The Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, was an intellectual and philosophical movement centered on Europe, traditionally dated from the death of Louis XIV in 1715 to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, though its roots reach into the late seventeenth century and some historians extend it into the early nineteenth. It was characterized by an emphasis on reason, empirical evidence and the scientific method, and it promoted ideals of individual liberty, religious tolerance, progress and natural rights that directly shaped the political revolutions, in France and in the Americas, that closed the eighteenth century.
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Start YearTraditionally dated from the death of Louis XIV in 1715, though the movement's intellectual roots reach back into the late seventeenth century and some historians extend the period into the early nineteenth century. End YearConventionally closed with the French Revolution in 1789, though this boundary is not universally accepted. Geographic ScopeCentered on Europe, especially France, Britain, the German lands and Scotland, with direct influence on Enlightenment-inspired political movements in Britain's American colonies. 1 FAQs
How did Immanuel Kant define the Enlightenment?
Kant defined enlightenment as humankind's release from its self-incurred immaturity, the ability to think for oneself.
In his 1784 essay "An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment?", Immanuel Kant defined enlightenment as humankind's release from its self-incurred immaturity. He described immaturity as the inability to use one's own understanding without the guidance of another. Kant identified enlightenment with the process of undertaking to think for oneself, which is why his essay is often read as a statement of the era's central ideal of reason over inherited authority.
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WikipediaIn Era: The Early Modern Period, Age of Enlightenment, in relation to the Early Modern Period
traditional dating from 1715 (death of Louis XIV) to 1789 (French Revolution).
Preceded By: The Scientific Revolution, Age of Enlightenment, succession from the Scientific Revolution
traditional dating from 1715 (death of Louis XIV) to 1789 (French Revolution).
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