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1. The Age of Enlightenment Essay
The Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century where change in philosophy and cultural life took place in Europe. The movement started in
France, and spread to Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Germany at more or less around the same time, the ideas starting with the most
renowned thinkers and philosophers of the time and eventually being shared with the common people. The Enlightenment was a way of thinking that
focused on the betterment of humanity by using logic and reason rather than irrationality and superstition. It was a way of thinking that showed
skepticism in the face of religion, challenged the inequality between the kings and their people, and tried to establish a sound system of ethics. The
ideas behind the...show more content...
Stokstad posits that these ideas have roots in the previous scientific revolution of the century before it, with philosophers such as Francis Bacon and
Rene Descartes establishing what we now know as the scientific method based on logical reasoning, educated guesses and controlled experiments to
prove them. The astronomer Galileo Galilei confirmed a previous theory by Nicolaus Copernicus that the sun did not revolve around the Earth and that
it was the other way around–– the planets revolved around the sun. These theories and practices went against the Church's teachings, and Galileo in
particular was forced to take back what he said on his observations. Other scientists made discoveries on smaller scales relating to the animal kingdom
and plant life, and artists were used to convey the new–found information by painting or drawing those findings. (p. 756) With the different revolutions
and events that took place before the eighteenth century, it could be said that the Enlightenment was just a logical progression and the next step. Like
the scientific revolution before it, the new Enlightenment era's ideas were spread both through art and through writing, in texts such as Denis Diderot's
Encyclopedia which was printed and sold to the French middle class. The Encyclopedia held the most current ideas concerning the arts, sciences, and
the merits of human freedom. The advances as a result of the
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2. Enlightenment Essay example
Enlightenment
Do we at present live in enlightened age?
What is enlightenment? Immanuel Kant attempts to clarify the meaning of enlightenment while composing the essay, "What is Enlightenment?". The
goal of Kant's essay was to discuss what the nature of enlightenment was. It also taught one how enlightenment can be brought about in the general
public.
Kant explains that, "enlightenment is man's release from his self–incurred immaturity". Immaturity is man's incompetence to have direction for oneself.
In other words, enlightenment is the progress of a society through the free activity of rational thought and scholarly critique. Kant feels that if we are
going to liberate ourselves from immaturity then we must be able to use our...show more content...
Kant uses many examples of the difference between the public and private use of reasoning. If soldiers refused to follow commands then there would
be no military. So, one solider may follow commands in which he disagrees with, but will later critique what he believes. This means that he will
follow the commands as his private use of reasoning and then will speak out his complaints as his public use of reasoning.
In his essay Kant clearly explains the difference between and enlightened age and an age of enlightenment. In an enlightened age we would all be
religious without clergymen because we would know to which things we should be obedient or disobedient. In this age there would be elimination of
self–incurred immaturity. During the age of enlightenment we are making the progress towards using both kinds of reasoning. Incompetence is not
using pubic and private use of reason in balance with one another. Competence is the balance of both public and private use of reason. We must know
how to determine when it is right to obey and right to argue. In terms of government obedience it is often necessary, but any effort to hinder the
public's free use of reason should be forbidden. In Kant's essay "What is Enlightenment?," he shows the transition for the age of enlightenment to the
enlightened age. It enables the people to become more like the guardian and managers of their own freedom.
Do we at present live in enlightened age? No, Man still doesn't know to which
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3. Essay about European Enlightenment
Enlightenment
The enlightenment was the growth of thought of European thinkers in the 1600's. The spread of enlightenment was a result of the Scientific
Revolution during the 1500's and 1600's. It resulted as a need to use reason to distribute human laws. It also came about from a need to solve social,
political and economic problems.
Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier built the framework for modern chemistry during the enlightenment. Edward Jenner built a vaccine against
smallpox, a deadly disease. These sort of scientific successes prompted European thinkers to use reason to find laws to govern the physical world,
which they called natural laws. Natural laws are laws that govern human nature.
Two prominent "thinkers" during...show more content...
A social contract is an agreement by which they gave up the state of nature for an organized society.
John Locke had more optimistic views that Thomas Hobbes. Locke said people were basically reasonable and moral. They had certain rights, called
natural rights, which belonged to a person at birth. These rights were life, liberty and property. In his writings, Two treatises of government, he argued
that people form government to protect their own natural rights. He believed the best type of government is that of which had limited authority. Thus,
he rejected Absolute Monarchy. Locke then said that if the government fails its' obligations or violates people's rights, people should be able to
overthrow the government.
Baron de Montesquieu studied governments of Europe. He published the spirit of the laws. He felt that the separation of the powers of the
government was the best way to protect liberty. He felt that each branch of government should be able to serve as a checks and balances.
In france the enlightenment thinkers were called philosophes, meaning lovers of wisdom. The most famous of the philosophes was Voltaire. He battled
inequality and injustices, with his pen. He is famous for saying "My trade is saying what I think."
Another philosophe was Denis Diderot. He produced a 28 volume encyclopedia. This encyclopedia helped spread Enlightenment ideas throughout
Europe and across the Atlantic to the Americas.
The most controversial philosophe was Jean–Jacques
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