The Enlightenment was the transition of human thought away from the accepted norms of the church. People started to make decisions regarding their own ways of living. They understood the importance of morals, which religion provided, but they also understood the need to live without the church at the center of their lives. This period of higher thinking initiated the advancement of the underprivileged and underrepresented across all societies. Across the globe the literacy rates increased, economies improved, health improved, and nearly every other aspect of human life also improved. Women were no longer seen as just child bearers and inferior to men but they could finally lead enriching lives. Children were being included into literature which was nearly nonexistent prior to this era. And this can all be attributed to their challenging of the crowd. These thinkers had the idea to “…call to the attention of the deceptiveness and the possible misuse of social norms as well as to their necessity”. They posed the question of the purpose of life and arrived at the ideas of existentialism.

Descartes also brought his existence into question. In a series of questions and answers, he realized his existence was codependent on all living things but also, that his perception of reality is what makes him exist. His famous quote “I think, therefore I am” means that the ability to process information qualifies as existence. Whether the information is true, fictitious, tangible, or imagined, everyone may have different perceptions but it is still one reality that we all contribute to.

The Enlightenment Period was a period of reform, in which people began challenging religious beliefs. They began veering from the notion of religion as a means of justification. It revolutionized people’s thought process, as they began using reason as an explanation for certain ideas, rather than believing in something blindly. With this new thought process, people asked more questions and challenged conventional ideals. Rene Descartes, a well known philosopher, believed that our reasoning should act as a basis for truth, rather than the idea of what we are told to believe in. His famous quote, “I think, therefore I am” reaffirms that we, as people exist because we have our own thoughts. It is only human nature to have your own opinions rather than adhering to conventional ideals. It was with the introduction of the Enlightenment that allowed people to voice out and be more open about their thoughts. The Enlightenment was a pavement for new ideas, innovations, and reforms. The impact of the Enlightenment Age and Descartes’ ideas was that it served as foundations to what constitutes our thoughts today. Now, the separation from religious ideals is a lot more apparent. People have become a lot more independent in their thinking. It is due to the Enlightenment Age and people, such as Descartes that we are more open to questioning ideals rather than conforming to certain notions.

Living in the modern age, we can see how different people operate, think, or act now that they are no longer under the rule of the church.  The church enforced people to believe whatever it fed them; people’s minds were enslaved by the church.  Now we see how the Enlightenment has brought change and how we are greatly influenced by the enlightenment thinkers or moderns.  In this time, instead of conforming to one single idea or belief, we have opinions that differ from others.  And all of the opinions we have should be formed from reason.  The Enlightenment philosophers have brought reason to become our greatest tool, as the German philosopher Immanuel Kant states “There is nothing higher than reason.”

Rene Descartes in his Discourse on Method exemplifies a methodical way of reason.  Through his process of denying everything as true and trying to find what is in fact true, Descartes concludes that he must exist because he is doubting.  He can not doubt if he does not exist.  So comes forth the phrase Cogito Ergo Sum (I think, therefore I am).  It is important to understand that we are beings that can think and reason.  Our way of life or how we choose to live should be rooted in reason.  Descartes’ way of thinking and questioning differs from some Enlightenment philosophers.  While Descartes concludes that he exists because he thinks and that God’s existence is most certain and true, others state that we can not be sure of anything.  Some say we that the only thing that we are certain of is that we think certain things exist.

The Enlightenment Period is one in which people began to think outside of the bounds of the bible and religion. God was beginning to be thought of as more of a watcher from above of the complex world he created, rather than an active engager and controller of this world. Descartes’ famous phrase “cogito ergo sum” translates to “I think therefore I am,” and emphasizes the idea that many philosophers had developed: we are beings who are capable of thinking and making moral decisions on our own; we are guided by reason rather than the hand of God.

“I think therefore I am” is a phrase condensing the idea that because we can form thoughts about ourselves and our surroundings, the known and the unknown, we are conscious and self-aware beings. This was an important discovery because, since each human being held and practiced the ability to think, it put us all on a relatively equal ground; no one was above anyone else. Royalty no longer held a deity status and the application of gender roles and of racial status was to be seen as a suppression of one’s right to think and be as all other humans. Revolutions broke out during this period in which those in power, such as Kings, were slaughtered or overthrown. Due to the engagement of thought and a certain level of open-mindedness among people brought about by the Enlightenment Period, women and people of different races have been able to advance in society.

