This piece begins by underscoring a paradox in our society. We tend to believe that progress is desirable and imminent, yet we long for things to be as they once were. We are excited to move forward but are anxious that we have lost something of our past. During the time of the Enlightenment “ancient” thinkers believed that the modern idea of individualism would induce a lack of moral responsibility and social alienation. During the time of the Enlightenment modern thinkers had reasonably concluded that “kings and queens were ordinary mortals”, an idea which (to me) seems like the beginning of a civil rights movement. The idea that human beings were just that: human beings, despite social status and ranking. People could rely on their own sense of reason to decide how to act, while understanding the omnipresence of emotion. One quote that really stood out to me was on page 8: “…writers call attention to the deceptiveness and possible misused of social norms as well as to their necessity…if people examined not only examined their standards of behavior, but also their tendency to hide behind them.” This quote made me think of an essay by Peggy McIntosh “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Society creates certain structures which segregate people based on social status, race, or culture emotionally and/or physically. People who benefit from certain social norms tend to hide behind them. (Usually unconsciously) I think one of the major revelations of the Enlightenment was the idea of introspection. We must look within ourselves to understand how to change the world. For instance, privileged people need to examine their privilege and be willing to give it up in order for the world to be a better, more enlightened place.

In the article “The Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas”, the author mentioned the Enlightenment of society, civil right, individualism, feminism, humanity and nature, convention and authority and so on.  I would like to discuss feminism. Due to the awakening of feminine self-consciousness during the age of Enlightenment, women started fighting for their rights which contributed to the development of feminism. In the article, the author stated “If God had given all human beings reason, then women were just as entitled to develop and exercise their minds as their male counterparts.” In other words, women should be treated equality as men. The society should provide women the opportunities to education, to participate in government, to create arts and literature. In Enlightenment society, even though not all women understand that they need to fight for their rights, some individual women set a good example. In the article, the author mentioned that SorJuana lnes de la Cruz is an example who advocated the right of women to think and read. In addition, the women of upper classes also made significant contribution to the right of women. They created arts and literatures. Therefore, the Enlightenment had sprouted the feminism. Today, the feminism has developed. Women read, think and present their own idea in public; women receive same education with men in school; women also work for business field and political field. However, under some circumstances, women still are treated unfair. Therefore, women still need to strive for their rights.

This reading was very insightful. It right away begins with a cliff hanger, a question that already makes you think and makes you question your beliefs. This reading answers the real question we all have in this day and era. How fast society changes and how your thoughts could become your reality. In the Enlightenment era different ideas of reason came about and different definitions people had about it. At first we believed we had no voice that only the higher powers such as Queens, Kings, princes only did. But, then we realized they are ordinary regular people and that’s when it all began. Many began to think spiritually, logically, or religiously through the help of the enlightenment writers.  The Enlightenment thinkers and era made people become their own individuals who have ideas and a mind of their own, with a balance of judgment, their senses and knowledge. All this resulted to birth of new nations and new rules introducing modernism. Idea of status and class positions came about in the late seventeenth century and was questioned as well. In every new century, change was occuring more and more and there were more questions that wanted to be answered. Eighteenth century- is slavery ethical? And what about women’s power? I believe because of these writers give us some answers and their thoughts we wouldn’t have the change we do today. All these famous books spread the thoughts of these writers which then led from just a thought to changes and from changes into new acts, rules and rights. The amazing, open-minded, diverse society we have today.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­According to the article, The Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas.  The author stated about the quarrel between “ancients and moderns that old ideas or new ones were likely to prove superior to any alternatives” (page 1). Unlike both ancient or the modern age, many people will embrace either the ancient nor the modern or most likely prove superior to any alternatives. I believe that modernity brought civilization and advancement into mankind.

Unlike Enlightenment, The Enlightenment is often compared and related to the modern age. Both movements were about knowledge and learning, but the Revival ­­­was about learning from the past and gaining knowledge from those who came before. The Enlightenment was an attempt to break free from the past and move forward. In addition, Enlightenment upheld the important of freedom, sovereignty, political, social and intellectual exploration to mankind.

