Enlightenment Period

Enlightenment
Period
1700-1800
The Enlightenment Period
• The Enlightenment – the great ‘Age of Reason’ – is

defined as the period of rigorous scientific, political
and philosophical discourse. This was a period of
huge change in thought and reason, which (in the
words of historian Roy Porter) was ‘decisive in the
making of modernity’.
• Sir Isaac Newton once wrote that “for every action

there is an equal and opposite reaction.” He was
talking about laws of physics, but this can also
explain cultural shifts and movements.
• The writers and philosophers of this age thought that

man was virtuous by nature, and vice was due to
ignorance only. So they started a public movement
for enlightening people. To their understanding, this
would do away with all the evils of society, and social
harmony would be achieved.
Enlightenment thinkers in Britain, in France and

throughout Europe questioned traditional authority
and embraced the notion that humanity could be
improved through rational change. The Enlightenment
produced numerous books, essays, inventions,
scientific discoveries, laws, wars and revolutions. The
American and French Revolutions were directly inspired
by Enlightenment ideals and respectively marked the
peak of its influence and the beginning of its decline.
• This period saw the rise of the political pamphlet and

essay, but the leading genre of the enlightenment
became the novel.
• The prose style became clear, graceful and polished.
• Literature became very instructive; writers tried to
teach their readers what was good and what was
bad.
prevailing themes in Englightenment Period:
• Imbuing all other values was the importance of reason and its uses
to discover ideal forms of human nature and society.
• The belief in the natural goodness of man, which was to be

rediscovered by the reform of corrupt institutions.
• A new aesthetic and ethics based on the goodness of nature.
• Perhaps most important, a great faith in progress or the belief that

the present is better than the past and that the future will be better
than the present.
Many ideas put out by Enlightenment thinkers paved

the way for how we perceive the world today. Here are
some of the greatest minds who marked the 18th
century.
• Jean-Jacques
Rousseau (1712—1778)
• was one of the most
influential thinkers during
the Enlightenment in
eighteenth century
Europe. His first major
philosophical work, A
Discourse on the Sciences
and Arts, was the winning
response to an essay
contest conducted by the
Academy of Dijon in 1750.
• François-Marie Arouet,
known by his nom de plume
Voltaire, was a French
Enlightenment writer,
historian, and philosopher
famous for his wit, his
criticism of Christianity,
especially the Roman
Catholic Church, as well as
his advocacy of freedom of
speech, freedom of religion,
and separation of church
and state.
• Denis Diderot (5 October

1713 – 31 July 1784) was
a French philosopher, art
critic, and writer, best
known for serving as co-
founder, chief editor, and
contributor to the
Encyclopédie along with
Jean le Rond d'Alembert.
He was a prominent
figure during the
Enlightenment.
• One of the literary piece from this

period is “Paradise Lost”.
• Paradise Lost. (1667) An epic
by John Milton. Its subject is the
Fall of Man; it also tells the stories
of the rebellion and punishment of
Satan and the creation of Adam
http://kitcatclubrestoration.org/renais
sance-and-enlightenment-literature-
and Eve. Milton declares that
circa-1500-1750.html his aim in the poem is “to justify
the ways of God to men.”
Unfamiliar words from the literary piece “lost paradise”:

Invoke - request earnestly; ask for aid or protection.
Providence - a manifestation of God's foresightful care for his
creatures.
Impious - lacking piety or reverence for a god.
Perdition - the place or state in which one suffers eternal
punishment.
Deluge - a heavy rain.
CONCLUSION
Reference:
https://en.ppt-online.org/50064
https://www-history-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.history.com/.amp/topics/british-
history/enlightenment?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQEKAFwAQ%3D%3D#aoh=15686480261146
&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttps%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttps%2Fww
w.history.com%2Ftopics%2Fbritish-history%2Fenlightenment
https://www.vocabulary.com/lists/289154
http://www.essential-humanities.net/western-art/literature/enlightenment/
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Enlightenment

• The Enlightenment – the great ‘Age of Reason’ – is

• Sir Isaac Newton once wrote that “for every action

• The writers and philosophers of this age thought that

Enlightenment thinkers in Britain, in France and

• This period saw the rise of the political pamphlet and

prevailing themes in Englightenment Period:

• The belief in the natural goodness of man, which was to be

• A new aesthetic and ethics based on the goodness of nature.

• Perhaps most important, a great faith in progress or the belief that

Many ideas put out by Enlightenment thinkers paved

• Denis Diderot (5 October

• One of the literary piece from this

Unfamiliar words from the literary piece “lost paradise”:

Thank you for listening

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