Enlightenment
Rationalist philosophical era
The Enlightenment was the 18th-century European intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, and individual rights over tradition and religious authority.
Thinkers like Voltaire, Locke, and Kant shaped ideas that influenced democratic revolutions and modern secular thought: Enlightenment ideals of liberty and equality.
The term often appears with the definite article: the Enlightenment.
As an adjective, Enlightenment describes things connected to this era: Enlightenment philosophy, Enlightenment values. (Lowercase enlightenment is understanding or spiritual awakening.)
French Enlightenment satirist
- RousseauFrench surname, philosopher or painter
- LockeEnglish empiricist philosopher's surname
- HumeScottish Enlightenment philosopher
- KantGerman Enlightenment thinker
Diderot · Montesquieu · Age of Reason · salons · rationalism · secularism · humanism · natural rights
Basis or justification
- empiricismKnowledge through observation
- scientific methodStructured process for investigation
- NewtonFamous scientific surname
- Royal SocietyUK's national science academy
experimentation · observation · natural philosophy · Galileo · Copernicus · mechanistic · taxonomy · classification
Absence of unjust constraint
- rightsJustified claims to freedoms
- democracyRule by the people
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
- equalitySame status for all
reform · revolution · republicanism · citizenship · sovereignty · separation of powers · tolerance · civil liberties
Voltaire
French Enlightenment satirist
- RousseauFrench surname, philosopher or painter
- LockeEnglish empiricist philosopher's surname
- HumeScottish Enlightenment philosopher
Kant · Diderot · Montesquieu · Age of Reason · salons · rationalism · secularism · humanism · natural rights · social contract
reason
Basis or justification
- empiricismKnowledge through observation
- scientific methodStructured process for investigation
- NewtonFamous scientific surname
Royal Society · experimentation · observation · natural philosophy · Galileo · Copernicus · mechanistic · taxonomy · classification · hypothesis
liberty
Absence of unjust constraint
- rightsJustified claims to freedoms
- democracyRule by the people
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
equality · reform · revolution · republicanism · citizenship · sovereignty · separation of powers · tolerance · civil liberties · emancipation
- 18th Century MovementsRococo, Neoclassicism, deism, rationalism, empiricism
- literary periodsRenaissance, medieval, Victorian, modern, contemporary
- European cultureFrench cuisine, Italian art, opera, ballet, Renaissance
- FranceParis, Notre-Dame, Lyon, croissant, Toulouse
- history termsempire, dynasty, colonialism, Renaissance, timeline
- 1700sMozart, Voltaire, colonial period, French Revolution, William III
Enlightenmentignorance
Absence of knowledge
darkness · benightedness · unawareness · confusion · incomprehension
Enlightenmentdelusion
Stubbornly held false belief
samsara · maya · ignorance · bondage · attachment
EnlightenmentDark Ages
Post-Roman European decline
medieval period · Middle Ages · obscurantism · superstition · Romanticism
- spiritual enlightenmentProfound transcendent awareness
- Age of EnlightenmentEra prioritizing reason