ipl-logo

Enlightenment Thinkers In The 18th Century

1121 Words5 Pages

As Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis once said, “The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness” (Brainyquote). Throughout the Enlightenment, society was changed for the better and new ways of thinking encouraged geniuses to come up with revolutionary ideas and also make public, their opinions on some of the most notable topics of the time like politics and science. Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, Voltaire, Thomas Hobbes, Baron de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Mary Wollstonecraft all used divergent thinking to influence rulers to come on a variety of topics ranging from women education to treatment of criminals. Their theories and individualized opinions have never ceased to impact the way rulers after them ran their nations. European rulers such as Catherine the Great of Russia, …show more content…

As empress of Russia, Catherine II who was very educated, made many reforms in favor of the views that Enlightenment thinkers had in mind throughout the course of their lifetimes. Catherine's proposal, "The Instruction," was widely spread in Europe and caused an uproar being that it called for a legal system far in advance of the times. It

Show More
Related

  • Mary Montagu And The Enlightenment

    358 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Enlightenment was a time of where people concentrated more on logical reasoning and individuality rather than tradition and religion. There were plenty of people with brilliant ideas and concepts which helped spread the Enlightenment to great heights. These people were writers, feminists, aristocrats, and more. One example of these amazing people would be Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. She was an English aristocrat, letter writer, and a feminist.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Enlightened Absolutism In The 18th Century

    745 Words  | 3 Pages

    Catherine read Voltaire, as well as Diderot, and when Diderot desperately needed money to get out of debt, Catherine brought his expensive library and then generously lent it back to him. Catherine studied the idea of granting a constitution, but in the end, she and her fellow absolutists did not want to do anything that would place real restrictions on their power. Catherine did nothing to grant rights to religious minorities in Russia. Enlightened despotism monarchs found that the writings of the philosophes on economics and education could mesh with their own desires to enhance the power of their states within the community of European nations and their personal author within the

    Read More

  • Examples Of Absolute Monarchs Of Louis Xiv

    1220 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the 15th and 16th centuries, absolute monarchs in western and eastern Europe were qualified by being the sole rulers of their state, expansionism, inspiring loyalty, and centralization of political, economic, and social powers. Perhaps the greatest example of an absolute monarch, Louis XIV of France, summarized absolut views “I am the state.” Louis, also known as Sun King, made efforts to have France completely revolve around himself. Monarchs greedy strive towards power, left Europe in desperate need in political, and most importantly social reform, making way for philosophes and later enlightened despotism to improve quality of life. Philosophes were thinkers of the 18th century who concentrated on expressing social problems, causing

    Read More

  • Enlightened Absolutism Analysis

    1097 Words  | 5 Pages

    The concept of enlightened absolutism can be described through the actions of King Frederick II of Prussia. The late 18th century leader was an outstanding example of an enlightened absolutist. Rulers who accepted the newfound Enlightenment rationalism and made the forward-thinking policies into laws became known as enlightened absolutists. Gaining its momentum among the working class and eventually expanding to the aristocracy, Enlightenment ideologies questioned the traditional social and political practices of the time. Former Russian historian and professor at Columbia University Marc Raeff claimed, “The very contradiction inherent in the notion of enlightened absolutism doomed the effort to failure” (1221).

    Read More

  • Examples Of Enlightened Despotism

    1504 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Enlightenment was one of the greatest movements of human history. It brought on an era of intelligence, rationalism, and human rights. It gave birth to many ideologies, mainly proposed by the philosophes of the time, which had a tremendous impact on society today. Enlightened despotism was perhaps one of the most prevalent ideologies to arise during this era. It was primarily formulated by Voltaire, who explained that optimum societal progress would be achieved through the presence of an enlightened monarchy.

    Read More

  • The Enlightenment Research Paper

    568 Words  | 3 Pages

    Now a days, as we study science we learn about important scientists that profoundly influenced the world. For example, when we study about telescopes we talk about Galileo since he is the inventor of the telescope, and without it we wouldn't have known that there was a space and sun. When we study gravity we talk about Isaac Newton. So these scientists maybe passed away before the Enlightenment but had great influence on it by the things they discovered. As they also supported the Enlightenment by their

    Read More

  • Enlightened Absolutism: Joseph II And Catherine The Great Of Russia

    1010 Words  | 5 Pages

    What will be discussed is how far did two of the enlightened absolutists, Joseph II of Austria and Catherine the Great of Russia, try to apply the principles of the Enlightenment. The main enlightened ideas were the toleration of religious minorities, reform of institutions and patronage. Joseph II of Austria was born in 1741 and died in 1790. It wasn’t until the last 10 years of his life Joseph became sole ruler of Austria where he and his mother, Maria Theresa, ruled jointly until her death in 1780. Certainly one could argue most of his policies were influenced by the ideas of the enlightenment.

