The Enlightenment is a phase in the history of Europe which is characterized by revolutions in philosophy, society, science and politics. It is also known as the Age of Reason since it is a time when man began to use his reasoning skills to find out more about the world. Enlightenment thinkers opposed superstition, intolerance and some abuses by state and church. The thinkers casted off the fear and superstition of the medieval world. The Enlightenment phase stretched roughly from the seventeenth century over the eighteenth century. The main purpose of enlightenment was to reform society through reason, advance awareness through science and challenge facts grounded in faith and tradition. It, therefore, promoted scepticism, science and intellectual interchange. These revolutions which swept off the medieval world-view ushering the modern western world were sparked by various philosophers including: , , physicist , John Locke and Voltaire .
There are various arguments on the cause of the Enlightenment. Bertrand Russell for instance maintains that the enlightenment was as a result of the Protestant reaction against the Catholic. He argues that most of the philosophical ideologies such as affinity for democratic system against kingdom began among Protestants around the 16th century .Chartie, on the other hand, claims that the leaders of the selected certain writers and identified them with The Enlightenment in order to legitimize their political agendas .The leaders had an aim of creating an Enlightenment canon. He thus maintains that the Enlightenment was only made up after the fact for a political goal.
There are various philosophical movements that took hold of Europe during the 17th Century as a result of The Enlightenment. In France, Enlightenment thought led to the political disruption of the French Revolution. The political authority and power of the Catholic Church, the ancient hierarchical political and social orders and the privileges of the French nobility were destroyed. They were and replaced by a social and political order informed by the Enlightenment principles of equity and freedom for all.
In Britain there emerged Empiricism, a practical philosophical movement which grew up during the of the 17th and 18th Century. Empiricism emphasizes the role of evidence and maintains that human beings can have one knowledge which is known as posteriori, that is, knowledge based on experience. Empiricism relies on reasoning through induction to build a more composite body of knowledge from unswerving studies. As such, modern science is considered to be empirical in nature since it relies on an inductive methodology for scientific investigation.
In German Enlightenment in philosophy, music, literature and science emerged as an intellectual force. saw himself as a director of the Enlightenment. He explained that his principal occupation was to combat prejudice and ignorance. Philosopher also tried to merge political authority and individual freedom, religious beliefs and rationalism. His work contained basic tensions that continue to shape the thought of all European philosophy. In England, was among the most prominent Enlightenment thinkers. He is one of the thinkers who are remembered for his influential contributions across a broad range of philosophical subfields including the philosophy of mind, ethics, the philosophy of language, rational theology and political philosophy.
In general the philosophical movement that took hold of Europe during the 17th Century range from eradication of religious authority, individual liberty of lifestyle, full separation of church and state, full freedom of expression, thought and the press.
Works Cited
Bristow, William . Enlightenment. 20 August 2010. 9 November 2012
Outram, Dorinda . The Enlightenment New Approaches to European History. 2, illustrated, revised. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Salerno, Roger A. Beyond the Enlightenment: Lives and Thoughts of Social Theorists. Illustrated. Newyork: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004.
Withers, Charles W.J. Placing the Enlightenment: Thinking Geographically about the Age of Reason. Illustrated. Newyork: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
