18th May, 2011
Definition of the enlightenment
The enlightenment era was a period that was caused by the war that lasted for thirty years between 1618 and 1648 in Western Europe. It was marked by advancement in philosophy, intellectual, cultural and scientific movement that placed emphasis on thought, reason and power of people in finding solutions to problems. Kant stated that enlightenment was man’s final development in thinking and deviation from the ignorance and error. (Kagan, Craig et al, 86)
The two enlightenment tenets were:
Romanticism
The pre- enlightenment era was characterized by monarchy governments in which the people believed the kings or leaders were chosen by God and only god had the power to remove them from their leadership positions. The social contract theory propounded during the enlightenment era proposed that leadership was a social contract between the people and the appointed leaders: the people chose the monarchs to lead them and had the power to remove those who failed them in leadership (Kagan, Craig et al, 89)
Skeptic canon
Enlightenment brought about different philosophical thoughts. For instance, Spinoza argued that people believe in what they have evidence in. he argued that people had the power to agree, reject and to suspend their judgment but only after they have believed the information to which they have been exposed (Israel &Jonathan, 113).
Before this era, people believed the word of the church to be the absolute truth. Anything that was against the Christian teaching was perceived to be blasphemy and the preacher was killed in the process. This however, this changed during the era when preachers like René Descartes, one of the enlightened preachers and philosopher founded the skeptic canon that proposed that one should not believe anything they hear unless they have evidence of it being true (Kagan & Craig 123).
Relationship between Enlightenment and Christianity
Enlightenment changed the Christian believe that leadership came from God. It separated the church form the political system citing that through a social, the people chose the people to lead them. They also had the power to remove those leaders who failed.
Enlightenment changed the Christian perception about geography: the Christians originally believed that the sun was at the centre of the universe and that it is the sun that moves around the earth. They cited this from the biblical book of Joshua where it is said that Joshua made the sun stand still during the war to take over the city of Jerusalem. Enlightenment changed this believe when scientists like Galileo and Isaac Newton came up with the view that the earth and the outer space was a machine that controlled itself.
Ways in which Enlightenment influenced political and social thought in Western Europe
Political thought
Leadership was divorced from the church whereby the church was separated from the political system The enlightenment in Western Europe led to emergence of absolutism where in Russia a leader by the name the great denounced torture and placed emphasis on helping the people education, health care and women’s rights.
This era helped people discover their rights as voters who determined their leaders through voting. In France and other European countries, however it also had a negative impact since many people thought that the enlightenment was an attack on traditions and social norms. The wars that followed this period in France suggested that people could not be allowed to lead themselves however enlightenment they were. And for this reason many dictators came up like napoleon who ruled for 15 years. (Israel &Jonathan, 114)
Social thought
This era led to so many deceptions where many people who claimed to be scientists lied to people through false discoveries. For instance individuals who referred themselves as phrenologists tried to convince people that they could study individual’s character by studying the counters of the world.
During this period, people were thirsty for knowledge but lacked the necessary systems to fact check the true discoveries from lies.
Work cited
Israel &Jonathan. Enlightenment Contested Philosophy, Modernity, and Emancipation of Man. New York: Oxford University press. 2006 print.
Kagan & Craig et al. Heritage of World Civilizations, London: Prentice Hall, 2009 print.
Kagan. The Age of European Enlightenment Voltaire; 2009 print. retrieved from http://www.literature.org/authors/voltaire/candide.
