Islamia University Bahwalpur

Submitted by:
Fazal wahid
Submitted to:
Mam Latiba Khanam
Subject:
State society and Civic
Roll #
S23BLAED1M03018
Department:
Language Education
Semester:
2rd semester
 Enlightenment Period Of The World

German Aufklä rung A European intellectual

movement of the 17th and 18th centuries in which
ideas concerning God, reason, nature, and
humanity were synthesized into a worldview that
gained wide assent in the West and that instigated
revolutionary developments in art, philosophy,
and politics. Central to Enlightenment thought
were the use and celebration of reason, the power
by which humans understand the universe and
improve their own condition. The goals of rational
humanity were considered to be knowledge,
freedom, and happiness.

 When and where did the Enlightenment

take place?
Historians place the Enlightenment in Europe
(with a strong emphasis on France) during the
late 17th and the 18th centuries, or, more
comprehensively, between the Glorious
Revolution in 1688 and the French Revolution of
 1789. It represents a phase in the intellectual
history of Europe and also programs of reform,
inspired by a belief in the possibility of a better
world, that outlined specific targets for criticism
and programs of action.
 What led to the Enlightenment?
The roots of the Enlightenment can be found in
the humanism of the Renaissance, with its
emphasis on the study of Classical literature. The
Protestant Reformation, with its antipathy toward
received religious dogma, was another precursor.
Perhaps the most important sources of what
became the Enlightenment were the
complementary rational and empirical methods of
discovering truth that were introduced by the
scientific revolution.

Who were some of the major figures of the

Enlightenment?
Some of the most important writers of the
Enlightenment were the Philosophes of France,
especially Voltaire and the political philosopher
 Montesquieu. Other important Philosophes were
the compilers of the Encyclopédie, including Denis
Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Condorcet.
Outside France, the Scottish philosophers and
economists David Hume and Adam Smith, the
English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, Immanuel
Kant of Germany, and the American statesman
Thomas Jefferson were notable Enlightenment
thinkers.

lmportant ideas of the Enlightenment?

It was thought during the Enlightenment that human
reasoning could discover truths about the world,
religion, and politics and could be used to improve the
lives of humankind. Skepticism about received wisdom
was another important idea; everything was to be
subjected to testing and rational analysis. Religious
tolerance and the idea that individuals should be free
from coercion in their personal lives and consciences
were also Enlightenment ideas.

Results of the Enlightenment?

The French Revolution and the American
Revolution were almost direct results of
Enlightenment thinking. The idea that society is a
social contract between the government and the
governed stemmed from the Enlightenment as
well. Widespread education for children and the
founding of universities and libraries also came
about as a result. However, there was a
countermovemen that followed the Enlightenment
in the late 18th and mid-19th centuries
Romanticism.