|
|
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that was predominant in the Western world during the 18th century. Strongly influenced by the rise of modern science and by the aftermath of the long religious conflict that followed the Reformation, the thinkers of the Enlightenment were committed to secular views based on reason or human understanding only. The thinkers of the Enlightenment "proclaimed a new age free from superstitions such as witchcraft" (Strayer, 43. Column II). Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Marquis de Condorcet were three of these thinkers. Though many of their beliefs were different, these three provided an intellectual basis for beneficial changes affecting every area of life and thought for years to come. Perhaps one of the single most important Enlightenment writers was the philosopher-novelist-composer-music theorist-language theorist and all-around brilliant guy, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Rousseau felt that the current state of the government deprived human beings of their natural freedom and fostered a selfish individualism, which undermined concern for the common good.
|
