Enlightenment

Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage s man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! "Have courage to use your own reason!"- that is the motto of enlightenment.

What is the Enlightenment? This question has produced numerous and varied answers in the nearly two and a half centuries since the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, first posed it in 1784. According to Kant, the Age of Enlightenment, which lasted from roughly the late 17th century up to the beginning of the 19th century, was humanity's growth into intellectual maturity. Kant and others claimed that, through scientific inquiry and an emphasis on reasoned discussion, mankind was finally able to think for itself rather than appealing to the authority of the Church, Greek philosophers, or other sources of supposedly revealed truths.

Enlightenment Thinkers: John Locke And Isaac Newton

Two thinkers whose contributions to the period have been briefly mentioned were John Locke and Isaac Newton. Locke's political philosophy and Newton's scientific achievements in the late 17th and early 18th centuries were pivotal developments that allowed for the growth of the Enlightenment. Locke's political philosophy stemmed from his central belief that humanity was innately good and industrious. He believed that if given the proper tools and power, humans would form a society which would be good for all and improve the community's well-being. As such, societies could be trusted to decide which form of government was right and just. If a society was ruled unfairly or arbitrarily by an inept monarch, the people were justified in rebelling against the king or queen. Locke's ideas were a complete 180 in how monarchies were viewed: the king still held the power, but that power originated in...