As already mentioned, these people who reasoned things out were philosophers. These philosophers had their own ideas and something that they wanted and admired. These philosophers used to criticize the things around them but also giving a solution for example criticizing the government but stating how it could be improved.
A very important philosopher was John Locke. He was British. He wrote the “Two Treatises on Gov’t” and here he showed his ideas. He said that the rulers are not chosen by God as they stated and believed that the people were sovereign having ultimate power. This was a sort of a democracy. He stated that equal rights of property, liberty and life should be given. The second philosopher is Voltaire. He was Frenchman and lived between 1694 and 1778. He wrote a book where he criticized directly the church. He believed in liberty, and said that life is much better with freedom. He believes in the freedom of religion and freedom of speech and although some may disapprove, one may say anything he wants. A very important principle he believes is the separation of the church and the state which is found everywhere nowadays.
Another French Philosopher was Montesquieu who wrote the Spirit of Laws. He disagreed completely with Absolute Monarchies and on the other hand agrees totally with the English system, as mentioned, having a king and a parliament. He also states that the power system should be divided into three parts, the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislative. The fourth philosopher mentioned was a Swiss and his name was Rousseau. He made a pictorial representation called the social contract showing how the government or king should treat the people and how the people should act towards the government or king.
Someone that helped spread the Age of Reason was Denis Diderot. He is very famous for writing the encyclopedia. These are 28 volumes describing and explaining enlightenment ideas. The church completely disagreed with these volumes and they used to say that it was the gospel of Satan. By time, it made huge success. Lastly, a Scottish philosopher names Adam Smith reasoned more about the economic side. He wrote “The Wealth of Nation”. He analyzed the division of labor, money, prices, wages and the means of production. His ideas gave a rise to the political theories of liberalism and capitalism.
In time some like Immanuel Kant opposed the Enlightenment and wrote a back criticizing these new ideas. He stated that not everything should be reasoned out and that feelings were also important. This brought the Romantic Movement. Unfortunately, the Enlightenment ended with the riots, revolutions, massacres, executions and wars caused by the French Revolution in 1789. Sadly, much of the slaughter and conquest was done in the name of the principle of Enlightenment.
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