The Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment presentation

1. The age of Enlightenment

2. A period that witnessed the progress of science, politics, philosophical discourse in the European society. It took place from the 17 th century to the early 19 th century This period resulted in significant changes in thought and reason. traditions were replaced by exploration, tolerance, individualism, and scientific endeavour that happened at the same time as the developments of politics and the industrial world, which were the reason in the emergence of the modern world. Another name for this period is ‘The Age of Reason’ The age of Enlightenment

3. S tages of The Enlightenment

4. S tages of The Enlightenment: The Early Enlightenment: 1685-1730: the beginning of the enlightenment where people witnessed the blossom of science, philosophy and European politics. The High Enlightenment: 1730-1780: This period focused on the dialogues and the French philosophers, such as ( Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Buffon and Denis Diderot ). The Late Enlightenment and b eyond 1780-1815: In the late 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, the scientific revolution happened in the United States, and also millions of people were transported from Africa into Western Hemisphere.

5. Roots of Enlightenment in England

6. The English civil war: The English civil war arose due to the conflicts between King Charles I and the parliament over the government of England. Bill of rights in1791 : A list of important rights that provides citizen with a certain limit of freedom and limits the power of the government. The glorious revolution in 1688: When Mary II replaced her father King James II from his throne along with her son and her husband. This event changed the way England was governed and allowed the parliament more power over the monarchy. John Locke’s writings: John Locke’s writings had huge influence on enlightenment thinkers and the enlightenment movement, especially his “ Essay Concerning Human Understanding” in which he discussed human knowledge.

7. The main concepts of The Age of Enlightenment

8. First: Reason

9. Enlightenment thinkers believed that reason enabled people to understand and explore the universe and that education and reason could greatly improve the human race. John Locke argued that although human are subject to God but we are all equal at the same time and no one is better than anyone. The core belief during that time is that science can help us understand all aspects of life. Reason:

10. Second: Scientific Method

11. Scientific Method During the age of enlightenment it was believed by many that science could explain the laws of human nature and society. They believed that the scientific method was capable of solving all issues. Enlightenment thinkers believed they had a chance to improve society and help people to improve and understand the world better.

12. Third: Progress

13. Progress The core belief of the Enlightenment is that human and society will always progress and improve. Their improvement will continue into the future and it will stop until the extinction of human race. This theory might have been proven by the progress the age of enlightenment and the way it helped improve human condition and the main reason for that progress that is due to the development of natural sciences.

14. Results of the age of enlightenment

15. Political freedom

16. Political freedom: The age of enlightenment influenced the beginning of movements demanding better political structure, freedom from the political tyranny people had witnessed for centuries and also freedom of speech.

17. Scientific revolution

18. Scientific revolution: The age of Enlightenment changed the way people viewed things, people started to rely on reason more than religion and it made people more passionate to learn more about science and the living world.

19. Religious tolerance

20. Religious tolerance The enlightenment movement initiated the move towards religious tolerance in the eighteenth century which later became religious freedom and a basic human right. Enlightenment thinkers played a major role in making religious tolerance a possibility when they asked questions regarding the society’s intolerance toward other people’s religion.

21. Enlightenment thinkers

22. Enlightenment thinkers Enlightenment thinkers share a lot of things but the only thing they truly believe in, is to believe in their own thinking .The most common thing they believe in was intellectual powers of man in capacities in determining what to believe and the way to act. The Enlightenment thinkers were able to compete with the authority of one’s own reason and skill . They support their own idea and it could be described as a religion because they support whatever the idea was even if i t was against customs and traditions. They believe the Enlightenment is for awakening of one’s intellectual powers, which ultimately leads to a far better, more fulfilled human existence.

