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.