Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment, sometimes called the Age of Reason, refers to the time of the guiding intellectual movement, called The Enlightenment. It covers about a century and a half in Europe, beginning with the publication of Francis Bacon's Novum Organum (1620) and ending with Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (1781). From the perspective of socio-political phenomena, the period is considered to have begun with the close of the Thirty Years' War (1648) and ended with the French Revolution (1789).

The Enlightenment is the period in the history of western thought and culture, stretching roughly from the mid-decades of the seventeenth century through the eighteenth century, characterized by dramatic revolutions in science, philosophy, society and politics; these revolutions swept away the medieval world-view and ushered in our modern western world.

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The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement which dominated the world of ideas in Europe in the 18th century. The principal goals of Enlightenment thinkers were liberty, progress, reason, tolerance, fraternity and ending the abuses of the church and state.

Social contract theory, nearly as old as philosophy itself, is the view that persons' moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live.

A summary of The Social Contract in 's Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.

The Age of Reason, as it was called, was spreading rapidly across Europe. In the late 17th century, scientists like Isaac Newton and writers like John Locke were challenging the old order.

Enlightenment, a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries in which ideas concerning God, reason, nature, and humanity were synthesized into a worldview that gained wide assent in the West and that instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics.

In this lesson, we will identify the major themes associated with the Enlightenment. We will also explore the major figures and learn about their contributions. We will understand the lasting impact of the Enlightenment by putting it in historical context.

Age of Reason - Learn about this eighteenth century movement. What beliefs impacted this time period? How did open thought and personal liberty impact thought?