Negative Effects Of The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment period, also known as The Age of Reason, was a period of social, religious, and political revolution throughout the 18th century which changed the thoughts of man during this “awakening” time. It was a liberation of ignorant thoughts, ideas, and actions that had broken away from the ignorant perception of how society was to be kept and obeyed thus giving little room for new ideas about the world. Puritan society found these new ideas of thought to be extremely radical in comparison to what they believed which was a belief of strong rational religion and morality. Enlightened society believed that the use of reason would be a catalyst of social change and had a demand of political representation thus resulting in a

This essay will explore parallels between the ideas of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment. The scientific revolution describes a time when great changes occurred in the way the universe was viewed, d through the advances of sciences during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The enlightenment refers to a movement that grew out of the new scientific ideas of the revolution that occurred in the late seventeenth to eighteenth century. Although both the scientific revolution and enlightenment encapsulate different ideas, the scientific revolution laid the underlying ideological foundations for the enlightenment movement. A number of parallels

Theme: The Scientific Revolution in the seventeenth century did not only change the human’s perception of the natural world, but also changed people’s way of thought. As a result of the scientific revolution, people began to use logic to establish social institutions and governments. The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that took place in the eighteenth century, in which reason, social reforms, and government advanced. Both, the Scientific Revolution and The Age of Enlightenment led to more secularism and individual freedom in Europe.

The Enlightenment used the scientific method and reason develop theories rather than always trusting the church. The Enlightenment affected world social and political systems so strongly that it deserves to be one of the three most important “turning points” in history, because it created freedom for the citizens,

John Locke, one of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, said that “all men are naturally in...a state of perfect freedom...within the bounds of the law of nature” (Doc A). The citizens didn’t have any say in things, only the king would choose the laws that the people had to obey, and it wasn’t considered of the people to have any natural rights. Locke’s main idea about freedom was that the people should be able to choose their own government and that man is born with natural rights, which shines the light for the final branch of freedom, which is equality of education for men and women.

The Age of Enlightenment saw many great changes in Western Europe. It was an age of reason and philosophes. During this age, changes the likes of which had not been seen since ancient times took place. Such change affected evert pore of Western European society. Many might argue that the Enlightenment really did not bring any real change, however, there exists and overwhelming amount of facts which prove, without question, that the spirit of the Enlightenment was one of change-specifically change which went against the previous teachings of the Catholic Church. Such change is apparent in the ideas, questions, and philosophies of the time, in the study of science, and throughout the monarchial system.

The ideas of the Enlightenment are currently shown directly in our modern day society. The Enlightenment was a european movement in the late 17th century emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It allowed people more freedom and more opportunities. It affected today's way of living through politics because it questioned the idea of people of a community governing their community. Religion was also affected because it sought reasonable faith that many could follow and had reason. The Enlightenment did not only have an impact on politics and religion but also on economics because it denounced slavery and slave trade as well as lessened the government's control over the market. The Enlightenment has continued to be influential throughout modern times in many ways but is most present through politics, religion and economics.

The Enlightenment was a period characterized by the idea that people’s use of reason could unlock the mysteries of the world around them. Thinkers of the Enlightenment saw all aspects of the world—religion, wealth, and the earth itself—as being understandable through natural laws. The reliance on and application of reason on the different aspects of the world used by Enlightenment thinkers was directly informed by the Scientific Revolution. In essence the presentation of and descriptive power of Enlightenment theories and ideas would not have been possible without the strengthened exploratory and explanatory rigor established in the Scientific Revolution.

This had an adverse effect on the churches’ power which was lessened because of the influence of new “radical” thoughts of religion. Because of ideas that the Enlightenment brought forth from writing, they also made a significant impact on how politics transitioned from the old theocratic view of government into a democratic institution.

The ideas from the Enlightenment and its thinkers greatly influenced the world today, everything from our ideas of modern government to our view of everyday life. Important Enlightenment philosophes such as Locke, Montesquieu, Hobbes and Voltaire established controversial ideas and theories on human nature, natural rights, and how government should be run and which form of it was superior. These ideas were all never even thought of before, and shattered many of the previous notions of ideas, such as ideas of how to run government, that had already been established and taken as a standard for several hundreds of years.

The Enlightenment is also referred to as the Age of Reason. These names describe the period in America and Europe in the 1700s. During this period, man was emerging from the ignorance centuries into one that was characterized by respect for humanity, science, and reason. The people involved in Enlightenment had the belief that human reason was useful in discovering the universe’s natural laws, determining mankind’s natural rights, and thereby, unending knowledge progress, moral values, and technical achievement would be attained. John Locke and Isaac Newton are some of the people who played a great role during the Enlightenment period (Wuthnow 41). This paper aims at discussing the political, cultural, religious, intellectual, and economic impacts that were realized during the period.

The Enlightenment also had broad effects on religion. The first effect that the Enlightenment had on religion was the idea that people should consider the ideas that he/she was following and then decide is it was true or not. It would no longer require asking the priest for advice, one could make his/her own judgements and decisions using reason. There was no divine intervention (Norton Anthology 5-6). This idea of using reason to make decisions that were once based on religion changed many things. According to the Norton Anthology guide of World Literature, this concept of reason would lead back to the idea of eternal destiny. It was also during this time that the divine right was no longer regarded as truth. The divine right was the idea that God placed the king or queen into power that He wanted. This new way of thinking disregarded this (4-7). The other major religious group during this time were the deists. The deists, unlike other groups who turned to reason, validated the wicked events taking place. The deists said that God created everything but simply watched what was taking place. He did not have any say in what took place. It was this religious philosophy that separated ethics and religion

The Enlightenment was a time of thinking, recalculating, and coming up with new ideas to replace the old and evolving from medieval ways. During the Enlightenment, people questioning everything including whether or not the church should have all the power and if their religion was correct. Martin Luther came up with several ideas about how the Catholic Church was wrong and eventually made up with his own religion called Protestantism. The ideas of the Enlightenment lead to many revolutions including the peasants’ revolts in the German States. The peasants’ revolts in German states, during the early 1500s, resulted in both positive and negative effects.

The age of Enlightenment was a progression of the cultural and intellectual changes in Europe that had resulted from the scientific revolution during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The scientific revolution and the discoveries made about the natural world would ultimately challenge the way people perceived the world around them. Scientist found real answers, by questioning flawed ancient beliefs that were widely held and maintained by the church. Ultimately, these discoveries and scientific advancements would evolve and effect social, cultural, and political developments in Europe over the course of time. The scientific revolution had provided certainty about the natural world that had long been questioned. With these new

It discussed how rationalism was important in making decisions and how basing them off the church in exchange for salvation was wrong. His book talked even further on empiricism, which became a major characteristic of the enlightenment period. Voltaire, on the other hand, was much more rebellious, going into exile many times. He challenged many ideas of society, and believed in choice; this included religious toleration, freedom of speech, and freedom of class. These ideas are now followed in great numbers in the 21st century Such examples include voting, giving the people the decision to elect whomever they feel is best suited for the job. Many religions are practiced in the United states, giving a modern day look on how 1700’s enlightenment ideals are still alive and well today.