Emergence of Modern Europe - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The age of enlightenment, also known as age of reason refers to the period of intellectual awakening known as enlightenment (Lindberg 2008 p. 18). It was a time of scientific awakening largely dominant in Europe. From the viewpoint of socio-political phenomena, enlightenment period is believed to have started close with the thirty years of wars and came to an end after the French revolution. This period called for use of reason as a means of developing and establishing an authoritative system of ethic, government, religion, and aesthetics, which will give human beings an opportunity to attain objective truth about reality of this world. The enlightenment thinkers believed that reason would salvage man from religious authoritarianism and superstition that had brought suffering, misery, and death to many people in religious wars. In addition, knowledge was made available to the masses through encyclopedias, which led to enlightenment cause of educating human beings. The age of enlightenment just like the renaissance and protestant reformation, had a profound impact on society. The European States turned towards science between 1700s, which led to focus of life as experience of human being. By doing so, the enlightenment period influenced greatly on modern western European States. There were developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, and anatomy during that time that were successfully applied to medicine, astronomy, and mechanics. The usage of these ideas motivated a sense of western emergence into contemporary or modern time that had real and precise technological knowledge of this world. The philosophers at that time argued that science provided scientific method as general view of life. Popularization of science During enlightenment period, popularization of science led to growth and change in society in that individuals in the 18th century adhered to new codes of sociability and enjoyed equitability in society. Women who took part in the enlightenment debate were seen as enhancing and promoting enlightenment ideas in the public arena. In addition, they were viewed as civilizing force determined to overthrow the old totalitarian regime (Bowler 2009, p. 89). The spread of enlightenment ideas across Europe was enhanced by production of cheap books by renowned philosophers such as Diderot and Voltaire. Scientific inventions like works of Isaac Newton and Copernicus changed mathematical philosophy of Europe in that people realized the need of creating new and orderly world and the need for integrating philosophy of science that would help in transformation of secular and religious life. People argued that if Newton was able to order the cosmos using his natural philosophy, it would also be possible to order the politics using political philosophy. During this, time people adopted new ways of ordering things based on divine right and natural law. Using divine rights, it led to creation of absolutist ideas while natural law would enhance liberty to human race. Some people argued that the universe was ordered by rational God and therefore, his representatives on this world had powers of God. This according to such thinking meant that Gods’ power translated to the powers of the monarchy. Natural law rose to react against such thinking of divinity with the aim of creating new order in society. They argued that God did not govern ...Download file to see next pagesRead More