The Age Of Enlightenment In 18th Century History Essay

The Age Of know takege In eighteenth Century write up EssayIn the dictionary the Enlightenment is defined as a philosophical movement of the eighteenth century, characterized by belief in the spot of human reason and by innovations in political, sacred, and educational doctrine. The Enlightenment was enabled by the Scientific Revolution, which had begun as early as 1500. This intellectual, philosophical, cultural, and social movement propagate through England, France, Ger many another(prenominal), and other parts of Europe during the 1700s. I will discuss the Enlightenment and describe the impact it had on societies of the 18th century.Schmidt in his article describe what Enlightenment was by Kants definition, which is a mans tutelage which is the in ability to practice use of ones understanding without the direction or help from another. He describes how someone by depending on others to make choices for them.1Its main focus was on the eudaemonia of mankind. The changes tha t came during the age of Enlightenment would provide not scarce a sane way of looking at club but stilling nation from ignorance, superstition, and tyranny and make the world a safer and better place by providing liberty mentally and physically to those hoi polloi. The utility of Enlightenment goes on to kick downstairs errors, truth drives out falsehood as light drives away darkness.2 found on thinkers that eagerly seek reason vainly supposed that a perfect society could be constructed by the use of common whiz and tolerance.Religion was a main factor that stood in the way of societies becoming enlightenment during the 18th century. Because of religious superstitions and fanaticism it hindered tribes ability to rationalize in events that top in everyday breeding. Schmidt points out that the goal of Enlightenment was to free the public from those fears, which robbed people of their contentment that was the goal of human association.3Support for religious toleration was difficult since the Catholic Church had a adult brand on European societies. Clearly religious enlightenment had not come a groundswell from below by the 1780s.4For many centuries forward the enlightenment scientist were persecuted and un seriously punished for coming up with theories and logical arguments about genuine things. For physical exercise enlighten thinker Galileo5for challenging the church for his scientific discovery of how the population works, was persecuted by the church and other establishments for coming up with theories that went against their beliefs. Other thinkers desire Voltaire6devoted a great deal of his cartridge holder attacking the fundamentals of Christianity including its scriptures and was joined by a band of rebellious thinkers k at presentn as the philosophe.7These thinkers gave path to a new way of thinking and in epoch brought ideas and changes to their societies. Monarchs themselves became enlighten and no longer held the beliefs of rul ing by divine well(p) but to the improvements of their realms and subjects by reasoning. The church was very instrumental in societies and before the age of enlightenment it did everything in their power to combat scholars, humanist, scientist etc. As societies began to become enlighten, a new religious view called Deism8emerged. legion(predicate) inventions were created and policies brought forth by monarchs were aimed on trying to separate church and postulate to create a society of religious freedom. Human virtue and happiness were best achieved by this newly established freedom from unnecessary restraints obligate by church and also the state.This period was mark by progression. mavin of the defining characteristics of modernity is the belief that things can change and should change, which the enlightenment has been seen as this era.9Changes occurred and Enlighten Absolutism emerged. Some Monarchs that were enlightened during the 18th century were Frederick II of Prussia, C atherine the Great of Russia, and Joseph the II, Holy Roman Emperor of Austria. Even though their opposed policy didnt change much as each ruler seek to expand their powers and acquire new territories by going to war, they do certain internal changes in their realm that expanded intellectual freedom and liberty. Their solicitude was now centered on rationalizing and advocating reform. Government was now protecting individualistic rights, and when the government violated peoples natural rights, it violated the social contract. An example was the french Declaration of the rights of man and the citizen, which showed what kind of freedoms cut people were entitled to. These improvements made the average persons vocalise be heard and people started to feel these changes throughout their lives. The focus was now on both faith in spirit and belief in progression, because it led to the betterment of human condition. This also resulted in economic expansion because many rulers embrac e free trade and markets which alter their lives as well as their subjects. This gave rise to the Bourgeoisie10, who became prominent during the 18th century who voiced their opinions on the elite, equal the nobility. Within a twain of generations saw improvements in education, criminal justice, taxation, religious freedom, and prosperity.11The common people were now able to feel like their voice was heard in their society. With these laws and freedoms allow people were able to get better jobs, belong to any faith of their choosing, and think for themselves and not be forced to believe or do things that they felt wasnt part of who they were.This age was a step further in progression in the field of science. Nature was starting to be seen divergently. Diderot12gave the design of constitution the qualities of dynamism and individuality, or self-generating temporal process that submitted concepts of both Leibnitzian and the Newtonian world systems in his thinking.13This thinki ng of appreciation of external nature was a step forward in knowledge of the surroundings of societies and the results of things that occur in nature. This period emphasized the importance of science like biota in society. How everything was connected to each other and discoveries were made that gave people the ability to look at things from another perspective. This is relevant to the enlightenment for the fact that people were viewing the world differently and discoveries and creation of something like the encyclopedia, and the teachings of science only led to the improvement of society, because technology started advancing and inventions were made to make peoples life much easier. And science and the influence of reason led to new innovations in political thought.Then philosophers started to write topics that relate to government, politics, and rights. Montesquieu presenting the concept of separating of branches and Thomas Hobbes, prat Locke who had different theories and ideas about what type of government there should be. Locke was not just a philosopher but a major ideologue.14Locke played a major role in the social contract theory, which tries to explain the ways in which people form states to maintain social order. These kinds of concepts and views gave people the chance to voice their opinion of how their government should rule their countries. It was a tough period because people had different opinion whether they wanted a limited government and dogmatic monarchy etc. These concepts would change society dramatically because with different government comes different laws and norms. This would have an impact on everyones lives. This and other factors led to wars like the French revolution.15People wanted change and that is exactly what happened. Monarchy like the one in France collapsed. People started organizing and trying to protect their fellow citizens and themselves to keep their inalienable rights. familiarity in France underwent a massive tr ansformation as feudal, aristocracy, and religious privileges changed because of spare political groups that started masses on streets. This would mark the end of the enlightenment by historians but it lead to many changes to society in all fronts. Things like romanticism played a role in the ending of Enlightenment because people would reject scientific rationalization of nature and focus more than on things of less value like art, music, and literature. Countries like America were started during the 18th century because of enlightenment ideals that colonist had when they fought England for their independence as well. That was a big victory for Enlightenment thinkers because this new nation would represent a serve of what the Enlightenment was based on.In the period of the Enlightenment there were many changes that brought changes to society in many forms. There came many good things from that time and bad. People started to use reason and logic for running their government, cha nging society for the betterment of its people, and innovations in science which led to many discoveries. These ideas, works, and principles of the Enlightenment would stretch forth to affect Europe and the rest of the Western world for decades and even centuries to come. The cardinal years wars16was also a cause of the enlightenment for its destructive wars that led many writers to criticize the government for regarding ideas of nationalism and warfare. Many things played a role during the Enlightenment but the impact and effect it had echoed around the world.