Age of Enlightenment - Background, Characteristics, Time Span, Significant Thinkers & Their Ideas

Age of Enlightenment is the period during which the dominant intellectual movement took from the late 17th century to till Napoleonic Wars in 1815 mainly in Europe. Sometimes it is also known as the Age of Reason. In this movement, eminent thinkers and philosophers questioned several of the tenets of society, such as the role of the state, the legitimacy of authorities, and notions of liberty. This movement promoted principles like liberty, progress, tolerance, and fraternity and called for constitutional governance and the separation of church and state.

In this article, we will discuss the Age of Enlightenment, its Characteristics, Time span, significant Thinkers and their contributions, major ideas that changed the world, and the legacy of the Age of Enlightenment. This is important topic for the UPSC Exam ( General Studies I Mains).

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What is Age of Enlightenment?

The Enlightenment Era, which prevailed in 18th-century Europe, was a significant philosophical wave. It revolved around the notion that reason held the utmost authority and legitimacy, promoting values like freedom, advancement, acceptance, brotherhood, constitutional governance, and the division of religious and governmental powers.

Background of Age of Enlightenment

• The Age of Enlightenment represents a significant era in history when individuals became increasingly intrigued by unraveling the mysteries of the world. This transformative period was greatly influenced by the remarkable scientific discoveries made during the 17th century. People began to pose questions and actively seek explanations for the underlying reasons behind various phenomena. 
• Taking place in the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment witnessed a notable shift in people's perceptions of the world. This change in mindset was profoundly impacted by the expanding body of scientific knowledge that had surfaced in the preceding century.
• The advancements achieved in fields like astronomy and physics played a pivotal role in shaping this newfound outlook. Prominent astronomers such as Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei challenged the prevailing geocentric view of the universe and introduced a heliocentric model that positioned the Sun at the center. This transformative shift in perspective sparked a reevaluation of traditional beliefs and fostered a more critical approach to comprehending the natural world.

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Characteristics of the Age of Enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment had the following characteristics:

• During a period called the Age of Enlightenment, many European countries experienced a time of intellectual growth. However, each region had its own particular focus during this time.
• There were two main ways of thinking during the Enlightenment. The first was known as the Radical School of thought, which promoted ideas like freedom of speech, democracy, and getting rid of religious authority.
• The second way of thinking was called the Moderate School of thought. This school tried to find a compromise between making changes and keeping the existing religious and political systems in place.
• As time went on, science became increasingly important in Enlightenment discussions and thinking.
• When it comes to issues like race, gender, and social class, historians tell us that the values of the Enlightenment weren't initially meant to apply to everyone in the way we understand today. Most Enlightenment thinkers believed that rights and freedoms were not passed down through family lines, but they didn't necessarily argue for equality for all. However, their ideas did inspire later movements that fought for the rights of people of color, women, and the working class.

Principles of the Age of Enlightenment

• Enlightenment poets and philosophers championed ideas like church-state separation, constitutional government, tolerance, fraternity, liberty, and progress.
• They questioned religious orthodoxy, emphasizing scientific methods and reductionism.
• Reductionism in philosophy suggests entities of one kind are connected to or defined by entities of another kind.
• Enlightenment thinkers valued empiricism and rationality for human progress.
• They opposed special privileges for monarchy, clergy, and nobility.
• Their writings inspired people to question their governance.
• These ideas are believed to have influenced the French Revolution and the American War of Independence.

Age of Enlightenment: Time Span in Chronological Order

Time	Age of Enlightenment
1632 – 1704	John Locke believed that sense experiences are ultimately the source of all of our ideas and he argued that all people were born free and equal.
1651	Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan was published.
1665	Micrographia by Robert Hooke in which the first significant study of microscopy was done.
1775-84	American Revolution took place from ideas of enlightenment
1687	In his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Sir Isaac Newton outlines his theories on gravity, the three principles of motion, and light and the visible spectrum.
1688	In England, the Glorious Revolution took place between 1688 and 1689. It entailed the overthrow of James II, a Catholic monarch.
1724 – 1804	Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher devotes his entire life to learning the rules that control how individuals live.
1743	The American Philosophical Society is founded in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin. Its members are enthusiastic about both science and philosophy.
1743 -1794	The lifetime of French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was the first to demonstrate that burning is a type of chemical action
1751	The Encyclopédie’s first volume is released.
1751	The Philosophia Botanica is published by Carl Linnaeus.
1755	The Complete Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson is released. It is 43,000 words long.
1788	London is the first city where The Times is published.
1789	French Revolution was the result of ideas of enlightenment
1790	Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke
1791	The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine is released. This world had a significant impact on America’s struggle for independence from Britain.
1792	A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft is released. It promotes giving equal chances to women in education.

