Enlightenment Period

The Enlightenment (18th century, primarily France, Britain, and Scotland) was an intellectual and philosophical movement emphasizing reason, individualism, skepticism of authority, and the application of scientific method to social questions. Its thinkers — Voltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Hume, Kant, Diderot, Montesquieu, Adam Smith — challenged the authority of the Church and absolute monarchies, argued for religious tolerance, freedom of speech, separation of powers, and natural human rights. The Enlightenment's political consequences: the American Revolution (1776 Declaration of Independence is Enlightenment philosophy made political reality) and French Revolution (1789) were directly inspired by Enlightenment thought. Rousseau's 'General Will,' Locke's consent of the governed, and Montesquieu's separation of powers are embedded in virtually every democratic constitution. The Encyclopédie (Diderot, 1751-72, 28 volumes) was the Enlightenment's greatest project — compiling all human knowledge with the explicit goal of changing common ways of thinking.