    Read More

  • Philosophers During The Enlightenment

    290 Words  | 2 Pages

    Philosophers and Philosophes from ancient Greece, France, and England developed new ideas that influenced their culture and ours. Some of these Philosophers were Socrates, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau. The Greek philosophers laid the foundation for the future philosophers, such as the Enlightenment thinkers. Some of the Philosophes went on to inspire revolutions, where new concepts emerged. For example, during the Enlightenment, there started to be more emphasis on the individual and your individual rights, leading to our 9th amendment in the Bill of Rights.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Enlightenment In Frederick The Great Of Vrussia

    162 Words  | 1 Pages

    The 18th century in Europe marked the beginning of a new age of the Enlightenment. It was a time that encouraged reforms in economy, politics, and society by applying reason and science. The advocators of the Enlightenment questioned old principles and challenged both belief systems and institutions. As a result, many rulers of the 18th century were influenced by these new ideas and concepts brought about by the Enlightenment. Both Frederick the Great of Prussia and Joseph II of Austria proved to be enlightened despots through their attempts in reforming their nations.

    Read More

  • Women's Rights During The Enlightenment

    859 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Enlightenment was a time during the 17th and 18th century in Europe when the ideas of philosophers about an ideal government and human nature in society were being developed. Although women did not have equal rights as men, women did have the power to influence ideas during the Enlightenment. This is because they took on several roles as leaders, where they had chances and opportunities to act as philosophers and share their new ideas on the society of France. In Salons, high class parties during the Enlightenment that was a place for nobles, and their intellectuals to share their opinions and have conversations with one another was where both men and women were invited to participate and exchange ideas.

    Read More

  • 18th Century: Age Of Enlightenment

    1042 Words  | 5 Pages

    Josh Cox Western Civ: Early Mod. To Present June 17, 2015 The 18th century was known as the Age of Enlightenment. During this time in American history political, legal, social, and cultural concepts were greatly advanced and used worldwide. In the 18th century the advancements in political ideas change the way we governed the people.

    Read More

  • Absolutism And The Enlightenment

    693 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Enlightenment’s conception of knowledge was the power to free the minds from the customs enforced by Kings and Church. As John Locke stressed in his Second treatise of government “ Men being, as been said, by nature, all free, equal and independent, no one can be put out of this estate, and subjected to the political power of another, without his own consent”. In this statement, Locke empathized the battle of the thinkers: helping human to realize their worth, to free themselves from all constraints. For the philosophes, the monarchy was to respect people’s fundamental rights. It would be wrong to assume that all thinkers were against Monarchy.

    Read More

  • The Age Of Enlightenment, By Immanuel Kant

    506 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Thus a public can only attain enlightenment slowly. Perhaps a revolution can overthrow autocratic despotism and profiteering or power-grabbing oppression, but it can never truly reform a manner of thinking; instead, new prejudices, just like the old ones they replace, will serve as a leash for the great unthinking mass” (36). Kant prophesied that enlightenment will cause waves in bourgeoisie class, and it was possible through revolutions and changes that the world went over. One great example of this transformation could be shown from the changes of political view in France, when revolution was sparked by the fierce passions of Frenchmen and issued statement of rights, demanding equality and freedom, among others. King Louis XVI played an important role in this revolution, where he governed France through monarchy.

    Read More

  • France: The Enlightenment Or The Age Of Reason

    197 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Enlightenment (otherwise called the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason;[1] in French: le Siècle des Lumières, lit. ' the Century of Lights'; and in German: Aufklärung, 'Enlightenment')[2] was a scholarly and philosophical development which overwhelmed the universe of thoughts in Europe amid the eighteenth century, The Century of Philosophy.[3] The Enlightenment incorporated a scope of thoughts focused on reason as the essential wellspring of expert and authenticity, and came to propel standards like freedom, advance, resilience, crew, established government, and detachment of chapel and state.[4][5] In France, the focal precepts of les Lumières were singular freedom and religious resistance contrary to an outright government and the

    Read More

  • The Thinkers Of The Enlightenment

    213 Words  | 1 Pages

    By looking at The thinkers of the Enlightenment within the context of their own time, we can see that even having their ideas applied to just the elite was a success towards the democracy and equality for everyone. Before the Enlightenment, lives were dominated with religion: religious wars, discrimination against “other” faiths, and church and state was interconnected in many places. The Enlightenment movement stressed ideas such as logic and scientific thought. These ideas attacked and weakened the church, allowing room for new forms of high powers. Accordingly, ideas such as democracy rose from the Enlightenment movement, and, even though only wealthy males were given the right to participate, simply giving any group of the common masses

    Read More

More about Enlightenment Thinkers In The 18th Century

Open Document