Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was the philosophical and artistic movement growing out of the Renaissance and continuing until the nineteenth century. The Enlightenment was an optimistic belief that humanity could improve itself by applying logic and reason to all things. It rejected untested beliefs, superstition, and the "barbarism" of the earlier medieval period, and embraced the literary, architectural, and artistic forms of the Greco-Roman world. Enlightenment thinkers were enchanted by the perfection of geometry and mathematics, and by all things musical and balanced. The period's poetry, as demonstrated by two main people Alexander Pope and John Dryden. Some of the main philosophers were Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Locke. Normally, these Enlightenment writers would use satire to ridicule what they felt were illogical errors in government, social custom, and religious belief. This paper will examine the ideologies and beliefs of Alexander Pope. It will also look at a few ideologies of other philosophers. A vast importance was placed on the ability to think and reason during the Enlightenment. People during this era thought and reasoned about a range of topics. Some people concerned themselves wit
He addresses man's ability to reason and think for himself, he questions the church and the nature of Christianity, and he also speculates about man's place in the world, as apart of the great chain of life. " Pope expresses his opinion that man's place in the Universe, is within "Nature's chain. The first paper of Alexander Pope's "Essay on Man" can be considered an articulation of the Enlightenment because it talks about three major concerns of the people during the Enlightenment. His views on the nature of man, and the ideal form of government heavily influenced the French revolutionaries. Pope's "Essay on Man" was written during the Enlightenment, and reflects the attitudes and inquisitions of the people who lived during this time. He is trying to bring them into the 18th century, asking them to look for evidence in the knowledge they receive, rather then allowing the church to give them all of there knowledge. By acknowledging that these Christians sin, and "thirst for gold," he asks then why a man is looked down upon if they do not aspire to be Christian, since Christians have a sinful nature just like that of every other man. Pope represents this when he writes, "no Christians thirst for gold. " Pope faintly questions the nature of Christianity and Christians by exposing their desire for material goods. During the Enlightenment, people began to question the church for the first time. " This is saying that man is just a link within that chain.
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