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Enlightenment Period: Significant Thinkers & Their Ideas

There were numerous thinkers who belong to the Age of Enlightenment. Each has contributed significantly to one or more fields. Among them, the most well-known thinkers of the Enlightenment are mentioned below;

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

 He was a mathematician and astronomer from Italy. He is well-known for having discovered Jupiter’s moons. He advocated the idea that the Earth revolved around the Sun in public. He had to deal with fierce hostility and persecution when he published these beliefs in the form of a book titled Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World, especially from the religious authorities. In 1633, he was put on trial for allegedly contradicting the Bible.

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

He was a French philosopher who is known as the “Father of Modern Philosophy.” He started out as a soldier, but in his free time, he was a philosopher. In a time of uncertainty, he made a fresh start by forgoing the conventional scholastic approach. His famous adage is “cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am). He created his entire philosophy utilizing a mathematical method of reasoning proceeding in this way.

John Locke (1632-1704)

Beginning a new philosophical era, turned away from reason (Descartes’ technique) to sense experience as a means of discovering truth in his Essay “Concerning Human Understanding”. This marked the beginning of the “Empiricism” movement. He believed that sense experiences are ultimately the source of all of our ideas. Simple thoughts are combined in the mind to create more complex ones. He was one of the first intellectuals to suggest that human beings had rights that are inherent in their essence. This way of thinking has gradually resulted in our current conception of “human rights.”

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

He ranks among the top scientists of all time, most likely. He discovered that white light is a combination of several colors, came up with his Universal Law of Gravitation, and created a new area of mathematics known as calculus in less than two years (1665–1677).

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

He was one of the intellectuals who helped lay the foundation for the French Revolution. He was the author of “The Social Contract”, which was his most significant work. In this, he pointed out that, human beings are inherently competitive with one another, but despite that, they band together to establish in groups in order to have a better chance of prevailing in the conflicts and winning. The Social Contract, according to Rousseau, was the cornerstone of modern civilization and society.

Fig: Encyclopédie

National Variation

During the Enlightenment, which was a time of important ideas in Europe, each country had its own way of embracing it. In France, people connected the Enlightenment with being against the government and the Church. They were radical in their thinking. In Germany, the Enlightenment reached the middle class and had a spiritual and nationalistic tone, but it didn't pose a threat to the government or the established churches.

• The governments reacted differently to the Enlightenment. In France, the government didn't like it and tried to control what Enlightenment thinkers said. Some of these thinkers were even put in prison or forced to leave the country. In Britain, the government mostly ignored the leaders of the Enlightenment in England and Scotland. The Scottish Enlightenment, which focused on liberal Calvinism and Isaac Newton's ideas, played a big role in developing the Enlightenment ideas in the Americas.
• In Italy, the power of the Church was reduced, and this led to a time of great thinking and invention, including new scientific discoveries. In Russia, the government actively encouraged the arts and sciences starting in the mid-18th century. This era saw the establishment of the first Russian university, library, theater, public museum, and independent press.
• During the Age of Enlightenment, there were special books called universal encyclopedias that organized scientific knowledge. These encyclopedias were different from technical dictionaries. The goal of universal encyclopedias was to have a complete book that contained all the knowledge that humans had. 
• One very famous example of a universal encyclopedia is the Encyclopédie, written by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It started being published in 1751 and had 35 volumes and more than 71,000 different entries. Many of these entries explained the sciences and crafts in great detail. The Encyclopédie was a valuable resource for intellectuals all over Europe, providing them with a high-quality overview of human knowledge.

Enlightenment Ideas That Changed the World

The Enlightenment ideas changed the world. These ideas promoted science as a legitimate source of information fought for human rights against oppression and countered the excesses of the church. It also provided us with representative democracies, republics, modern medicine, and many other things. The 4 most important ideas were:

• Rights: Before the Enlightenment, the belief in equal rights for all people was uncommon. Any deviation from the established hierarchy was considered harmful. 
• Reason/ Rationalism: It was believed that via the power of reason, people could learn the truth, unearth the natural principles governing existence, make the world a better place, and advance society.
• Separation of powers: During the Enlightenment, Europe started to seriously reevaluate established systems of power.
• Materialism: That rationality developed throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, laying the groundwork for a materialistic perspective on people and the cosmos.

