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14. Age of Reason as a foundation of contemporary culture.

German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, in his famous essay "What is Enlightenment?" (1784), described it simply as freedom to use one's own intelligence. The Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason is

The Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century.

The term came into use in English during the mid-nineteenth century, with particular reference to French philosophy, as the equivalent of a term then in use by German writers, signifying generally the philosophical outlook of the eighteenth century.

It does not represent a single movement or school of thought, for these philosophies were often mutually contradictory or divergent.

"Age of Enlightenment" and "The Enlightenment" refer particularly to the intellectual and philosophical developments of that age (and their impact in moral and social reform), in which Reason was advocated as the primary source and basis of authority

Developing in Germany, France and Britain, the movement spread through much of Europe, including Russia and Scandinavia

The signatories of the American Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen were motivated by "Enlightenment" principles.

The era is marked by political aspiration towards governmental consolidation, nation-creation and greater rights for common people, attempting to supplant the arbitrary authority of aristocracy and established churches

The eighteenth century was an age of optimism, tempered by the realistic recognition of the sad state of the human condition and the need for major reforms.

The Enlightenment was less a set of ideas than it was a set of attitudes. At its core was a critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs, and morals.

The Enlightenment was less a set of ideas than it was a set of attitudes. At its core was a critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs, and morals.

ome classifications of this period also include the late 17th century, which is typically known as the Age of Reason or Age of Rationalism.

The Enlightenment occupies a central role in the justification for the movement known as modernism.

The neo-classicizing trend in modernism came to see itself as a period of rationality which overturned established traditions, analogously to the Encyclopaediasts and other Enlightenment philosophers.

The neo-classicizing trend in modernism came to see itself as a period of rationality which overturned established traditions, analogously to the Encyclopaediasts and other Enlightenment philosophers.

The Enlightenment is held to be the source of critical ideas, such as the centrality of freedom, democracy and reason as primary values of society.

The Enlightenment is held to be the source of critical ideas, such as the centrality of freedom, democracy and reason as primary values of society.

This view argues that the establishment of a contractual basis of rights would lead to the market mechanism and capitalism, the scientific method, religious tolerance, and the organization of states into self-governing republics through democratic means

From this point on, thinkers and writers were held to be free to pursue the truth in whatever form, without the threat of sanction for violating established ideas.