23. Best-known enlightenment writers

24. Most Known Writers of the Enlightenment William Congreve ( 1670-1729) Denis Diderot ( 1713-1784 ) Benjamin Franklin ( 1706-1790) David Hume ( 1711-1776) Samuel Johnson ( 1709-1784) John Locke (1632-1704) Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778 ) Voltaire ( 1694-1778)

25. John Locke (1632-1704)

26. John Locke He is a great philosopher in the age of Enlightenment. His ideas had enormous influence on the event of Epistemology and Political Philosophy, and he's widely thought to be one among the foremost influential early Enlightenment thinkers. He is usually considered the primary of land Empiricists, the movement including bishop and Hume, which provided the most opposition to the 17th Century Continental Rationalists. He argued that ‘every one of our ideas are ultimately derived from experience, and therefore the knowledge of which we are capable is therefore severely limited in its scope and certainty’. His Philosophy of Mind is commonly cited because the origin for contemporary conceptions of identity and "the self". He also postulated, contrary to Cartesian and Christian philosophy, that the mind was a "tabula rasa" (or "blank slate") which people are born without innate ideas.

27. William Congreve (1670-1729)

28. William Congreve Congreve was born into an old family of wealth in Bardsey , West Yorkshire, his curriculum specializing in theology moreover as Greek and Latin classics. Congreve often visited Dublin theatres and was exposed to the foremost celebrated dramas of the time, including Ben Jonson's ‘ Volpone ’ and Thomas Dufay's The Boarding House. However, during the reign of James II, these performances were banned. A reader of dramatic theory, Congreve was possibly more at home with stage than most young men of his era by the time he moved to London around 1689.

29. Denis Diderot (1713-1784)

30. Denis Diderot Denis Diderot was the most prominent author of the French Encyclopédistes , which was a group of French philosophers and critics of literature and art. He was taught by the Jesuits, and when he declined to enter one among the most known professions, he went to Paris, where he lived for a while but he hardly had enough food or money to live on. Over time, he became one of the most recognized and powerful writers of his day.

31. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

32. Benjamin Franklin Franklin was a true E nlightenment  man who supported  science , rationality, natural human rights, free thought and morality. His ‘Contributions to the U.S. Constitution’ reflected Franklin’s E nlightenment principles of philosophy, morality, science, matters of health, civil affairs and politics. H e founded a reading and writing club called the Junto and therefore the American Philosophical Society. He also founded the University of Pennsylvania.

33. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

34. Samuel Johnson He was an English , Poet, Essayist, Critic, Travel Writer, Dramatist, Biographer and Novelist . He was also awarded an annual royal pension by the Prime Minister Lord Bute because of his reputation as the primary literary figure of that time, he went Pembroke College but left since he couldn’t afford it financially, which prevented him from becoming a teacher. He decided to open his own school which only attracted 3 students so he was forced to shut it. He succeeded as a philosopher when he went to London.

35. Immanuel Kant ( 1724-1804)

36. Immanuel Kant Kant was a German philosopher who came from a family with a modest background that would also be cited as poor (his father was a harness-maker/saddler ). his mother seems to have more of an effect on him than his father. A lso his mother was the one who contributed greatly to his early learning . He contributed greatly to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and aesthetics that he had a lasting impact on possibly every philosophical movement that followed him

37. Jean-Jacques Rousseau ( 1712-1778)

38. Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau became one of the best and most revolutionary thinkers to ever live. within the age of absolutely the power of kings, Rousseau argued against the monarchy’s divine right to rule, he rejected the absurdity of submitting to coercion or slavery, stating that true political authority lies with the people. He also upset the opposite major power of that age, the Church, by arguing that every religions is equal in their ability to instil goodness in people. The philosopher also belonged to the Romanticism literary movement, of which he’s thought to be one among the pioneers.

39. Voltaire (1694-1778)

40. Voltaire Voltaire has a distinguished place in the world because he was a great symbol in the age of Enlightenment. A very prolific writer, Voltaire achieved fame for his polemic satires and acerbic wit (although he originally wanted to be a tragedian). He publicly argued for freedom of faith and expression, the separation of church and state, and wrote formidable attacks on the Christian church and powerful French establishments. As his name instantly evokes the battle against religious fanaticism yet the love of tolerance and freedom of thinking.