These ideas have changed the course of history.

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The Impact of the Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was a significant period in history that had a profound impact on society and the way people thought about the world. Let's explore some of the key effects it had on various aspects of life.

• Knowledge and Education: During the Age of Enlightenment, there was a growing emphasis on reason and scientific inquiry. This led to advancements in education and the spread of knowledge. People began to question old beliefs and seek rational explanations for natural phenomena.
• Democracy and Governance: Enlightenment thinkers advocated for democratic principles and the idea that power should reside with the people. Their ideas helped shape modern democratic systems, with a focus on individual rights, liberty, and equality before the law.
• Human Rights and Social Justice: The Enlightenment challenged traditional hierarchies and oppressive practices. Thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau argued for the rights of individuals, including freedom of speech, religion, and fair treatment under the law. Their ideas laid the groundwork for modern concepts of human rights and social justice.
• Science and Technology: The Enlightenment promoted the scientific method, leading to great advancements in various fields of science and technology. Thinkers like Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei revolutionized our understanding of the natural world, and their discoveries paved the way for further scientific progress.
• Literature and Art: Enlightenment writers and artists used their talents to convey ideas and promote social change. Novels, plays, and artwork began to explore themes of reason, individualism, and social criticism. This period gave rise to influential works by authors such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Jane Austen.
• Religious Tolerance: Enlightenment thinkers championed the idea of religious tolerance and freedom of belief. They argued for the separation of church and state, challenging the authority of religious institutions and promoting religious diversity and acceptance.
• Economic and Social Progress: The Enlightenment had an impact on economic and social systems. The rise of capitalism and free trade can be traced back to this period, as thinkers like Adam Smith proposed new economic theories. Ideas of social progress, meritocracy, and the pursuit of happiness also emerged during this time.

In conclusion, the Age of Enlightenment had a far-reaching impact on various aspects of society. It fostered scientific progress, advocated for individual rights and social justice, promoted democratic ideals, and influenced art and literature. Its ideas continue to shape our world, highlighting the enduring relevance of this transformative era in history.

End of Enlightenment

• The French Revolution of 1789 or the start of the Napoleonic Wars (1804–15) are frequently used by researchers to determine the end of the Enlightenment.
• The French Revolution, which had a violent component that gave it negative publicity in the eyes of many, is seen as the end of the age of enlightenment.
•  Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), who cited Dare to know! as the Enlightenment’s motto, ultimately criticized the Enlightenment’s faith in the persuasiveness of reason.
•  The focus on imagination, spontaneity, and passion that characterizes romanticism also evolved as a response to the dry intellectualism of rationalists.
• Various ideologies, including postmodernism, feminism, and religious conservatism, have been used to critique the Enlightenment.

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Legacy Of Enlightenment Period

• Every person has the right to personal independence, emancipation, property, and the pursuit of happiness due to enlightenment.
• The early proponents of enlightenment thought human reason could dispel ignorance, superstition, and tyranny to make the world a better place.
• Its results include the general demise of the church, the rise of secular humanism, political liberalism, and economic liberalism, as well as the belief in progress and the advancement of science.
• The foundation of Western political and intellectual culture has been credited to the Enlightenment on which the modern world was established.
• The modern political ideas of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), John Locke (1632-1704), Voltaire (1694-1778), and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1788) shaped the new world.
• It contributed to the conceptual foundation of the French Revolution, racism, nationalism, secularism, fascism, and communism, in addition to the American Revolutionary War, liberalism, democracy, and capitalism.
• The revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries were made possible after this. The movements of liberalism and neoclassicism in the 19th century can be regarded to have their roots in the Age of Enlightenment.
• During the French revolution of 1789, these ideas’ full impact was realised in actuality. Although the Reign of Terror served as a warning of the idea’s practical limitations.
• Only under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte was society transformed on the lines of reason, which were codified in the Napoleonic Code, which served as the foundation for many Western European nations’ legal systems.
• Nonetheless, its egalitarian objectives influenced the independence struggle of coming generations.

Conclusion

The Age of Enlightenment promoted the use of reason as a means of building a system of ethics, governance, and even religion. It promoted science as a legitimate source of information, fought for human rights against oppression, and countered the excesses of the church. In addition, it brought us representative democracies, republics, modern medicine, and many other things.

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