Enlightenment philosophers effectively changed the way that all people thought by creating a separation between themselves and religion. Instead of only consulting the word of God and those with divine right regarding how to act, people began acting on their own authority with the goal of self-fulfillment. These changes are often seen as just positive as people became more independent but it definitely could have had negative impacts on future generations. While people were yearning for self-fulfillment, they were also slowly moving away from religious ideals and morals which could have sparked the greedy behavior often seen nowadays especially in business. In the business world, people are judged by their income and if someone is looking for fulfillment, they will go out of their way to make sure it happens. Perhaps in a more religious world people would share an ethical duty to each other to avoid everyday corruption. The Enlightenment did, however, set the base for equal education opportunities for everyone regardless of sex. Women and enlightenment philosophers believed that if God gave all humans reason, then all humans have the right to exercise their minds. This being said, Enlightenment thinkers faced many oppositions as some people did not want to give up their traditional way. One thing that all white men shared regardless of wealth was their social dominance over women and people of other races. These people did not want to get rid of that dominance, especially those who were poor and could not exercise other forms of power.

Many ideas brought up in the introduction to Enlightenment were also apparent in Descartes work. The Enlightenment brought on a new way people perceived God. They compared the role of God to the role of a watchmaker in that he made the watch, wound it up, but then let it run without interfering. This is similar to Descartes as he discusses how God laid down a path for him but did not directly get involved. Enlightenment philosophers and Descartes also shared their intense yearning for the truth. Descartes took this to a whole new level in that he considered any belief to be false if any doubt were to arise. The only absolute certainty which he discovered was “Cogito ergo sum” because the thought “I exist” isn’t combatable.

The lives we live today are all extremely influenced with the ideas and teachings of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was the first prominent time period of significant questioning of life and everything its comprised of. In our contemporary lives we are taught to express ourselves, question things, wonder why something is the way it is and search for answers. This all stems back to the idea of individualism, which was so heavily believed in by the moderns of this time period. We also see a push for equality during this period with beliefs such as “broad education for woman.” Ancient Enlightenment beliefs like this led to future accomplishments such as women’s suffrage and race equality. Although we have come an extremely long way since then, there are still a few more equality boundaries to break such as equal pay for men and women. Additionally, some ideas of the period conflicted with the times. Women were mostly seen as domestic caregivers but at the time of the Enlightenment, upper class women began expressing creative visions and began doing things such as writing books. For the most part I do agree with Descartes’s thinking but I believe he was a little too quick to push religion and the idea of God away. There is no reason logic and reason can’t be question while also having a belief in God or any religion for that matter. Religion gives people hope and without hope what is there? Descartes portrayed his views in a way that made citizens not believe in any “God-given authority.” Kings were being executed and new rulers rose. This idea can even be seen in modern day politics in which we have an election for our ruler, which includes no God-given authority. Overall, Descartes changed the way people viewed life and questioned the known and unknown. His views intrigued people around the world and the effects can clearly be seen even to this day.

The importance of Descartes idea of “Cogito Ergo Sum” has a deep and intellectual meaning to it. It is important because it emphasizes that logic, reason and truth all come form our mind. We should not take orders and statements from authorities, or someone on a higher class level than yourself as facts, just because they are richer or more powerful. Instead we should ask the reasoning behind it, and make sure you understand and concur with the reasoning behind it. Ask questions, be curious, and look at the science, statistics and facts. Make sure you are given you natural human rights and that you and your mind are not exploited by a member of the higher class. Everyone should be entitled to the same privileges, opportunities and claims. Everyone has the right to reflect and believe in what they want. People should be able to act and behave as they want and not have to hide behind their actions. Don’t be afraid, rather make inquires and make sure you understand why you are performing certain activities, not solely on the basis of someone else’s commands. If you are able to think and have an opinion, then you obviously exist and should have the right to. The fact that he can think or anyone can think implies that they exist. Any approach of thought proves existence. Thinking is a powerful and crucial aspect of life. It allows us to find reasoning behind certain statements, laws and “facts.” Remember that reason and logic come from your mind, and if you are able to ponder and think, this evidently means you exist.