The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a movement of new ideas during the late 17th and early 18th century that took place primarily in Europe and, later, in North America. It characterized by a shift from the power of faith to the power of reason when people started using logic. It includes the rise of concepts such as reason, liberty, and the scientific method. Enlightenment philosophy was influenced by the French revolution with the ideas of J. J Rousseau, Denis Diderot and François Voltaire.
In the age of enlightenment, scientists began to use a very specific process, the scientific method, which had been used to discover truths and solved scientific problems. Some of the greatest masterminds during this age include Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes who considered the fathers of the enlightenment. Both of them had a strong impact on the Scientific Method. Bacon was born in England in 1561. He was a student at Cambridge University’s Trinity where his new ideas began to take shape. He believed that all scientific discoveries must go through a process of observation, analyzing, and logical reasoning; allowing humankind to be closer to the truth. Like Bacon, Descartes, with his major work Discourse on method (1637), and his famous expression” I think therefore I am”, he believed scientists should form their own opinions but as a mathematician. He had enormous influence on the development of what is called rationalism, deduction and modern science. He developed the cloak universe theory, which demonstrates the idea of Deism. Although Bacon and Descartes had a major impact on the science world, Newton is more highly recognized in the present day. He took their ideas and developed them. His book “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”, published in 1687, laid the foundations of classical mechanics and calculus. Also, he formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation.
Furthermore, there were also other philosophers who had a great impact in the age of enlightenment. First, John Locke was an important figure of this age and commonly known as the “Father of Liberalism”. In his “Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” he advanced a theory of the self as a blank page, with knowledge and identity arising only from accumulated experience. He believed that people have the right to choose who governs them. His political theory of government was to protect “life, liberty and property”. Also, his essays on religious tolerance provided an early model for the separation of church and state, freedom of press and educational reform. Second, Français Voltaire was a French writer and public activist. He was known for his criticism of organized religion and traditional institutions. He has stressed on the importance of freedom of speech in his famous quotation: “I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it”. Third, Montesquieu developed the work of John Locke and brought the concept of the separation of power by creating divisions in government (legislature, judicial, executive). From that time, it had become a universal criterion of a constitutional government.
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Each of these scientists and philosophers believed in God, but their primary emphasis was on human reason which developed the non-Christian ideas of Deism. The Enlightenment had a lasting impact on the world, and its ideas have been especially influential in politics. It inspired people to change their thoughts and their governments. Without this movement, our world would be very different today.
