perfection o f nature. It stressed the primacy o f science over
theology, skepticism over authority, reason over faith. The
philosophers o f the Enlightenment were convinced that it was
within man’s capacity, by applying reason to his problems, to
discover those great laws by which all human and natural activity
could be explained. Possessing such knowledge, men could then
direct their efforts toward building a society in which progress
was certain and continuous. The temper o f the Enlightenment
was orderly, progressive, hopeful. In the eighteenth century
England achieved, politically and econom ically the position o f a
great pow er in Europe. E ighteenth-century England was
distinguished also in science and philosophy. (Isaac Newton, David
Hume, Adam Smith). The most active sections o f population at
that time are the commercial classes that are the middle classes.
The writers and philosophers o f this age reflected the ideology
o f the m iddle class. T hey protested against the survival o f
feudalism. They thought that vice was due to ignorance, so they
started a public m ovem ent for enlightening the people. The
enlighteners wanted to bring knowledge that is “light” to the people.
To their understanding this would do away with all the evils o f
society, and social harmony would be achieved. The English
Enlightenment was a relatively conservative compromise o f new
and old ideas with current conditions. Since ihe enlighteners believed
in the power o f reason, the period was also called the A ge o f
Reason.
The century had many other titles. It has been called the Age
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
