"The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and philosophical movement that occurred in Europe, especially Western Europe, in the 17th and 18th centuries."
A rich and diverse cultural movement that arose in France during the 18th century, characterized by its emphasis on critical thinking, empirical evidence, and political progressivism. Some of the leading figures of the French Enlightenment include Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Diderot.
The French Enlightenment: A period of intellectual and cultural growth in France from the 17th to 18th century, characterized by a focus on reason, individualism, and progress.
Philosophes: The term used to describe the intellectuals of the Enlightenment era in France, who sought to reform society through reason and individual rights. Some notable philosophers include Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu.
The Scientific Revolution: The beginning of the Enlightenment was marked by a shift towards the scientific method and scientific thinking.
The Enlightenment and Religion: Religious institutions and beliefs were challenged during the Enlightenment, with many thinkers advocating for individual freedom of religious expression and critical analysis of religious texts.
Enlightenment Ideals: The Enlightenment championed ideas such as the separation of powers, natural rights, equality, and democracy.
The Arts and Literature of the Enlightenment: The Enlightenment was a period of cultural rebirth, marked by an emphasis on classical texts, literature, and the arts.
Social Issues: During the Enlightenment, there was a focus on social issues such as slavery, poverty, and education. Many intellectuals advocated for the abolition of slavery and the promotion of education for all.
Women and the Enlightenment: The role of women in society was debated during the Enlightenment, with some thinkers advocating for increased rights and equality.
The French Revolution: The Enlightenment played a significant role in the French Revolution, with many of its ideals of equality, democracy, and individual rights being incorporated into the revolution's ideals.
Legacy of the Enlightenment: The Enlightenment had a long-lasting impact on Western society, shaping political, social, and cultural attitudes and institutions that endure to this day.
Radical Enlightenment: The Radical Enlightenment was a movement that sought to challenge the traditional authority of the church and nobility. They believed in the absolute equality of men and the need for a democratic republic.
Scientific Enlightenment: This Enlightenment sought to promote the scientific method and empirical evidence over belief and superstition. It was a movement that used scientific principles to understand the human body and the natural world.
Political Enlightenment: The Political Enlightenment sought to challenge and reform political systems such as absolute monarchies, and it looked towards democratic forms of government as a way to improve society.
Social Enlightenment: This Enlightenment was concerned with issues of social justice, including the reform of institutions such as prisons, orphanages, and hospitals.
Economic Enlightenment: The Economic Enlightenment looked at issues of wealth and finance, and how society could be improved by creating more equitable economic systems.
Feminist Enlightenment: The Feminist Enlightenment sought to challenge gender-based inequality and improve the status and rights of women in society.
Philosophical Enlightenment: The Philosophical Enlightenment was a movement that promoted various philosophical ideas, including those of reason, morality, and individualism, in both metaphysics and epistemology.
Literary Enlightenment: This Enlightenment looked at how literature could be used to explore and critique social issues and to promote intellectual and cultural change.
Religious Enlightenment: The Religious Enlightenment sought to reconcile the Catholic Church with modern ideas and values, and it looked at how religion could be reformed to better reflect secular values while still maintaining a sense of spirituality.
Artistic Enlightenment: The Artistic Enlightenment sought to promote art as a means of promoting morality, social justice, and cultural progress. It also led to significant developments in artistic styles and techniques, especially in painting and sculpture.
"The Enlightenment included a range of ideas centered on the value of human happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses, and ideals such as natural law, liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state."
"The Enlightenment was preceded by the Scientific Revolution and the work of Francis Bacon and John Locke, among others."
"Some date the beginning of the Enlightenment to the publication of René Descartes' Discourse on the Method in 1637, featuring his famous dictum, Cogito, ergo sum ('I think, therefore I am')."
"European historians traditionally date its beginning with the death of Louis XIV of France in 1715 and its end with the 1789 outbreak of the French Revolution."
"Philosophers and scientists of the period widely circulated their ideas through meetings at scientific academies, Masonic lodges, literary salons, coffeehouses and in printed books, journals, and pamphlets."
"The ideas of the Enlightenment undermined the authority of the monarchy and the Catholic Church and paved the way for the political revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries."
"A variety of 19th-century movements, including liberalism, socialism, and neoclassicism, trace their intellectual heritage to the Enlightenment."
"The central doctrines of the Enlightenment were individual liberty and religious tolerance, in opposition to an absolute monarchy and the fixed dogmas of the Church."
"The concepts of utility and sociability were also crucial in the dissemination of information that would better society as a whole."
"The Enlightenment was marked by an increasing awareness of the relationship between the mind and the everyday media of the world, and by an emphasis on the scientific method and reductionism, along with increased questioning of religious orthodoxy."
"An attitude captured by Kant's essay Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment, where the phrase Sapere aude (Dare to know) can be found."
"The ideas of the Enlightenment undermined the authority of the monarchy and the Catholic Church."
"Ideals such as natural law, liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state."
"[The Enlightenment] included a range of ideas centered on the value of human happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses."
"The pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses."
"Meetings at scientific academies, Masonic lodges, literary salons, coffeehouses."
"[Its beginning] with the death of Louis XIV of France in 1715 and its end with the 1789 outbreak of the French Revolution."
"The Enlightenment was marked by an increasing awareness of the relationship between the mind and the everyday media of the world, and by an emphasis on the scientific method and reductionism, along with increased questioning of religious orthodoxy."
"The Enlightenment included a range of ideas centered on the value of human happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses, and ideals such as natural law, liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state."