However, in the article, deists argued that god does not interfere directly with the nature or human action. But it is to believe that God has created the universe but remain apart from it and permit his creator mankind to be responsible. Human being and Deism may embrace or argued about god and the nature but the truth remains the truth, everyone should rely on their own belief and authority given to god rather than believing others assumptions. Imagine the world without Enlightenment, In the contemporary life we are living today, the legacy of the Enlightenment has been of enormous consequence for the modern world. On the other hand, the legacy of the Enlightenment has fail us, In the Arab world enlightenment has caught up with politics in Egypt and Tunisia. In American today, the legacy of Enlightenment has doomed us. In the present day, morals, cultural habits, and norms have been disregarded. it seems the world is headed for tougher times. Unemployment rates are increasing each and every day across the world.

Festus Iheanetu

From the article “The Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas”, the author use France and England’s their tiny change during last seventeenth as an example of the being of enlightenment. Also, the author describes the difference between the enlightenment and now modern, because these events and influence happened on enlightenment it slowly create the modern day we have today. The new thing start to development in this period, the improvement of the science. All these thing cause people began to doubt the existence of god. Enlightenment thinkers people can believe themselves don’t need to seeking priest and prince these high lever socials help. Our today’s world are just like the enlightenment have the different gap; the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. These like us believe our self-more and more. Believe our judgment insist our doubts. This is how humans change the truth from divine revelation. The people started to know more and more knowledge; science, statistics, history, literature. The changing makes more and more people start to question the society, when the people got to the different social class there are more and more problems coming out. During the past men and women don’t have the equal rights the man they have much more power then women. On the last seventeenth century women in the enlightenment as the important characters, they “presiding over SALONS,” writing novels… However, in today’s social they started to have the equal right as men do. I think the freedom of speech, equality between women and men. The enlightenment started a critical turning point. It just like a button thoroughly changed the world’s old style to the modern period that we have right now.

Didi Hu

Through the reading, we can see that the enlightenment was one thing that impacted people’s lives during the eighteenth century. As it is mentioned in the text, “The quarrel between “ancients” and “moderns” those who believed, respectively, that old ideas,or new ones were likely to prove superior to any alternatives. During the enlightenment, both sides of the ancient/modern divide, thinkers be lived in reason as a dependable guide. For others, reason provided a means for discovering fresh solutions to scientific, philosophical, and political questions. In addition, Thinkers tried to explained what it is to be human. Human beings, enlightenment thinkers argued , could rely on their own authority -rather than looking to priests or princes- to decide how to act well in the world.

Society also played an important role during the enlightenment period. In this era, many thinkers concluded that kings and Queens were ordinary people like everybody else. Thomas hobbes,a seventeenth century philosopher believed that human life before the formation of societies was not as people thought. For him, men and women stay together just for the sake of preservation and progress.

Furthermore, we can say that before the enlightenment,  men had many opportunities than women such as for education, for service in government or diplomacy and economic power. The only occupation women were known for was household. Sor Juana Ines de la cruz, a Mexican nun, proved her own passion for thought and reading, and became advocate of the right of women to education and a life of the mind. Finally, reason showed that if God had given all human beings reason, then women were also able as entitled to develop and exercise their minds as men. Even after all this, society did not accept the full intellectual and moral capacities of women, individual woman has to ask for themselves more rights than these of motherhood.

In conclusion, the enlightenment was one the best thing that happened in humanity and it plays an enormous role in today’s world. The enlightenment made people more realistic. For example, the equality between men and women.

Aminata Toure

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Melissa Derrick                                                                   Prof. Hussey

Feb. 02, 2017                                                                       English 2850

            The quest for understanding originated in the enlightenment era, due to the concern of rationalizing explanations and understanding nature. In the excerpt ‘The Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas”, the writing indicates a need to explore the evidence and provide rational explanations concerning nature. Individual thought, provided an upgraded pathway to education in science, math, economics and medicine. Uniquely, we are completely dependent on resources provided rather than finding out the truth, and going back in time, mind and thought has handicapped society. Modern values of truth should latch on to knowledge from the root and not the branch.

