Enlightenment

Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement which emphasized reason and logic over religion and superstition. Whereas medieval times had emphasized blind adherence to the existing social structure, the Enlightenment shifted the emphasis to individual achievement and worldly life. Building on the principles of the Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment thinkers were energized by the notion that the human intellect could be autonomous from divine forces. This new emphasis on logic and reason was quickly applied to areas such as religion politics, and nature (including human nature). For the first time, these issues were addressed without submission to Christian teachings and divine intentions. Rejecting the notion that all human qualities were handed down from above, the Enlightenment thinkers advanced the notion that humans could improve themselves and their society by applying reason rather than religious principles. This led to a fundamental reconstruction of traditional understandings of religion, politics, and nature.
Indeed, in many ways, it was the new approach to religious principles that set the tone for discussions of other topics. An increase in religious skepticism and toleration went hand in hand with a disdain for prejudice and superstition, skepticism towards unchecked political power, and, most fundamentally, a belief in the ability of the human mind to use reason in overcoming irrational ideas. Voltaire, for example, argued that those humans who claim to know the specific powers of God as a Creator were sorely mistaken. He speaks skeptically of those who believe punishment is necessary for those “who so much as suspect that ‘tis possible for the Body to think without any foreign Assistance” (Brophy et al., 294). This reflects his idea that humans must think for themselves and must refuse to have their beliefs and conceptions shaped by the dictates of religion. Along the same lines, Kant wrote in “A Treatise of Human Nature” that human...