefs on world, such as, “claim that fossil evidence indicated that the world and life itself were far older than the church has recognized” (Hyland 131). Buffon’s works like “How to Study Natural History” is a great example on how thinkers like him, went great lengths to create a more logical understanding on why Earth is the way it is today. Political punishment and disagreement from others only fueled the fire for a scientific

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The Protestant Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment were three notable movements that fundamentally transformed European society during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Each of these cultural, intellectual, and philosophical movements, as well as their collective impact, had a profound influence on the political structures of Europe. Among countless others, notable figureheads throughout this era of innovation include Martin Luther, John Calvin, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant. Together, these movements–spurred by the pioneering of such individuals–challenged popular beliefs and authority, undermined the power of the Church, and spread the idea of secularism,

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Enlightenment The enlightenment was a time in which leaders and philosophers promoted ideas during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that influenced people's thoughts concerning politics, social justice, human progress and religion forever. As said by Philosopher Immanuel Kant, “Enlightenment is defined as the upset of the established order/the awakening of one’s mind/forsaking society’s imposed mindset and establishing one for yourself.” (Document 12) These scientists like Issac Newton and writers like John Locke were challenging the old ways and because of that people became socially aware.

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In the 17th and 18th century the Enlightenment was a period of intellectual movement encompassing reason, individualism, and skepticism. The Scientific Revolution, which came from the enlightenment, resulted in new scientific findings, particularly in astronomy, which changed long-held beliefs about how space affects the natural world. These new revelations led people to doubt the established political and social hierarchies. The Enlightenment challenged traditional notions of hierarchy, including the king's 'divine right' to govern, the nobility's privileges, and the influence of religion on politics. Additionally, it served as an inspiration for the values of choice, equality, and independence as well as the fundamentals of human reason

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The Enlightenment was a period of time in which revolutions are bound to take place. When new thinking arises within a population, sooner or later people will begin to question authority and make their own decisions on government, laws, religion, and the way life is lived in general. As soon as influential thinkers such as Montesquieu Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and many others began spreading their new ways of thinking with the rest of the people under British control, the American Revolution was born. Enlightenment thinkers such as these used their work to influence colonists to break away from Britain’s control and create a new form of American government. New ideas of government and thoughts of rebellion were

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The Enlightenment was a period of time that stressed the importance of reason and individual ideas. Many philosophers published works criticizing a country’s monarch or divulging the flaws they saw in a system within the government, such as the justice system. The Enlightenment also stressed the importance of education, and as a result of this, literacy rates experienced a major upward trend. Now able to read the philosopher’s works, a larger sum of people now were educated on the corruptions within their government. This caused a questioning of traditional practices, and people began to believe they could revise their government.

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638 Words | 3 Pages

The European Enlightenment was a cultural and intellectual movement focused on the ideas of reason, science, and progress. The ideas of the Enlightenment synthesized into a worldly view that dominated Europe during the eighteenth century. Skeptics, otherwise known as “doubters,” questioned the ideals and traditions of religious authorities, such as Pierre Bayle who criticized the religious persecutions of the past, and Baruch Spinoza who contradicted the ideas of the Jewish community. The Age of Enlightenment led to a strengthen scientific revolution, defended ideas like liberty and tolerance, and eventually influenced the ideals of America’s founding fathers. The Enlightenment, however, cannot be viewed as a turning point in history for this era failed to include men of lower class, women, and people of different races.

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The Enlightenment began in the 17th century relating to the man’s relations to the government, these ideas later influenced the U.S. constitution. The Enlightenment has to do with European politics, philosophy, science and communication, also referred to as the age of reason. Philosophers in Britain and France, as well as other parts of Europe trying to change the traditional authority of the government. The Enlightenment brought many books, inventions, scientific discoveries, essays, laws, wars, and revolutions. These philosophers wanted freedom and equality for all.

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The Enlightenment era in the United States can be considered as revolutionary, and a huge leap towards the country’s progress with different philosophical, social, economic, and scientific changes. After the Salem Witch Trials, the colonial people’s belief towards religion took a different turn. Along with the population boom in the American colonies, people started appreciating science more, bringing out philosophical changes in the society. Number of scientific discoveries and inventions led people to realize the capability and the power of the human mind. This realization changed the public’s social beliefs.

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Enlightenment paved the way to our modern world, nevertheless not without the outrage, backlash and controversy from religious leaders. Citizens had little fear in making their opinion known, as the Church became increasingly vulnerable. The movement undoubtedly challenged the dogma and authority of religion, specifically the Church. The cumulative interest in scientific rationalism exemplified by the scientific method not only overpowered the Church, but was the hallmark of everything related to Enlightenment.

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The Enlightenment was a period during the 1600 and 1700s where authority, power, government and law was questioned by philosophers. The causes of the Enlightenment was the Thirty Years’ War, centuries of mistreatment at the hands of monarchies and the church, greater exploration of the world, and European thinkers’ interest in the world (scientific study). A large part of the Enlightenment was natural law, which was the belief that people should live their lives and organize their society on the basis of rules and precepts laid down by nature or God; the principles of the Enlightenment in the 1600s through the 1700s influenced the development of the USA by advocating religious and social freedom, freeing the people from oppression, and providing

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