The Enlightenment: reason and freedom

In short: The Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that emphasised reason, science and human rights. Kant summed it up as “man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity”.

In more detail: It questioned authority, superstition and arbitrary rule.

In detail

• Motto: “Sapere aude!” – Dare to use your own understanding.
• Thinkers: Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, Lessing.
• Ideas: Tolerance, separation of powers, freedom of speech, popular sovereignty.
• Consequences: American independence, French Revolution, modern constitutions.
• Science: Newton and the idea that nature can be understood as governed by laws.
• Criticism: Faith in reason and blind spots (colonialism, women’s rights).
• Today: A benchmark for critical thinking and media literacy (kategorischer-imperativ-kant, trugschluesse-erkennen).