Changes

Note how the term “Enlightenment” is biased and self-serving.  It makes it appear that people became enlightened compared to their ignorant ancestors.  In fact, the achievements of the so-called “Enlightenment” movement were not any greater than other movements and periods in history, and there are valid criticisms of certain aspects of the Enlightenment.

Note how the term “Enlightenment” is biased and self-serving.  It makes it appear that people became enlightened compared to their ignorant ancestors.  In fact, the achievements of the so-called “Enlightenment” movement were not any greater than other movements and periods in history, and there are valid criticisms of certain aspects of the Enlightenment.

Frenchman Voltaire (1694-1778) was a leading philosopher in the Enlightenment, advocating freedom everywhere and emphasizing his form of reason.  He wrote “The Candide,” in which Voltaire described many bad things that happen to Candide in order to make the point that the world could be a better place.  Increased freedom was Voltaire’s way of improving things.  His ideas later formed the basis of French Revolution, when many innocent people were beheaded and churches destroyed amid a reign of terror.

Frenchman Voltaire (1694-1778) was a leading philosopher in the Enlightenment, advocating freedom everywhere and emphasizing his form of reason.  He wrote “The Candide,” in which Voltaire described many bad things that happen to Candide in order to make the point that the world could be a better place.  Increased freedom was Voltaire’s way of improving things.  His ideas later formed the basis of French Revolution, when many innocent people (including the French royalty and much of the aristocracy) were murdered and churches destroyed amid a reign of terror.

Englishman John Locke (1632-1704) was the leading political philosopher, whose ideas helped the American colonists form a new government.  Locke described society as a contract between an individual and society.  This was a radical concept at a time when monarchs and the divine right of kings was the controlling theory.  Locke’s view helped lay the foundation for the constitutional government that we use in the United States.  Locke had built on the prior work of Englishmen Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes.

Englishman John Locke (1632-1704) was the leading political philosopher, whose ideas helped the American colonists form a new government.  Locke described society as a contract between an individual and society.  This was a radical concept at a time when monarchs and the divine right of kings was the controlling theory.  Locke’s view helped lay the foundation for the constitutional government that we use in the United States.  Locke had built on the prior work of Englishmen Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes.