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 with the issue of God, which consequently caused many to question the church. Others were concerned with the organization of the Universe, and man's place within that Universe. 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. 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.
             The ability to reason was the central focus of the Enlightenment. Pope begins his paper by appealing his audience. He writes, "Together l...

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Enlightenment. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 10:38, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/19221.html