The period of time between 1600 and 1700 is often referred to as A Period of Enlightenment or The Age of Reason. It was called that because it became a time when mankind began to question not only “how” something worked but also “why” it worked that way and “who” was at the controls. It was the time that brought forth the birth of modern science, creative thinking, and expanded philosophy.
No longer satisfied with being told what to do and when or how to do it, man began to question the entire order of things. Radical new theories like those that ascribed to the thought that “all men were created equal,” challenged the very core of how countries had been ruled for hundreds of years and questioned the so-called divine right of the ruling class.
The average man suddenly felt that he deserved a say in the way he was to be governed and who was chosen to govern him. And in quiet corners of Europe, women were already beginning to meet to for the purpose of exchanging ideas about subjects like literature and science; topics previously the purview of their male counterparts alone.
Some credit the work of the French philosopher, Rene Descartes, with the kick-off of this new age. His concept that truth needed to be proven by evidence and reasoning challenged the very core of certain types of beliefs, not the least of which was Christianity itself.
Prior to this new age movement, man was basically spoon fed a pabulum of information in which he was forced to believe. To do otherwise would have subjected him to being labeled a heretic. Such a label could result in death by the most torturous means ever invented.
Finally, man was free to explore new thoughts and ideas. But this freedom wasn’t embraced by all. Kings and queens throughout Europe, who had long believed that they had the divine right to rule, could see the writing on the wall and feared their rule would shortly be over. In many cases, they were, of course, correct.
This newly formed open society brought forth forward thinking men who were willing to openly criticize the church and the government. Men abandoned their total reliance on biblical truth and let go of the fears of mysticism and superstition that had long held them captive.
Men like the great French thinkers Voltaire and Rousseau began developing ideas that would ultimately shape the events that led to both the American and French revolutions. But it wasn’t just a time of new thought processes, it was also the time of new discovery.
Isaac Newton published his theories regarding light and the spectrum as well as his ideas about gravity and the laws of motion. Carl von Linne categorized plants and animals into various species for the very first time.
New inventions like the telescope and microscope aided man in his search for answers both in the stars and on his beloved earth. And Benjamin Franklin opened the doors to the mind by association where people could meet and discuss everything from philosophy to science to the function of government.
It was this period that witnessed the first dictionary of the English language, by Samuel Johnson in 1755 and the publication of the first Encyclopedia Britannica in 1768. Thomas Paine wrote about the “Rights of Man” (1791) and Mary Wollstonecraft followed with a “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792).
It was a time when John Locke finally expressed what had long been thought, but dared not be spoken; that the authority of government comes only from the consent of the governed. The Age of Reason ushered in a new age for humanity as a whole and eventually lead to a democratic fervor that developed into a philosophy of freedom that would withstand the test of time.
As man now stands within a new era; one that seems destined to remove freedom from individual hands and put it back into those of a select few, it is time to revisit a new Age of Reason. For if we do not, it seems certain we will end up right back where we began, with an elitist group removing power from the governed and transferring it back solely to themselves or those they alone deem worthy.
If that happens, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people on this continent as well as others will have been for naught. They will have lived and died for no reason at all. We will be responsible for the next age. One can only hope that it won’t be one of darkness or despair.
Like those before us, that choice is ours alone. I only hope that we have the strength and courage to make the right decision.
Reference:
- The Encyclopedia of World History was used as a reference book for this article.
