Assignment 2 (ENG-2206): The Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas

1. General
When did the Enlightenment begin?

- The Enlightenment began in the late 17th century and continued into the 18th
century.

How did the people in the Enlightenment think of human, God, and society?
 About human: Enlightenment thinkers focus greatly on human reason and
rationality. They believed that human could solve all problems in the world,
moving from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge and reason,
“the power of man over matter” as Benjamin Franklin called it.

 About God: Many Enlightenment scientists claimed to take nothing on faith,

turn assertions into hypotheses, performing experiments that could be verified
by others. Many philosophers were deists, believing in a distant, non-
intervening God. They were critical of religious dogma, and some advocated
for religious tolerance and the separation of church and state.

 About society: The promise of future happiness began to shape the existing
political and social hierarchies. Many thinkers proposed that governments
should be based on the consent of the governed and should protect individuals'
natural rights to life, liberty, and property. In fact, Enlightenment inspires the
revolutions that broke out in the Americas and in France.

Write down some crucial keywords which describe the main characteristics of the
Enlightenment.
 Some crucial keywords that describe the main characteristics of the
Enlightenment: Reason, Rationalism, Science, Individualism, Humanism,
Progress, Liberty, Equality, Democracy, Enlightenment Thinkers (e.g.,
Voltaire, Locke, Rousseau), Freedom of Thought, Enlightenment Ideals,
Enlightenment Literature, Enlightenment Philosophy, Enlightenment Era,
Critique of Tradition, Separation of Church and State, Social Contract, Natural
Rights, Encyclopedias.