In what ways and to what extent did the European Enlightenment challenge established sources of authority?

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In what ways and to what extent did the European Enlightenment challenge established sources of authority?

The Enlightenment is the name given to an intellectual movement developed in Western Europe in the 17th and 18th Century.  It came about through the ideas and attitudes of a group of writers (called philosophes in France), who helped create ‘a new framework of ideas about man, society and nature’.  (Hamilton 1992:23)   These philosophers established a direct challenge to the traditional conception of the world generated by the Roman church.  The Philosophers involved believed that they were more enlightened than their compatriots and set out to enlighten them; hence the period of time was labelled the ‘enlightenment’.  These philosophers were strongly influenced by the rise of modern science and by what had happened after the long religious conflict that followed the Reformation.   They were committed to views based on reason or human understanding, which they believed would provide a basis for changes affecting every area of life and thought.  The enlightenment was not something that happened all at once, and did not begin or end on a specific date.  Some people believe that the enlightenment is ongoing and still to this day hasn’t ended.  Like the enlightenment the scientific revolution is linked mainly with the likes of Galileo, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton.  Although these men were heavily involved, the first ideas came much earlier.  The work of Nicolaus Copernicus at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and before even him the work of Leonardo da Vinci in the middle of the fifteenth did in fact have a massive impact.  It is also possible the work of others even further back who have not been recorded in history also had an effect.  (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ENLIGHT/ENLIGHT.HTM)

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In 1543 a treatise by a Polish Theologian, Physician and Mathematician called Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was released suggesting an alternative theory to Ptolemaic’s geocentric theory of the earth being the centre of the universe.  Copernicus suggested the earth and all the other planets did in fact revolve around the sun and was the first man on record to publicly question the beliefs of the church.

The treatise caused a real stir as it was questioning the Aristotelian system accepted by the tradition of the church.  Before the treatise had been released no one had dared question ...

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