Time of Change

A detailed Summary of Time of Change

The enlightenment was a great time of change in both Europe and America. Some of the biggest changes, however, happened in the minds of many and in the writings of many philosophers. These included some of the beliefs of David Hume, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, and Francois Voltaire. Writers during this time focused on optimism, which is the opinion to do everything for the best (Chaney 119), and the best for these philosophers was to stretch the minds of the ordinary.

David Hume was Scottish and was born on April 26, 1711 and died in 1776. He states that he was not born into a rich family and was born into the Calvinist Presbyterian Church. However, after being influenced by the works of Isaac Newton and John Locke he began to draw back from the Church. He writes in Enquiry, "The idea of God, as meaning an infinitely intelligent, wise and good Being, arises from reflecting on the operations of our own mind, and augmenting, without limit, those qualities of goodness and wisdom." (Pomerleau 214) The questions he brought up against religion were that concrete experiences must lead us and that we must think about the quality of the stories that were handed down to us. He wanted everyone to only be

For most of the philosophers during the time of the Enlightenment, things were bad. Most of them had to publish their books in secrecy and still had to deal with them getting burned as officials found out. This would be a very big disappointment, but they later prove that some of their beliefs are right when people begin to rebel because of the dramatic messages that they sent to people. Whether philosophy, religion, or politics were the basis of one's reading they were generally flipped around. It is said that educated people have the power to do anything, and during the Enlightenment this source of power is obvious and is carried out. Whether the readers believed the philosophers or not, it got the reader thinking and he talked to his friends and the revolts began. The Enlightenment was a time of change but it was also a time that dealt with the "unreality" that some thought could be but never were because some were so extreme or contradicted each other from philosopher to philosopher.

Francois Voltaire lived from 1694-1778. To most he was known as the most vigorous antireligious debater. He was the philosopher that was favoring deism the most. He wished that everyone would stop Christianity and follow his beliefs. One reason that he felt this was because from his experiences, bad things came from religion (Chambers 660). Voltaire, unlike Rousseau, favored the aristocracy and was often invited to their parties to talk about some of his ideas. From this Voltaire, unlike many of the philosophers of his day, was often left to think about things on his own ("The Enlightenment," http) and another reason for this is because for twenty eight years he was held in succession from Paris for some of his extreme writings. One of the most disturbing things in Voltaire's life was from the earthquake in Lisbon on Nobember1, 1755. This was one thing that Voltaire could not understand and thought about forever. He did not want to turn to God as everyone else did, nor did he want to be on the side of the atheist. He was stuck in the middle and only left with the thought of the innocent people that were killed (Gay 52).

Again, these questions began to be disputed and the people began to realize that their lives could mean more than just what the higher officials might say. They began to think about what life and the world is really about. This brings us to the next philosopher, Immanuel Kant.

lieve the actions that one experienced, there has to be proof. He also believed that there were four basic problems to the stories that we hear. First of all, the facts to the stories are never the same to everyone. Second,

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Approximate Word count = 1782
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History