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The age of Enlightenment laid the foundation to the advancement to the different branches of science today. During the fifteen and sixteenth century, scholars like Sir Isaac Newton started to question the different beliefs, traditions and practices like medicine, astronomy, biblical studies, and history (A Value - System That Is INTEGRATED By CRITICAL THINKING Values And Perspective Of The Enlightenment Cultural Matrix). The scholar’s curiosity pushed them to critically analyze the various fields and started to develop a more structured way of knowing things and looking for answers to questions about the world and life in general. With the desire to seek for the truth about the world, Newton came up with a new philosophical system that is based on careful observation and reason, which is also known as “critical thinking” which is backed up with three basic principles, as follows:
Scientifica method can be applied to non-scientific disciplines such as theology, history, morals, and politics
People should ignore fantasis about ultimate causes an dconcentrate on the practical problems of improving the human situation in this world.
These principles clash with the religious and political beliefs that are deeply ingrained to the people during those times and created a rift between the philosophical notions of Enlightenment and the traditions that are practiced by the people. As masking peace to the fact of the difference between the old and new concepts, Enlightenment developed three deep and abiding beliefs that distinguished it from its own immediate past:
The commitment to the superiority of science over religion
The commitment to personal freedom and liberty
Absolute opposition to cruel legal procedures and arbitrary government.
Giving much importance to following the scientific method resulted to giving importance to different values such as the value of looking at the wholeness of the situation, simplicity and elegance, dedication to certainty and mastery of human reason, a deep understanding of how systems work and the ability to predict outcomes of human activity.
However, critical thinking plays an important role to the advancement not only in the field of science and philosophy but religion as well, it is considered as too constricting to fully comprehend the complexity of human interactions.
References
A Value - System That Is INTEGRATED By CRITICAL THINKING Values And Perspective Of The Enlightenment Cultural Matrix. 1st ed. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
