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The Age of Enlightenment was a broad philosophical movement in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The traditional theological-political system that placed Scripture at the center, with religious authorities and monarchies claiming and enforcing their power by divine right, was challenged and overturned in the realm of ideas.
Enlightenment thinkers frequently contrasted their conception of the "public" with that of the people: Condorcet contrasted "opinion" with populace, Marmontel "the opinion of men of letters" with "the opinion of the multitude" and d'Alembert the "truly enlightened public" with "the blind and noisy multitude."
Pages in category "Enlightenment philosophers" The following 129 pages are in this category, out of 129 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. A.
John Locke's portrait by Godfrey Kneller, National Portrait Gallery, London. John Locke (/ l ɒ k /; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704 ()) [13] was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism".
The Scottish Enlightenment also influenced American thinkers. David Hume 's Essays and his History of England were widely read in the colonies, [ 16 ] and Hume's political thought had a particular influence on Madison and the drafting of the U.S. Constitution . [ 17 ]
Like other key Enlightenment thinkers, Voltaire was a deist. [131] He challenged orthodoxy by asking: "What is faith? Is it to believe that which is evident? No. It is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason." [132] [133]
Philosophe is the French word for "philosopher," and was a word that the French Enlightenment thinkers usually applied to themselves. [3] The philosophes, like many ancient philosophers, were public intellectuals dedicated to solving the real problems of the world.
Its thinkers did not necessarily agree to a set of counter-doctrines but instead each challenged specific elements of Enlightenment thinking, such as the belief in progress, the rationality of all humans, liberal democracy, and the increasing secularisation of European society.