The Age
of Enlightenment (or simply
the Enlightenment, or
Age of Reason) is an era from the 1650s to the 1780s in which cultural and
intellectual forces in Western Europe emphasized reason, analysis, and
individualism rather than traditional lines of authority (i.e., Christianity
and the Bible).
It was promoted by philosophers and local thinkers in urban coffee houses, salons, and Masonic lodges. It challenged the authority of institutions that were deeply rooted in society, such as the Christian Church; there was much talk of ways to reform society with toleration of heretics and non-believers in Christianity, with science and with skepticism based on or in accordance with reason or logic.
Philosophers including Francis Bacon (1562–1626), René Descartes(1596–1650), John Locke(1632–1704), Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), Voltaire (1694–1778), David Hume (1711–1776), Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794), Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), and Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) influenced society by publishing widely read works.
It was promoted by philosophers and local thinkers in urban coffee houses, salons, and Masonic lodges. It challenged the authority of institutions that were deeply rooted in society, such as the Christian Church; there was much talk of ways to reform society with toleration of heretics and non-believers in Christianity, with science and with skepticism based on or in accordance with reason or logic.
Philosophers including Francis Bacon (1562–1626), René Descartes(1596–1650), John Locke(1632–1704), Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), Voltaire (1694–1778), David Hume (1711–1776), Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794), Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), and Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) influenced society by publishing widely read works.
