Enlightenment The Age Of Enlightenment And The...

The Enlightenment or The Age of Reason was an European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ideas during this period were about God, reason, nature, and developments in art, philosophy, and politics. The â€Å"Enlightenment thinkers† affected the development of the United States Government. The Declaration of Independence, Constitution Bill of rights and The Federalist Papers were all influenced by important enlightenment ideas of freedom, unavailable rights, and government. Declaration of Independence ideas such as life liberty and property, unavailable rights and inequality were all inspired by John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and, Rousseau ideas. Thomas Jefferson (writer of the Declaration of Independence) was directly†¦show more content†¦Every person was free to do what he or she needed to do to survive. In the state of nature, there were no laws or anyone to enforce them.Although, The people in charge would have to â€Å"lay down† their natural rights of equality and freedom and give absolute power to a sovereign. The sovereign, created by the people, might be a person or a group. The sovereign would make and enforce the laws to secure a peaceful society, making life, liberty, and property possible. Hobbes called this agreement the â€Å"social contract.† Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the most influential thinkers during the Enlightenment in eighteenth century Europe. In The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, The central claim of the work is that human beings are good by nature, but were corrupted by the complex historical events that resulted in present day civil society. Rousseau distinguishes two types of inequality: natural (or physical) and moral. The natural inequality from differences in age, health, or other physical characteristics. The moral inequality is thought or the state of nature. Rousseau described the man in nature is a strong, smaller but more organized than the animals in his environment. His body is his only tool, and only weapon the natural man knows neither good nor evil, he is a â€Å"sub-moral†. He has few needs, and easily to satisfy them. However, he is contrary to civilized man dominated by vanity andShow MoreRelatedAge Of Enlightenment755 Words   |  4 Pages During the 18th century, a worldwide movement, more commonly recognized as the Age of Enlightenment, encouraged the spread of philosophical thinking, science, communications, and politics. This movement gradually branched out from Northern Europe and reached places such as the United States of America and France, encouraging the American and French Revolutions. The Enlightenment brought about a new age of philosophical and intellectual thinkers, such as John Locke, which helped shape and influenceRead MoreAge Of Enlightenment1210 Words   |  5 PagesThe Age of Enlightenment has historically been affiliated with drastic skepticism and revolution in politics, philosophy, science, and communications, amongst other disciplines. In the early eighteenth century, people began to challenge the idea that rulers, spirits, and Catholicism were dominant over other ways of life. Although the Enlightenment primarily prevailed in parts of Europe in countries such as England and France, it was als o crucial in determining several aspects of colonial AmericaRead MoreThe Age Of The Enlightenment1646 Words   |  7 PagesThe Age of the Enlightenment during the beginning of the 18th century was a revolution that vanquished the suffocating darkness of superstition that shrouded the Middle Ages. Revolutionary thinkers of the Enlightenment, such as Denis Diderot, Renà © Descartes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, led western civilization out of the darkness of ignorance with a small flame generated by the power of scientific and intellectual reason. For a while, it seemed as though the reason and rationality of EnlightenmentRead More Age of Enlightenment Essay2052 Words   |  9 Pages The 18th century is referred to as the ‘Age of Enlightenment’. The trends in thought and letters from Europe to the American colonies brought a new light and attention upon mankind. This new movement described a time in Western philosophy and cultural life in which reason was adv ocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority. ‘To understand the natural world and humankinds place in it solely on the basis of reason and without turning to religious belief was the goal of the wide-rangingRead MoreTheories Of The Age Of Enlightenment1026 Words   |  5 Pagesbeheaded, drowned, or stoned to death. This way of thinking and punishing offenders continued through the 1600’s until the Age of Enlightenment. It was during this time that Thomas Hobbes wrote a book proposing theories that would change the way many people think about other individuals and their actions. Thomas Hobbes’ most influential contributions to the Age of Enlightenment were his theories on an individual’s ability to rationally choose their own actions, free will, and the idea of social contractRead MoreThe Age Of Enlightenment In Frankenstein835 Words   |  4 Pagesand works of individuals during the Age of Enlightenment. Consequently, many of the ideas and theories that were expressed during the Age of Enlightenment are found throughout Shelley’s gothic novel. Furthermore, the Age of Enlightenment impacted the events depicted in Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein, such as man’s state of nature, as discussed by John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. Thomas Hobbes is considered one of the first major figures of the Enlightenment, and his major argument presentedRead MoreThe Enlightenment : The Age Of Reason1126 Words   |  5 PagesThe Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an important period in the history of Western Civilization during the 17th and 18th centuries - a time of social turmoil where societies were divided between social groups and struggled for freedom, equality and democracy (Seidman, 2008: 6). This time gave rise to remarkable social thinkers, known as Enlighteners, who pioneered a new science of society (Seidman, 2008: 5). These highly educated Enlighteners believed the world could be rationallyRead MoreThe European Age Of Enlightenment1359 Words   |  6 PagesEuropean Age of Enlightenment, a period when great thinkers shared innovative thoughts on the governance and rights of man, slavery, the ultimate expression of human oppression, was widely practiced. The development of the Atlantic trade saw millions of Africans, enslaved by white European societies, shipped to the Americas to live a life void of liberty and dominated by misery, an existence starkly contrasting Enlightenment ideals. Despite the commonality of the practice, the Enlightenment movementRead MoreAge of Enlightenment and Century5169 Words   |  21 Pagesof art reproduced below express the artistic, philosophical and cultural values of their times. (Pictures of Michelangelo s David and Giacometti s Man Pointing 1947). 3. 82: Compare and contrast the cultural values of the Enlightenment with those of the sixteenth century Northern Renaissance. 4. 84: Compare and contrast the views of Machiavelli and Rousseau on human nature and the relationship between government and the governed. 5. 85: ToRead MoreThe Age of Enlightenment Essay2088 Words   |  9 PagesThe 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