Why Was the Age of Enlightenment Important?
The Age of Enlightenment, also known as the age of reason, was important because it was able to shed light onto the ways of scientific thinking and help the world better understand how the scientific processes worked. Until the Age of Enlightenment, only a select few scientists and mathematicians understood science and the way that it affected the world.
The Enlightenment allowed people to look at situations, both scientific and philosophical, in a more rational way. The Enlightenment helped to set up theories and laws that were proven to be true. These theories and laws became known to all people and became the basis for thinking. Reason for equality was also discussed and erected during this time frame, beginning in the late 17th century.
One of the famous figures during the Enlightenment was Rousseau. Due to everything being questioned, Rousseau began to question the reason behind why kings were in their positions. It had been believed that kings were given the divine rights by God, but Rousseau worked to prove that the rights were simply given by the will of the people, whether knowingly or not. Others who followed Rousseau’s theory became optimistic that the way of the human world would change once everyone accepted the fact that the power was given by people and not by God.
