what is enlightenment
What is Enlightenment? In the eighteenth century in France Britain and Germany a general intellectual move towards greater reliance on the human sciences and their relevance to the boundaries of existing knowledge began.This movement was referred to as "The Enlightenment". As the name suggests the movement set out to shed a greater on humanity, human nature and the nature of existence. A great desire was shared to determine the extent of our knowledge of the world and for ways to gain a greater This movement relied on a mass rejection of tradition and already called for the removal of all established conceptions and prejudices commonly held. The Catholic Church, and indeed all religions came under heavy scrutiny and rejection due to their all pervasive grip on all matters educational, scientific and philosophical. Religious morals and guidelines also came to be Science, logic and rationalism became the principal tools of philosophy in this era as was evidenced by the new methods employed in argument,
The real relevance to religion of the enlightenment was its relegation from being the figurehead of all scientific and philosophical thought that it had come to be. Regular open houses were held in the "Salons" of Paris which could be attended by anyone with an interest could come and share in the debate of knowledge. This was made possible due to the further advances the enlightenment encouraged in the field of printing and the printed word. This encyclopaedia aimed to be the comprehensive resource of all the knowledge in the world. This factored greatly in paving the way for the rejuvenating Renaissance period experienced in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. God is compared to this watchmaker and the world the watch. Many would contend that scientific thought is no more relevant to the world than religous thoughts and can just as easily be called into question. Although Descartes was the first Philosopher to employ reason as a tool and Francis Bacon greatly influenced Enlightenment thought it is John Locke, an English Protestant philosopher based in Amsterdam who is perceived to be the father figure of this movement. It is a contribution characteristic and significant of the enlightenment and its relevance is Unarguable - The Encyclopaedia. Religous effects on philosophy and science was now negated. Gadamer criticicizes the enlightenment's distrust of tradition and established boundaries. it religious or scientific was eschewed in favour of a clean slate from which to begin re-assessing what we can know. Furthermore the enlightenment heralded in a more rational time in political thought and came at a time of great revolution. Man began to re-assess his position in nature through scientific method. It held enough information to make up twenty-eight separate volumes.
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