People responsible for The Enlightenment

Some of the key Enlightenment thinkers were John Locke, Voltaire, and Rosseau who shared different ideas regarding the philosophy of existence and freedom, the movement of democracy, and the feminist movement. The Enlightenment arose in partially against the Church as people wanted to separate religion and politics and the discontent most people had with their lives. The French Revolution was sparked by the ideas of the Enlightenment such as Democracy which was the main cause to overthrow King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Enlightenment thinkers were obsessed over the idea of “sublime” which refers to aesthetics in the quality of transcending greatness which could be physical, moral, intellectual, or artistic.

- Dev Singh

Before Rosseau and Voltaire, France produced three influential thinkers that would also influence the enlightenment and the direction in which it carried itself. These three thinkers were Michel de Montaigne, Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal. Michel de Montaigne was a thinker who established and believed that everyone, no matter where they were from, had their own code of morality and ethics that they followed to perfection and made everyone different and unique in comparison to one another. Because of this, no one set of codes or values should be better than any other and no one should impose on any other persons set of codes or values. Rene Descartes introduced the phrase "i think, therefore i am". This was his way of showing us all that we had the ability, reasoning and logic within us to acknowledge our existence as well as that of god with some applied mathematics as well. Finally, Blaise de Pascal was more in tune with the emotions within someone and how natural and pure they were. He didnt believe one could apply mathematics, reason and logic to areas of faith and emotion as Descartes believed. Instead, he simply said "the heart has its reasons, which reason knows not".

-franchesko

information taken from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/examining-some-key-thinkers-of-the-enlightenment.html

Before the enlightenment, which many believe to has had its roots in the 18th century, came the renaissance. Approximately two centuries before the enlightenment, something of the same concept was occurring in Europe. Realistic thinking, changes in scientific thinking and philosophical thinking all made themselves present during the renaissance, with people like Nicholas Copernicus, who introduced the idea that the earth moved around the sun and not the other way around, which revolutionized the everyones view on astronomy. Several years later, Galileo, who we all associate with the telescope, confirmed that Copernicus had been right after performing several mathematical calculations and by using his trusty telescope. Granted, these discoveries caused tension within the church, but they also changed ways of thinking around the world; the groundwork for what was to become the enlightenment had been laid.

-Franchesko

The Enlightenment in America

Many of the intellectual leaders of the American colonies were drawn to the Enlightenment. Many of the leaders of the American Revolution such as Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin were powerfully influenced by the English and by the French enlightenment thought. Jefferson and Franklin both spent time in France learning and absorbing the influence of the French enlightenment. At the time, France was an ally naturally because it was a enemy of England. The language of natural law, inherent freedoms, and self-determination is pretty much why Americans should study the enlightenment. It describes our country and what we make it out to be.

-Benny Guzman

Rousseau vs. Voltaire

While Voltaire believed that science advancements and society's rational improvements were good for humanity, Rousseau believed arts, sciences, society, and civilization in general had corrupted "natural man". He believed that humanity had to return to its original condition the "Natural" landscape. People in the 18th century had developed a taste for landscape art. The growing opportunities for traveling increased the want for particular places and certain geographic settings. Rousseau and Voltaire were both philosophers but they had many differences. They disagreed on just about everything. I read that when Rousseau wrote his book he sent Voltaire a copy of his book The Social Contract, and Voltaire answered him with a letter in which he said, "I have received your new book against the human race, and thank you for it. Never was such a cleverness used in the design of making us all stupid. One longs, in reading your book, to walk on all fours. But as I have lost that habit for more than sixty years, I feel unhappily the impossibility of resuming it." They each tried to insult the other. Rousseau by sending Voltaire a copy of his book and Voltaire by sending back the letter.

-Benny Guzman

Natural Beliefs vs. Scientific Beliefs

Many people believed in the story of Adam and Eve being the first humans on earth. It was said that God put Adam on the earth to look after the world and to keep him company. God felt sorry for adam because he couldn't relate to any of the animals and needed someone to share life with. Therefore God created eve so adam can have someone who cares for him and someone who he can care for. This is what so called "started the human nation" and that's what I would call "Natural Beliefs". A belief that you are told and can not prove. However, in the formation of the enlightenment, people started to have different ideas on how life started. They started using the idea of reasoning to solve problems so they can have some type of proof to help prove their answers. So now instead of believing in the Adam and Eve story, they started to believe in evolution.

MAKEESHA HILL

Francis Bacon

Born: Jan. 22, 1561
Where: London, Eng.
Died: April 9, 1626
Where: London

Francis Bacon is an English lawyer, statesman, essayist, historian, author intellectual reformer, philosopher, and champion of modern science. His works established and popularized an inductive methodology for scientific inquiry, often called the Baconian method or simply, the scientific method. His demand for a planned procedure of investigating all things natural marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, much of which still surrounds conceptions of proper methodology today. Francis Bacon influenced all of science, once proclaiming, “I have taken all knowledge to be my province.”

http://www.shakespeareauthorship.org/Candidates/candidates.htm
http://mrkash.com/world.htm

Francis was a big influence on enlightenment because of his love for science and natural philosophy. His creation of the scientific method is a perfect example of enlightenment. It was a new approach for problem solving and the enlightenment is basically an new approach in beliefs.

MAKEESHA HILL