Question

What were some of the goal and beliefs of the Enlightenment (or Aufklärung, as it was called in German?)[8 points, 150 words max.

Answer 1

Goals & Benefits of Enlightenment

1. The Enlightenment put forward ideas likes supremacy of reason and the evidence of the senses as the primary sources of knowledge.

2. The purpose to help create better societies and better people and their dream to crush superstition, intolerance etc was accomplished to an extent.

3. The Enlightenment influenced various aspects of human involvement like politics; where US Declaration of Independence, French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen etc are some of the examples.

4. The Enlightenment driven the attention of general population from the supernatural aspects as well as the dominance of the religion. It was thought during the Enlightenment that human reasoning could discover truths about the world, religion, and politics and could be used to improve the lives of humankind.

5. Better education for children and the establishment of universities and libraries.

6. Enlightenment concepts helped in changing the way nations are governed and how people viewed religion. People began to believe that the world can be improved.

7. Enlightenment also had a great effect on the economy where ideas of free trade were first popularized in this period.

8. Slavery and slave trade was criticized by the enlightenment ideas as slavery violates the fundamental principles of equality.