         In today’s society we will look for truth from professionals and not from ourselves. For example, individuals looking for spirituality turn to the churches and preachers for truth. Others turn to hierarchies instead of the discovery of oneself. The central aspects of enlightenment are the reasons we seek understanding for everything. The laws of nature, politics and the progress of human development, societies and culture are all central thoughts of enlightenment. Furthermore, enlightenment typically destroyed the ritual of unearthly kings and introduced democracy with human rights. In the eighteenth century religion was not important, it was implemented in society through politics. Enlightenment provided an outlet for individual thought about all-embracing intelligence and yet it destroyed unaware civilizations with abuse, slavery and misfortune.

       As a matter of fact, we acquire great knowledge and enhanced civilization because of the enlightenment era. By creating justice systems, educational opportunities, principles to follow within an effective industrial economy proven that thought is prosperous. This fluctuation of social class contributed to limitless women that exercises free verbalism to show their talents other than the submissive role society offered. Society gained branches of foundations for the way we think today, rooting from the enlightenment era and the people that contributed to this period in time.

In The Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas, both sides of the “old vs. new”, or “ancients” and “moderns”, debate are fleshed out and talked about in a philosophical sense. The “ancients” side argue that it is important to preserve the past mainly because of fear of isolation and the potential for lack of responsibilities. Proponents of the ancients believed that there were standards placed that provided models of achievement that just could never be excelled. Proponents of the moderns basically argued that old is old and new is new and the only way we should move is forward. They believed in broad autonomy, the education of women, exploring the unknown and human rights. A bipartisan agreement between both ancients and moderns relied on the ability to use reason as a guide rather than blindly following the will of some divine force that was clearly not present but only seen as a “watchmaker”. Slowly, the shift from God’s will to the people’s will occurred and, arguably, modernists took the helm in getting the world from where we were to where we currently are today. It’s worthwhile noting that, in my opinion, modernists can be looked at the modern-day Democrats or Liberals and ancients can be looked at as modern-day Republicans or Conservatives. Republicans strive for tradition while Democrats works in a similar fashion to the “moderns” described in this text. Moving away from the aspect of a “God” also made room for humans to seek out their own truths. Enlightenment thinkers used their own authority rather than relying on the word of a priest who was traditionally seen as someone “appointed by God”. In a sense, humans slowly became their own God.

Carlos Montoya

According to The Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas, in enlightenment era, the idea of men are created equally was firstly introduced and became the mainstream. Many philosophers also began to argue that men are created equally regardless of their race and gender. Those arguments provided the footstone for movement such as the abolitionist movement in America and the women right movement around the world. Before the enlightenment, women were trapped in the domestic environment since it’s hard for them to get engaged in the society. The Enlightenment Movement provided such opportunities. The “saloon” became the stage where women demonstrated their talent and intelligence. Women successfully proved that they were competent to other roles besides housewife. But, those were insufficient to bring up the wave of women right movement. Firstly, women right was not the mainstream of Enlightenment movement. Secondly, the general role of women didn’t change until the Industry Revolution.  During the Industry Revolution, women were able to escape from domestic environment and worked in factories. Active engagement in society and relative financial independence are the keys to make a difference. However, we cannot deny that the first step is always the hardest. Without their efforts during the Enlightenment Movement, it would take much longer to entitle all human being indeed equality.

Xiaoyan Lin

In the Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas we are introduced to the many focal points of the Enlightenment. One of the many aspects of the Enlightenment was that role of women was changed. The Enlightenment was during a time where women were not given much, if at all any opportunities to obtain an education or become a professional in a field of their choice.  At the time women of the upper class had the important role of holding “salons” which were gatherings of assembled in ordered to discuss things that were both intellectual and frivolous in nature. The women and men of the Enlightenment, worked very hard to progress the rights and opportunities of women, and there were even some women who were able to become published writers. The Enlightenment thinkers argued that since God supposedly gave all human beings reason, then women should have the same abilities as men do. While society as a whole may not have accepted the new role of women, they were making great strides to prove their worth as not only mothers and housekeepers, but also formidable, contributing members of society. This legacy that the enlightenment helped build for women, has lead to the world today in which we live in where women have been able to many more things for themselves and be viewed as equal and contributing members of society. While there’s definitely some necessary battles to be won, the rights that women have today would not be here without the forward thinking women and men from the Enlightenment.

Olga Kucherina