Understanding of Reason in the Age of Enlightenment
In the 18th-century Europe, due to a number of social and technological changes,
philosophers and scientists got an unprecedented influence on the human minds. This period
received a name of the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason, for intellect became the chief driver
of the scientific, social, and economic development. The faith in reason replaced traditional
dogmatic approaches, which enabled swift and numerous changes in policies and views of
people, and led to major changes in public consciousness, shifts of power, transformation of
governments, and a range of progressive movements.
1. The Age of Enlightenment
1.1. Early Enlightenment
The early ideas concerning prevalence of reason over faith appeared in the period defined
as Early Enlightenment that lasted from 1650 to ca. 1730. Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, Sir
Isaac Newton, Pierre Bayle, Bernard de Fontenelle, and John Locke were major thinkers of the
period. These philosophers sought to find logical foundation for the universe and society. They
were often persecuted and threatened for their views on religion and power.
Descartes’ famous principle “cogito, ergo sum” defines the existence and lays the
foundation for subsequent logical constructions. The next demand of the Cartesian logic was the
establishment of clear and distinct ideas based upon the obvious connection of thinking and
existence (Class notes). Descartes developed deductive reasoning, in which one certainty
logically proceeded from the previous one (Cole and Symes 534).
Francis Bacon emphasized the power of knowledge and insisted that science should be
useful. In his works Novum Organon and New Atlantis, he envisaged an ideal society based on
scientific principle and run by scientists. Unlike Descartes, Bacon took an inductive approach that
consisted in amassing evidence from observations and making corresponding conclusions.
1.2. French Enlightenment
Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau, French philosophers of the 18th century,
applied the principles of reason to question religion, politics, and society. Montesquieu applied
empirical scientific method to politics. The Spirit of the Laws published in 1748 advocated
separation of powers. The system of check and balances had to prevent tyranny. His works made
him immediately famous, but in 1751 they were placed on index. Voltaire was sent to exile and
threatened with arrest for his views. He criticized religion, social institutions and institutes of
power. Diderot, the creator of the Encyclopedia, was an atheist who attacked church and the mere
existence of God. Rousseau turned his criticism against monarchy and civilization. Hit theory of
