Enlightenment: Europe's Shift from Religion to Rationalism

The Enlightenment is simply, the time period where Europe began to slowly move away from ideologies strictly from religion, and instead invested its time into discovering scientific knowledge and rational thinking. This lead people to also have a synthesized worldview, versus a jagged and messy view that religion had on life itself. Ideas in science, art, philosophy, and politics all change drastically because of the Enlightenment (Class Notes, The Enlightenment). Out of this movement, many scientists and authors come out of the woodworks in order to contribute their ideas to the world. One of the first people to make an impact was Voltaire for his writings on philosophy and unchecked authority. His writings were the basis for the Enlightenment by talking about unequal authority, religious tolerance, overriding the importance of law, reason and human dignity (Cole et. al., 450). His effective writing skills allowed him to be an inspiration to future leaders such as Thomas Jefferson in colonial America. The movement was also a cultural phenomenon. Due to Europe’s increasing population density, more and more people interacted with each other socially, trading thoughts and ideas the Voltaire and others gave to them. People, mostly wealthy educated men, were able to read and write fluently, allowing them to add their ideas

They believed in a fairer judgement of people, by using rationale instead of authority to convict criminals. They also asked people to be more tolerable to people of other religions, such as deploring people who practice Judaism and Islam. These thinkers also believed that a country would be run better by leaders chosen by the people, for the people. They also believed in the idea of an economy of laissez-faire, which dealt with abstention by governments from interfering in the workings of the free market (Cole et. al.,